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The Farm

Located along a ridgetop in North Central Massachusetts on the West Branch of the Tully River. These 181 acres returned to Nipmuc stewardship in early 2022 and are slated to be rematriated back to the tribe in 2024.

Prior to European settlement these lands offered plentiful trout, salmon and deer to our people. A major trading path ran on the ridgetop. The village of Pequoig and its expansive corn fields could be found in the valley below along the Papacontuckquash (Millers River) and its tributaries. Of the 181 acres about 12 acres are in pasture, about 3 acres in vegetable fields, gardens, and orchards, and the remaining is wooded in mixed hardwoods.

Livestock

Animals play a vital role in the farm ecosystem by enhancing nutrient cycling, building soil fertility, clearing brush, by providing high quality fiber, protein and fat for our community.

As the land and labor allows we look forward to expanding to turkeys, ducks, rabbits, pigs and cows.

Icelandic Sheep graze and browse the farm helping to cycle nutrients and clear brush. Icelandic sheep are a hardy, productive breed that have retained many of the characteristics of their wild ancestors. Their diets are closer to goats than most sheep. Grass fed Icelandic lamb meat is lean and nutrient dense. The sheep also produce wool highly sought after by fiber artists.

Laying Hens provide us with delicious fresh eggs and a vegetarian protein source for our community. Our hens spend the growing season scratching up bugs, picking at pasture plants and eating organic grain.

Pasture Raised Broilers provide incredible fertility for our fields and pastures and whole chickens are highly sought after in our community. We raise a medium growing broiler using free choice certified organic feed and daily moves to fresh pasture.

Our Growing Practices

We strive for a self sufficient farm system by using a multi year sod based rotation that includes reduced tillage, intercropping, cover cropping, and animal integration.

Our practices and farm systems are greatly informed by the global movement for agroecology.

We utilize a 4-5 year rotation that weds modern agroecological principles with traditional eastern woodlands agricultural practices.

We hand plant and hand harvest all of the seeds we grow in order to continue deep relationship between our people and these sacred foods.

We utilize a streamlined mechanical cultivation system alongside hand pulling and hoeing. All crops are regularly monitored for pests and fertility. We never spray or fertilize with chemicals.

Our multi year rotation currently includes flint corn, sunflowers and cucurbits, dry beans, winter grains, and clover. We incorporate buckwheat strips to encourage beneficial insects and intersow cover crops to reduce weed populations.

Seed Saving

Saving seed with deep care is key for climate resilience, food security, cultural revitalization, community building and agricultural biodiversity. The work of restoring our seedways helps us build back the health of our community. As our seed grows strong and resilient so do our people. We are always looking to add seeds to our collection that are from our Nipmuc homelands and neighboring territories. Below are some of the beloved seeds we tend.

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Varieties We Tend

We are working hard to build back strong populations of healthy diverse seeds that are culturally significant. We are always looking to bring back seeds that are as close to what our ancestors would have grown. That being said, our ancestors traded and shared seed – so we do too. We are grateful to care for varieties not traditionally our own and to allow them to adapt and gain the resiliency for survival in our territory's climate. Below is a sampling of some of the seed we tend. While strong seed is a goal, so is feeding the people.