Preserving Ten Rod Farm
Words and Photos: Katharine Gaillard
Reprinted with Permission from Matt Scruton
Matt and Gretchen Scruton
The uniqueness of Rochester’s agricultural history illustrates itself in the life of Matt and Gretchen Scruton. The City of Rochester has decided to keep the land of
Ten Rod Farm “a farm in perpetuity,” Matt proudly declares. The 181-acre plot will never be developed so that Rochester’s roots stay in the ground.
The Scrutons have known farming would somehow weave itself into their path for a long time. Matt has since he grew up on Scruton’s Dairy farm, “unloading the truck and collecting empty milk crates and putting them back on the truck,” or otherwise helping his father each summer around the farm.
“I’ve always had an interest in agriculture and farming and this was an opportunity that we were excited about.” They lived nearby and saw the property go up for sale. “We were concerned that it might go under development” because the sellers “didn’t have any stipulations or restrictions on the farm,” the Scrutons say. To avoid developer invasion, they worked with the City of Rochester and
Southeast Land Trust of NH to put it under conservation and are pretty far along with that process at this point. In fact, they were recently awarded some federal funds to help with the conservation easement so this farm will stay a farm in perpetuity.
The Farmhouse on Ten Rod Farm
That is not to say it was easy. There were “lots of meetings from the period when we made the purchase in April until we closed in October; it was just this journey of meetings where it was totally up in the air,” Gretchen said.
Pushing through, the Scrutons mainly give credit to the community. Matt says, “there has been a lot of community support for this conservation easement to be put on the property because it has been such a significant part of the community for so many generations; it’s seen as an asset worth protecting.” Gretchen added that the people have been “incredible both on our Facebook page and any time we’ve opened the doors here. It would just be person after person coming and thanking us for keeping it a farm.”
A view of Gretchen’s vegetable garden in the foreground and hay fields beyond.
Gretchen confesses she hadn’t known as early as Matt that farming would be such a part of her life; in fact she is “a teacher” and will continue that during the school year. When she married somebody who grew up on a farm however, she says she “definitely saw farming as a possibility in my future.”
As soon as she finished that thought, Matt jumped in to add that education is “a great background because we are trying to educate the public on farming.” On Facebook, “we provide pictures, videos and general information to just try and show people what a farm does and how farms operate. I have fun with it,” Matt says with a laugh.
The Scruton’s walking through their fields.
Delving deeper into education, the couple hopes to “have workshops here at the farm: different speakers inviting people to come and learn. The Strafford County Farm Bureau meeting will be held here, and that’s open to the public.” Simply put, the Scrutons wish “to try and make this a place where people can come and learn about farming and see farming in action.” As there is more produce and crops to sell, there will be more opportunity to interact with the people as well and “hopefully teach them about the process.” The excitement over local food has reassured them with support and as Matt says, “people want to know who grows their food and where it’s coming from. We want to be able to provide them with that.”
As they finished listing all the ways they hope to include the already excited and supportive community, Matt shared, “another way to engage is to open it up for different events like weddings.” Once they finalize some renovations, they hope to invite all to enjoy the scenic beauty of the farm. Presently, they are working on finishing up the house and barn while haying the fields. They’ve made maple syrup, and still have some that they bottled in the spring. During the winter they sell Christmas trees and wreaths to keep the public engaged year-round. Some of their dreams are budding up as reality, most tangible with their newly purchased donut machine. “Everybody likes donuts,” Matt says with a knowing grin. Gretchen assures, “we have some practicing to do before we invite the public over for that, though.”
More seriously, they are pursuing becoming certified organic on part of their land, the only reason for not doing all is that it costs them per acre, so “that’s the limiting factor, not that we’d farm the rest of it any differently,” says Gretchen.
As for “the ten-year plan,” as she called it, “we are hoping to plant some trees to have an orchard and a pick-your-own.” Not limiting themselves to the plants, they may have animals down the road. In the past they have borrowed from Matt’s aunt who owns the Traveling Barnyard to provide some animal fun for kids visiting the farm, but they may add their own turkeys or cows someday. “For now we’re just haying,” Matt says.
Overall, “we’re just excited to be here and be farming,” Matt says. Gretchen, smiling at him adds that they are “just exploring opportunities at this point. It’s all dreams and trying to figure out what we can make a reality and when, and do our best to manage and provide the city of Rochester and other communities with the experiences of a farm.”
