History
In 1969 Joe and Sally Keith loaded up their car and their 4 small children and moved to Westport, Massachusetts. They selected rural Westport as the perfect place to raise their family. Sally had spent summers in Westport as a child and Joe in neighboring Dartmouth. They wanted their children to experience the joy and tranquility of open farm land and beautiful coastline. They purchased a historic farm on 37 acres and set up to lovingly restore the Georgian era home.
The first order of business ... turning an active dairy farm into a nursery complete with Garden Center and landscaping services. Joe and Sally believed in working the land and feeding their four children the healthiest of meals. Sally was a landscape designer and a master gardener long before the designation even existed. Organic gardening was a way of life and fortunately for the Keith children, Sally and Joe instilled in them an appreciation for a healthy existence with the land and community.
The Keith’s practiced it all on their organic and pesticide free farm ...companion planting & composting. Composting has always been a big part of sustaining the farm through returning a multitude of ingredients back to the earth. The compost is cultivated into the garden soil which leaves just the right mix to grow fabulous veggies! To this day we follow the organic practices and natural fertilizer recipes from Sally utilizing Green Sand, Dried Blood, Bone Meal, Wood Ashes and Compost to name a few.
The Keith’s raised chickens for eggs and one beef cow and four sheep a year.
Sally and Joe were awesome parents. They encouraged the kids and their friends to be involved in the community through organizations like 4-H, Ranger Ricks and Scouting programs. The farm always had a menagerie of dogs, cats, horses and pony’s and at one time a pig named Rufus ... son George’s 4H project.
In his role as President of the Farm Bureau, Joe was a proponent of the APR program from its inception. Sally made sure her family lived as close to off land as possible.
The farm is utilized in every way possible... the fields are used as pasture for beef cattle and for haying by a neighboring farm. The Keith’s grow produce for their family, two catering operations, locals markets and their own weekly farmers market.
Sally and Joe retired from the nursery business in 1980, but continued to farm the land well into their 80’s. Children, Kathryn, Lyn and George continue to sustain the farm in the same tradition today as their parents.
Lyn Is the current owner of The Keith Farm, she will continue to grow produce for both her catering businesses and many local business that have come to rely on The Keith Farm for fresh, locally grown veggies. Someday, she too will turn over the reins to the next generation.
The first order of business ... turning an active dairy farm into a nursery complete with Garden Center and landscaping services. Joe and Sally believed in working the land and feeding their four children the healthiest of meals. Sally was a landscape designer and a master gardener long before the designation even existed. Organic gardening was a way of life and fortunately for the Keith children, Sally and Joe instilled in them an appreciation for a healthy existence with the land and community.
The Keith’s practiced it all on their organic and pesticide free farm ...companion planting & composting. Composting has always been a big part of sustaining the farm through returning a multitude of ingredients back to the earth. The compost is cultivated into the garden soil which leaves just the right mix to grow fabulous veggies! To this day we follow the organic practices and natural fertilizer recipes from Sally utilizing Green Sand, Dried Blood, Bone Meal, Wood Ashes and Compost to name a few.
The Keith’s raised chickens for eggs and one beef cow and four sheep a year.
Sally and Joe were awesome parents. They encouraged the kids and their friends to be involved in the community through organizations like 4-H, Ranger Ricks and Scouting programs. The farm always had a menagerie of dogs, cats, horses and pony’s and at one time a pig named Rufus ... son George’s 4H project.
In his role as President of the Farm Bureau, Joe was a proponent of the APR program from its inception. Sally made sure her family lived as close to off land as possible.
The farm is utilized in every way possible... the fields are used as pasture for beef cattle and for haying by a neighboring farm. The Keith’s grow produce for their family, two catering operations, locals markets and their own weekly farmers market.
Sally and Joe retired from the nursery business in 1980, but continued to farm the land well into their 80’s. Children, Kathryn, Lyn and George continue to sustain the farm in the same tradition today as their parents.
Lyn Is the current owner of The Keith Farm, she will continue to grow produce for both her catering businesses and many local business that have come to rely on The Keith Farm for fresh, locally grown veggies. Someday, she too will turn over the reins to the next generation.
Organic Gardening and Farming,
October, 1974 New England's Organic Minded Nurseries, Featuring Horseneck Nurseries Whats happening in the old Northeast reflects the sound of garden-center revolution the country over – a new clamor for natural fertilizers, biological pest controls, organic soil-building materials and lots of organic food plants! |