Peterborough’s last dairy farm was started in the late 1930s by Lloyd Vose, member of a longtime dairy family in Peterborough. Cyndy and Gary Martell took the dairy over in the 1980s with a registered Jersey line they bred and named “Winn Mountain Jerseys” after a nearby favorite mountain.
Sunnyfield Farm today is owned and operated by Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center as one of its vocational and social rehabilitation programs. Managed by farmers Ruth and Dan Holmes, the farm sells to the public a wide range of fare including raw milk and cream, eggs, vegetables, and meat—all produced following grass-fed, organic, and free-range practices.
When the dairy passed from Vose to Martell, it was conserved as a working farm by means of an agricultural easement initiated by neighbors eager to conserve what’s often called “the working landscape.
The Holmeses host a Wednesday potluck breakfast for local farmers to discuss farm issues. Eggs, milk, bacon, Plowshare Farm bread and yogurt. “Other than the coffee,” says Ruth, it’s all farm-produced. Here is Ruth’s July raspberry muffin recipe.
Sunnyfield Farm
Photo by Francie Von Mertens
This cow is a Brown Swiss named Amen. Ruth Holmes says that Brown Swiss are known for their sweet temperaments, and they give a milk deliciously high in butterfat.
Photo by Francie Von Mertens
Photo by Francie Von Mertens
Photo by Francie Von Mertens
Photo by Steve Lipofsky
Photo by Steve Lipofsky
Photo byJoanna Eldredge Morrissey
Photo byJoanna Eldredge Morrissey
Photo byJoanna Eldredge Morrissey
Photo by Mike Blattenberg
1½ cups raspberries
¾ cups sugar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup whole germ white flour
1 T baking powder ½ tsp. salt
½ cup Farm milk
1 Farm egg, slightly beaten
4 T melted Farm butter
Coat raspberries in sugar and let sit a bit (don’t drain); combine ingredients; bake at 400° for 20–30 minutes