A New Era for Belgrade’s Winterberry Farm
“It’s been a beautiful life,” says Mary Perry of her beloved “one woman’s farm” on Route 27 in Belgrade. Twenty-five years ago she purchased the 40-acre property with the iconic mansard-roof barn and eight-bedroom Victorian farmhouse on a whim and a dream and today, with many of her visions accomplished, Mary is heading toward new life goals.
Established in 1870 by the Vernon Foster family, Winterberry Farm was originally a small dairy of Jersey cows where butter was made and shipped to Boston from the nearby Belgrade train depot. Later the farm raised a large flock of sheep for meat and wool. The original barn was destroyed by fire in 1890 and the current one rebuilt soon after, incorporating many Shaker construction qualities and a state-of-the-art, hay ventilation system. Today it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
In the 1950s, the living room of the farmhouse was the town office, run by Lauren Kelly, where residents would stop in to register their dogs or vehicles and pay property taxes. When Mary Perry purchased it in 1991, the property was vacant and ready for a lot of work.
“I started this farm and have always run it as a single Mom, single woman farmer. I am proud of what I have created and even prouder of the 3 children (Kenya, Gil and Sage) I have raised on this farm that are amazing humans and that know how to work and be creative with their choice of work.”
For years, Winterberry Farm has offered summer, winter and fall CSA programs of certified organic fresh vegetables for up to 300 members, supplied floral arrangements for enjoyment and special occasions, held numerous celebrations, including ox plowing day, cider pressing, sheep shearing and farm to table dinners and offered sleigh rides in winter. Three acres have been devoted to vegetables, supplemented by greenhouses, and a variety of animals have greeted guests and helped with running the farm.
In her cozy roadside stand, Mary has provided a wealth of preserved and baked goods, especially pies, pies, pies, all the while managing volunteers from the community and interns from all over the country and the world and homeschooling her three children. The lands have been improved, the barn well maintained, the house completely re-done a room a year and the property registered as a Forever Farm.
Winterberry’s next chapter could be a bed and breakfast, wedding venue, gentlemen’s farm, family retreat or maybe even a continuation of its last quarter century.
“Once you own a farm,” says Mary, “it is you, it becomes you and you become it…”
“We have left the soils and home and barn better than we found them and we hope to find someone else that will do the same…”
Mary will move in August to North Haven Island off the Maine coast where she is planning a flower business, North Haven Island Florals; selling pies from a food truck, “Eat Pie Love”; and writing books about her farm experiences. Before that, Winterberry Farm will be hosting a big farewell dinner for the community on July 7, farm camps for children (June 24–28 and July 22–26), two weekends of barn sales (June 21–23 and August 10–11), and an Open Farm Day (July 28) program. All summer there will be freshly baked pies every day, other baked goods and canned goods and an abundance of fresh vegetables and flowers at the farmstand. You can reach Mary at mylifeinmaine@aol.com.
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