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Contact Information Who We Are Over a decade ago, the Wentworth Family acquired a farm that had originally been given as a form of payment to a returning Civil War soldier. Eleven families worked the farm; some raising cattle, some raising crops, others planting berries and orchard fruits. And one even planted twelve maple trees along the side of the orchard, single file and uniformly spaced apart. That farmer knew he would never live to see them mature enough to be tapped, but he had a dream that some day, someone would. Generations passed, the fields grew over, the orchard was overcome with thorn bushes and wood roses, and the land and outbuildings were abandoned. When Dale & Janice Wentworth first walked the land, they saw everything it ever was and began to dream of what it could be. They immediately named the farm in honor of all the families that ever lived and worked there – The Warren Farm – named for that area of the town. They cleared the land, opened up the orchard, plowed the fields, and carved out a pasture. And then they saw the maples, evenly spaced feet apart in a straight, downhill line, and tapped them. At once they felt a connection to the past – to the efforts of all those generations and to the great tradition of maple production. This is how their own dream took shape, with the realization that the past was always connected to the present. They wanted to share this dream with others. Today The Warren Farm & Sugarhouse produces not only pure maple syrup and maple confections, it also has a line of over 60 specialty food products. Many of these products use maple syrup as a gourmet ingredient, or contain fruits, berries, herbs, and vegetables grown by them on the farm. This theme is evident throughout the Wentworths’ gourmet specialty foods line, as it represents the best of New England’s flavors. Their products have also become the basis for one of the most unique catering services in the region – catered maple dinners – where every item on the menu contains maple syrup as a gourmet ingredient. Their work has been recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources in several ways. They won the award for "Outstanding Product Line" in 2001 at the Massachusetts Marketplace trade Show, received a state grant to construct a commercial production center at the farm for their product line, and were recently named as one of the Mass. D.A.R.’s "150 Faces of Agriculture". The Wentworths’ wholesale their maple product line to the rest areas along the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Johnny Appleseed Trail for visitors to take back home, and they have exported some of their specialty foods overseas as well. The Warren Farm & Sugarhouse is fully licensed for food production and food service at both local and state levels. It is listed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Production Bioterrorism Act registry, and, upon recent inspection by its New England Regional Office, was found to be in full compliance with the requirements therein. |
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Copyright 2002 - The Warren Farm &
Sugarhouse |