Allandale Farm, located seven miles from downtown Boston, straddles the Boston and Brookline town lines and is nestled between houses, a private school, and a hospital. The property has streams, hills, woodlands, greenhouses, residences, and the original stables. Considered large for a New England family farm, it is approximately 130 acres, and like most New England farms the land is not flat. It has shallow bedrock soil, making only thirty or so acres useful for growing crops.
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William Fletcher Weld purchased the property in the mid-1800s, and five generations of his family have lived on it. Since then, and well into the mid-1950s, the land was farmed and maintained to sustain the family and staff who lived there. Food was grown, harvested, and stored for year-round consumption. Chickens were raised for their eggs and pigs for their meat. Orchards provided many varieties of apples, pears, and plums. Ponds were dug to produce ice for the icehouses.
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Stables were filled with horses, and workhorses plowed the fields. For a short period a small timber mill recycled the trees that fell on the property. The property remained in the same family for over 200 years and was a well-run, relatively self-sufficient family estate. To this day it is one of the oldest privately held family farms in the United States.
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Allandale Farm specializes in sustainably grown fresh produce on the farm and marketed primarily through its own retail market. The fieed crops are Certified Naturally Grown using organic methods. The farm specializes in hardy annual and perennial plants in the spring, cut flowers and vegetables in season, and mums, pumpkins, fresh native turkeys and Christmas trees as the season winds down. They grow 90 crops a year such as Jerusalem artichokes, cauliflower, broccoli, a variety of carrots, lettuce, arugula, radish, turnips and basically any vegetable you can grow in the northeast. Allandale is mostly known for their tomatoes. They grow 35 different varieties such as cherry, heirloom, and red hybrid tomatoes. Local tomato lovers, such as Chef Steven Brand, can’t wait until they harvest in late July through mid-September.
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In addition to Allandale’s plentiful crops, they have a farm stand, garden center and a wonderful summer program for children. For more information about Allandale Farm, visit allendalefarm.com or call (617) 524-1531.
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