York Town News
Holding on to the family farm
By Melissa Wood
Editor's note: this is the second report in a special series on York's Blaisdell Farm.
Over the past two centuries, the Blaisdell family has had to adapt to changing times in order to sustain the Blaisdell Brothers Farm, which has its roots on this land along the York River stretching back to 1772. The family now raises beef cattle on the farm, though for many years it was a full-scale dairy operation. With the work on the farm also comes need to maintain and improve its buildings, including the “white barn,” which is currently being restored by local resident Richard Bartlett.
Courtesy photos
YORK - How does a family meet the demands of balancing work, family and maintaining a farm business that includes 50 cattle, two barns, open fields that must be mowed for hay, vegetable gardens, a maple syrup stand and numerous farm equipment needing constant care - and still manage to survive in a town where rabid population growth is so high that people must wait at least four years to obtain a residential building permit?
For members of the Blaisdell family, working together to run the farm on Southside Road that has been in their family for 235 years comes naturally because they've always lived the farm life.
"Basically we all kind of grew up doing whatever," explained Mike Blaisdell, who said that although most of the work on the farm where the family raises cattle for freezer beef is done by his cousin Tom and uncle Henry, other members fit into their schedule what work allows. "You kind of got to open your mouth if you need the extra help."
Each family member takes on different responsibilities. Tom's wife Doris and his sister Cherie, for example, maintain a garden where they grow squash, pumpkins, sunflowers and gourds to sell at the roadside by the gray barn, along with pickles and preserves, dry flowers and maple syrup, beginning in late summer through mid-fall.
The family also harvests forest products from some of the trees on their property, which runs along both sides of the road and down to the York River below.
The main business, however, are the grass-fed beef cattle that the family raises, slaughters and sells custom to local people for freezer beef. Tom is mostly responsible for this task, working in the abattoir or slaughterhouse to cut up and package the beef. People can purchase either a quarter or side in labeled packages.
"It's all ready to go in the freezer," said Tom.
His aunt Charlotte Blaisdell Proctor, sister to Henry and the late James Blaisdell, said they tell people to use cooking spray or butter on the grill or pan when cooking the meat because it doesn't have the fat content found in store-bought beef. The Blaisdells also admitted that whenever they go out to eat, they never get steak or hamburger because they're too used to the good stuff.
"People that buy beef here really compliment on the burgers," said Charlotte.
Upkeep
Running a family farm also means paying for maintenance on the buildings and equipment needed for the operation, and the fuel to run tractors and other equipment.
"Probably the hardest part of the farm is the constant upkeep," said Mike.
Currently, the so-called "white barn," which was erected in the early 1900s after the original barn burned down and is on property owned by Mike, is undergoing a renovation by local resident Richard Bartlett. His work includes jacking up the barn and putting up bracing where wood has been rotted by water that has seeped in and frozen, causing damage to the walls and foundation.
The white barn is home to the cattle and is where hay is stored in the loft. The barn's suspended design, with outer walls and roof holding up the floors with large steel rods, allows for clear openings on each floor, making it easier to move hay in the upper levels, animals on the second level and manure on the bottom level.
Unfortunately, this type of design is not as structurally sound as a traditional post-and-beam barn. Over the years, beams and blocks have been added and replaced to make up for the weaknesses, filling up the once open areas on the first and second floors and causing a wave in the ceilings and floor.
The white barn is just one of the many buildings that the family must constantly maintain and update to meet the current needs of the farm. Next to the white barn, the slaughterhouse was once a bottling facility for the dairy operation. A milk room is now used for storage. Down the road the "gray barn," which was once used as a traditional barn, is now used as a secondary building for storage of equipment and feed, as well as the home the chickens have had to stay in lately because of a fox in the neighborhood. Next door, the old corn house, once used for drying, decobbing and packing corn, then general storage, has now been renovated into a home where Tom and Doris live.
The next 100 years
It is springtime on the Blaisdell Farm. The hay that was cut last year and filled the loft of the white barn has been eaten and cows now graze the open field - all except three expectant mothers who must wait in the barn for their calves to be born before they can also roam the field. The bull has been lent to another farm, and in July the cows will cross together from one side of Southside Road to the other.
Although the farm has been in operation in some form or another - family farm, dairy farm or beef cattle - for more than two centuries, the current zoning in York labels the animals and operation as nonconforming, which can make it difficult for the family as they come up with strategies for making the farm work for the 21st century.
"It's all nonconforming use," said Tom. "You're not allowed to really expand."
Tom said that before the subdivision was developed on nearby Jeffrey Drive, the landowners were approached by someone who wanted to have a horse farm. However, the zoning does not allow animal breeding or the inclusion of a tack shop since the only goods that can be sold are ones that are produced at the farm.
Although breeding of the cows is allowed at the Blaisdell Brothers Farm, it is only because the breeding of cows on the land predates the zoning that restricted the horse farm that was not to be.
"Most people want to see a gentleman's farm, not a working farm," said Tom.
Tom said although the cows have occasionally strayed down to Jeffrey Drive, the neighborhood's residents have been very supportive for the most part.
"I'm sure they like the openness," he said.
Tom closely follows the town zoning changes and has looked at other ideas for raising money on the farm. One idea - a corn maize - was not an option because the zoning in that area east of Route 1 does not allow for recreational uses.
"Tom goes to a lot of meetings for different farm-related things," said Doris. "That's always good to talk to other farmers and see how they're doing things."
Other family members also look at other farms in the area for ideas. Cherie said she went to a wedding at a farm that was held inside the barn as a way for the farm to make extra money. She said that in one of the buildings she noticed a large drain in the middle of the floor and, unlike most guests, realized that it was the farm's old slaughterhouse.
"I know what this is now," she joked.
Mike checks out other farms as he travels around the region as an insurance adjuster for his company Atlantic Adjusters. Henry said that Mike visited a farm in Massachusetts and learned that it was exempt from town zoning, and just had to comply with state zoning laws.
"It pretty much knocked us over," said Henry.
The Blaisdells have been coming up with new ideas to make the farm work for many generations. Since 1772, when Elijah Blaisdell bought the property, the farm has been a family farm that sustained a growing family, a full-scale dairy operation that delivered milk to the homes and schools of York and a retail meat business where cattle are slaughtered for freezer beef. The family hopes to add a maple sugar shack, but is not sure it will be allowed because of state-mandated shoreland protection that calls for increased setbacks from the York River.
"We are small, and it seems we have to diversify and have these commercial ventures to survive," said Tom.
