Welcome to "What’s New"!
Here’s where you’ll be linked to current picking conditions and pictures of the week, and find information on other activities that we would like to highlight.

Projects for 2006.
Have you gotten wind of the new renewable energy project at Cider Hill Farm? We were recently awarded three grants from the Massachusetts Technology Cooperative that will assist us in the construction of three, 10kW wind turbines to provide on-farm electric power. As strong believers in sustainable agriculture and renewable energy, we are delighted with the awards and look forward to sharing our enthusiasm and conservation information with our farm visitors. It is our hope that the turbine installations will be completed this summer, but wind farming is new to our town and our neighbors, so new rules and permitting procedures may have to be put in place before we proceed.

The entrance to our farm has undergone a major facelift with the completion of new stone walls, paved walkways, and expanded outdoor display areas. As we progress through the months of May and June, these outdoor areas will come to life as we use them to demonstrate the application and beauty of the annuals and perennials that we offer.

This spring we will also finish the work on two relocated blueberry fields which feature some new wonder varieties from Oregon, as well as many of the favorite New England blueberries. We have taken two years to build up the soil in the new fields with many loads of compost, all the while adjusting the pH with sulfur so that the young plants would love their new home, and indeed they are settling in and thriving.

Become a "friend".
On the contact page, you’ll notice that we invite you to become a 'friend'.  What does this mean?  Well, we’d love to build an e-mail address book of those customers who would like to be kept up to date about specials, peak-picking conditions, and new crops (believe it or not, but most people don’t know when the apricots are ready). So sign-up and we'll keep you posted.

Cider Hill "On the Road".
We’re involved with the Green Meadows Farm CSA in Hamilton and with the Marblehead, Salem, and Melrose Coops which supply in-season, weekly fruits and vegetable to over 300 families. Our involvement with this progressive CSA activity now spans more than ten years.

Cider Hill Farm also travels to two farmers markets each week. These include a Tuesday market in Saugus, and a Saturday market in Marblehead. Harvesting, loading, delivering, and selling our products is very demanding of our farm crew but serves a great purpose in making quality fruits and vegetables available to new customers.

Our international staff.
We have awesome employees who love what they do. Gail continues to operate our farm store and has created such a welcoming environment for our employees as well as our customers that she is able to bring back the same wonderful crew year after year, which is no easy task for a seasonal business.

The field crew is an interesting group of young men. We’ve been hosting international exchange students out of universities worldwide for almost 15 years, and have now brought over 50 of these interns into our home and business. They work hard while they are with us, but find the experience invaluable when they return home.  Many go on to take over family farms, start new businesses, or work for large companies, where their English language skills and understanding of USA agriculture open many doors. We’ve stayed in touch with many of these friends over the years and have even visited some in their native countries. This spring, our earliest arriving interns will come from Romania and South Africa. Later, others will arrive from locations still undetermined, with exception of one very important local addition. That 'special' intern is Chadd, the youngest son of Glenn and Karen (and Ed and Eleanor's grandson) who will work in the fields and markets this summer and then head off to UMass Stockbridge to learn how to do it all the 'right way'.

We look forward to our growing experience with you!