FARM PROFILE Trombley Gardens: A busy farm where hospitality doesn't have a season

PULL QUOTE: The pandemic revealed to the owners of Trombley Gardens that it wasn't just about the food; it was about something more. Fall is the busiest time of year for Trombly Gardens. Not only is it the height of harvest for their 60 acres of produce, but it is also a Halloween destination. &emsp;&emsp;Some come for the cow train or hay rides. Others come for the pick-your-own carving pumpkins or corn maze. Mini pumpkins, sugar pumpkins and specialty gourds are all available at the farm stand. &emsp;&emsp;Although their cut flower garden is still in high harvest, matriarch Sue Trombly grows an additional greenhouse of 3,000 chrysanthemums from seed. The entire commercial kitchen has also started making its apple cider donuts, and the farm hosts live music regularly on the cornstalk-laden porch on weekend nights. &emsp;&emsp;If all that isn't enough to get you into the Halloween spirit, join the 8,000 people who traverse the Dark Woods New Hampshire haunted trail directed by Chad Zingales. &emsp;&emsp;"Fall is the busiest and craziest time we have because of how many moving pieces we have," says Alicia Kurlander, partner to third-generation farmer Sean Trombly. &emsp;&emsp;After visiting the farm in the fall, one might determine that the Tromblys have some sort of special relationship with Halloween, that it is one family going hog-wild for a holiday. But you would be wrong. This is one busy farm where hospitality doesn't have a season; it's all year round. &emsp;&emsp;The COVID pandemic was a turning point for this fourth-generation farm. In the fall of 2019, they had just completed construction on their new year-round farm stand designed to be a one-stop dinner destination. The stand sold beef, pork and lamb from the farm and prepared whole meals, sides and baked goods in their full kitchen. The store was also stocked with local milk, with plans to bring in fresh produce from the Boston Market in the farm's off-season. &emsp;&emsp;When the pandemic reduced people's ability to get to stores farther afield, the team at Trombly's lept into action. Trombly was making bi-weekly trips to the Boston Market. Kurlander was making increasingly longer orders to her food supplier, packaging up individual portions for curbside pick-up, and even doing delivery when necessary. &emsp;&emsp;"When you couldn't get flour and hand sanitizer, Sean was getting up at three in the morning to drive to Boston every day to get supplies," says Kurlander. &emsp;&emsp;These efforts connected more people to the farm and forged loyal, long-lasting relationships with new customers. &emsp;&emsp;As things slowly opened up again, the farm was the first place many went. The experience showed Kurlander what an important place the farm was to the many people who came there. It wasn't just about the food; it was about something more. &emsp;&emsp;"That experience was the precedent. We were there for them, and now the customers are here for us," says Kurlander. &emsp;&emsp;Trombly and Kurlander started brainstorming ways to welcome more people to the farm. They also began attending events put on by the North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association, which share and promote ways to encourage agro-tourism. Some of the investments of this endeavor were a pick-your-own strawberry patch and a menagerie close to the store for children to visit. They also started hosting events and now have committed to a busy annual roster of monthly events. &emsp;&emsp;In the spring of 2022, when they first started having events, they invited the public to meet the farm's baby animals. Pigs, calves, sheep and chicks were making their entrance into the world daily in the fields, but Kurlander didn't stop at who was available on the farm. She also brought in puppies, kittens and baby rabbits to fill the hoop house. Three hundred children visited the baby animals before finishing the day with farm animal cookies, cupcakes and ice cream from the farm store. &emsp;&emsp;Other events they have hosted include strawberry and Mother's Day festivals with plant-your-own flowers, charcuterie boards, and horse-drawn carriages. At the end of summer, the farm had just hosted its first lobster festival with grilled lobsters, new potatoes and sweet corn harvested from the farm, accompanied by a steel drum band. The farm is also part of the Harvest Hosts network, which allows self-contained RV travelers to stay at the farm. &emsp;&emsp;Besides the hosting, connecting good people with good food is still the heart of the operation. The food they raise and grow is what drives the events, and the customers drive what they grow and what stocks the farm store shelves. The farm also still offers a weekly vegetable CSA and a meat CSA. They also pre-order fish from Boston Pier and make the round-trip delivery back to the farm store. During the busiest times of the pandemic, the Trombly Farm website was a flurry of online sales. Activity on the website is mainly confined to buying event tickets, and the real action is back where it should be: in the store and the fields, together again on the farm. BOX: Trombley Gardens 150 North River Road Milford, NH 03055 603-673-0647 tromblygardens.net