By Layla Ennis and Kae Vargas
River Ridge Farm’s story is a tale of dreams realized and expanded.
On one of the first hot days this summer, we had the pleasure of meeting with Dakota and Matt, the passionate owners of River Ridge Farm. As we arrived, Matt came from tending to the fields and warmly greeted us. Without hesitating, he took us on a captivating tour of the farm.
Nestled in Portland, Connecticut, River Ridge Farm lies just off Route 66 and was an orchard in the early 1960s, before transitioning to a nursery in the 1980s. However, the CT Farmlink match in 2021, which led to its sale to Matt and Dakota, marked the beginning of a new chapter as a thriving no-till farm. Today, the farm boasts an impressive repertoire of 200 fruit, vegetable, and cut flower varieties. Matt and Dakota’s four-season operation spans 32-acres between crops, greenhouses, and woodlands. They even have a farmer’s market stand in Middletown.
Dakota and Matt met during a summer apprenticeship on a farm in Maine. Northern New England has a bigger agricultural community than Connecticut and they hoped to spark that same sense of community farther south. Matt, a native of Connecticut, explained, “We wanted to bring some of the northern New England agricultural spirit to Connecticut.” Dakota had learned about CT Farmlink through her previous job with Land For Good. Once Dakota and Matt’s mind were set on owning their own farm, they began searching CT Farmlink for lease-to-ownership connections. Their search began in 2016 looking at a property in Torrington with Kip Kolesinskas, CT Farmlink’s consulting conservation scientist.
Finally, in 2020, their perseverance paid off as they found their first CT Farmlink match, and they entered a two-year lease-to-ownership contract. Despite pouring their hearts into the agricultural work on that property, the option to buy fell through due to a pre-existing process of preserving the land.
Matt and Dakota chose to resume their CT Farmlink search and persistence paid off again! In November of 2021 they moved into their newly purchased farmland equipped with a large farmhouse and farming infrastructure. Dakota spoke positively about the previous owner and his help answering questions about the land.
On our tour of the property, Matt explained his hopes for the future including expanding the strawberry fields to facilitate a “you-pick” strawberry operation, restoring greenhouses, and eventually raising pigs in the woodlands. As we walked alongside the outskirts of the field, Matt pointed out the wedding arbor in the back of the fields where he and Dakota had recently celebrated their wedding, signaling their deepening connection to each other and the farm.
“We wanted to bring some of the northern New England agricultural spirit to Connecticut.”
Farmer Matt, River Ridge Farm
Amidst this personal tour Matt revealed a surprising fact: that despite having been utilized as farmland for over one hundred years, there are no conservation easements protecting River Ridge Farm’s land. For Dakota and Matt, the next crucial step in their journey is ensuring protection of River Ridge Farm for future generations.
It takes a strong community to build a strong agricultural base, and CFT thanks its community of supporters for making it possible for us to help farmers like Dakota and Matt!
