Protected by: U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), CT Department of Agriculture, the Housatonic Valley Association, and Connecticut Farmland Trust
Year Protected: 2020
Acres: 301
For many families, the idea of conserving their land is like a seed – it takes many years to mature. For the Gustafson family, the seed was planted over a decade ago by the past generation of Gustafsons, who knew their 301-acre orchard and beef farm was something special that they wanted to preserve. That seed has finally come to fruition with the work of their descendants: cousins Katie Barnosky, Frank Gustafson, III, and Kristie Weidemier.
“We didn’t want to see it developed because my family worked so hard to keep the farm,” said co-owner Katie Barnosky on the family’s move to protect the land. The farm, centered between Judds Pond and Black Rock State Park, is well known to locals for its iconic rolling hills on either side of Linkfield Road and its popular farm store. The farm has been a popular destination for area families since 1907. The land boasts not only an orchard but well-maintained hayfields and acres for beef cattle grazing. The Gustafson family hopes to restore the orchard and produce fruits and vegetables to feed the Watertown community well into the future.
The preservation of Gustafson Farm was a complex feat of partnership. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Housatonic Valley Association, and CFT were each involved in the farm’s preservation.
The farm, which is large for a farm in suburban Connecticut, was preserved in three pieces to provide the family with more flexibility when it eventually becomes time to transfer or sell the property to the next generation of farmers. In total, 301 acres are now protected.