“Comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love.” Song of Solomon 2:5.
There is no way to summarize in words the intrinsic bliss of spending an autumn afternoon picking apples. Wandering the rows of tightly packed, gnarly trees with branches so heavy with pommes that they look like overly decorated Christmas trees, you can’t help but be present. Some orchards are quiet and serene and you can hear the snap of each apple twig as you gently roll and pull it off the branch. Some orchards sing with the laughter of children and the happy conversations of passengers as they ride on tractor pulled wagons around the farm. No matter if you find yourself picking apples alone like it is your own paradise, or have family and friends along for the hunt, the thrill of gathering this most beloved fruit holds a simple pleasure that is lost on most modern day food acquiring processes. It doesn’t hurt that New England orchards are also the apple of everyone’s eye when it comes to apple orchards and Pick Your Own perfection.
The first recording of an apple in North America was in 1623 in Massachusetts. It was a Roxbury Russet, a richly flavored apple with a citrusy flavor and a defining rough, brown skin. Prior to colonists bringing them over from Europe, the North American continent only had Crabapples. The European settlers brought apples to America as a symbol of continuity -a sentimental connection to their homelands. At this time most apples were not used for fresh eating, but for cider making -both fresh and hard. Nearly any apple high in tannins (a naturally occurring compound found in apples and other fruits that adds astringency) will work for cider. Even apples referred to as “spitters” because they were so astringent that they were spit out after one bite could be utilized for the best resulting cider.
Apple cider was more than just a seasonal beverage, it was the main drink for the colonists as it was safer to drink than water and offered nutrients and sugar to an otherwise often sparce diet. In addition to being used for cider, apples were a valuable part of the colonist diet as they could be baked, sauteed, eaten raw, dried, made in to vinegar, and used to feed livestock. Apples became such an integral part of the early American diet that anyone who had even a small garden grew their own apple trees.
Apple varieties were expanded upon and experimented with. For example, you cannot grow a Roxbury Russet from the seeds of a Roxbury Russet. The seeds do not yield true to the parent. Instead, a branch from the Roxbury Russet must be grated onto root stock from another apple tree -one usually selected for a sturdy trunk or being cold hardy. Grafting was perfected by early colonists and the quality of apples available began to expand throughout New England. This means that when you bite into any variety of apple, you are essentially biting into a direct descendant of the original tree that the variety was started on.
There was one person, whoever, that believed grafting an apple tree was unethical and cruel to the tree. He was a Massachusetts born, literate (rare for the time), rugged, social anomaly known for being a naturalist, passivist, Native American supporting, anti-materialist, herbalist, whose spiritual beliefs were based in nature. His name was John Chapman, or as American lore has deemed him, Johnny Appleseed.
Referred to as America’s First Great Walker and a pioneer nurseryman, Chapman traveled from the East Coast to the Midwest carrying apple seeds that he collected from places like the back of Ale Houses where the pulp from cider pressing was discarded. He would sift through the pulp, take and cure the seeds, and then choose about three acres of land before accelerating natural selection by planting the seeds in neat rows and fostering orchard growth for forthcoming settlers.
Chapman also acquired land of his own and sold and gave away thousands of seedlings to pioneers traveling West. It is impossible to know how many orchards or trees he planted in his fifty years of propagating and establishing apple orchards. One thing that is known by his refusal to graft apple trees and only use seeds is that these orchards were planted, not to feed people with fresh fruit, rather to make apple cider to sustain people through harsh Midwest winters. When Chapman passed away in 1845 he owned 1,200 acres of planted land and had established countless orchards that were sold off to and now inhabited by pioneers.
During the 1800’s America began to ship apples to England and the West Indies. They were packed in barrels and transported in rough seas so only the sturdiest and longest lasting varieties (like Roxbury Russets) were used. Apples were shipped mainly from Portland and Boston and soon apples were a notable part of the American trade. As a result America began to expand their little private orchards and the first large scale orchards were opened.
Apple cider remained the king of beverage and hearth until the mid-1800’s when German immigrants brought a new drink with them -one that proved just as popular and quickly displaced cider as the preferred average beverage: Beer. Cider also fell out of favor under the new temperance movement. The Temperance movement gained momentum and alcohol consumption went from a normalized, daily practice and safer alternative to water to a stigmatized, socially unacceptable practice. Early American apple orchards were forced to destroy and burn cider-specific trees and focus entirely on apple production for fresh eating or processing as food.
With the downfall of cider, the apple industry had to remake itself. In 1904 the World’s Fair in St. Louis provided that opportunity. Professor J.T. Stinson, a 20th century fruit specialist, gave an address to the crowd at the fair. Stinson lectured on the health benefits of apples and during this presentation he coined the phrase, “An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away.” This single phrase took hold and sparked a nationwide interest in eating fresh apples for the health benefits. The most popular varieties at the time of the fresh apple movement were Northern Spy, Rhode Island Greening, and Baldwin -all New England varieties.
American continued to grow and enjoy a wide variety of apples until 1933 when a harsh winter killed over a million Baldwin trees. Orchardists and pomologists began to look for a variety that was cold hardy to avoid this agricultural tragedy again. The Mcintosh was discovered and valued for its cold resistance and high yield production. Soon, many other heirloom varieties were lost for more generic, hardy counterparts. In the mid 1830’s there were around 17,000 varieties of apples in North America. Today there are only about 2,500 varieties and only 100 are grown commercially in the United States. It is likely that only five or six kinds can be found at the local supermarket.
Apple orchards continued to find new ways to thrive in an increasingly modern world. In 1970’s there was a lifestyle movement where people wanted to eat food that was local, fresh, and ethically grown. With a return to respecting nature and connecting with food and food sources responsibly and sustainably, a new way of farming was born: Pick Your Own. Orchards such as Jaswell’s Farm in Rhode Island began to offer their goods directly to the consumer -often including things like hayrides, baked pies, and fresh apple cider. Soon apple orchards became not only a place to purchase food, but a place to be a part of the farm and harvest experience.
Today New Englanders are still enjoying the best of what orchards have to offer. Though less than 2% of our nations fresh apples come from New England, it is a well known fact that New England apple orchards set the standard for Pick-Your-Own. New England is also the heart of preservation, education, and propagation for heirloom varieties of apple. If you are looking for the perfect autumn afternoon adventure that will likely result in wandering the rows of fruit-laden trees, a bit of taste testing between varieties, and perhaps even some baked goods cooling on your windowsill, then here is a list of ten of the best ranked apple orchards in New England. Don’t miss the chance between now and the first hard frost to participate in this pastime that is as American as apple pie.
Alyson’s Orchard, New Hampshire
Red Apple Farm, Massachusetts
Lyman Orchards, Connecticut
Shelburn Orchards, Vermont
Applecrest Farm Orchards, New Hampshire
Champlain Orchards, Vermont
Scott Farm, Vermont
Super Chilly Farm, Maine
Sauchuk’s Farm, Massachusetts
Rocky Brook Orchard, Rhode Island

While reading Tasha Tudors Corgiville Fair as a young girl, I was enchanted by the lovely, though fictional, village of Corgiville. In her many children’s books, the New England native author often depicted life and scenes from historic, rural New England. Her artwork and stories were largely based on her own life in Vermont and surrounding New England areas -all rich with forests, farms, gardens, traditions, antique homes, slow living, and a fierce loyalty to their community. The villages Tudor wrote about were nothing short of emotive with little gazebos in the center and dirt roads lined with quaint shops and historic municipal buildings that were the prize of every town.
In addition to the idyllic settings, the characters in these stories were often varied -from upstanding, well put-on figures to mischievous miscreants who loved to stir up trouble. Town meetings were lively events where business was conducted successfully even if there was a bit of hearty debate and turmoil. Still, every character in these New England-based stories had a role and each was accepted for the order or lack thereof they added to their towns. As an impressionable reader growing up in a largely suburban, overdeveloped area where you had to drive to get to any real nature and any of us valley dwellers would have been floored to see so much a squirrel or rabbit in the yard, the world Tudor wrote about and drew hardly seemed real.
Years later, after sheer determination, a little pestering, and pure luck, I found myself with my own family settled in Massachusetts. Nine moves all over the country had resulted in the gift of finally living in the place I dreamed about as a girl. While no place is without problems and less than lovely characteristics can be found anywhere, overall New England exceeded what I had dreamed about for so long.
After a few years in Plymouth a search for pumpkins for the school harvest festival led me to seek out a farm called Sauchuk’s. On a quintessential autumnal afternoon I exited the freeway and suddenly found myself in what looked like the New England countryside I had read about in Tudor’s stories. I was instantly in awe of the towering pines and jewel-colored trees in lush droves along quiet country roads, the cozy antique Cape’s festooned with mums and pumpkins, a little gazebo on a town green that would make any Gilmore Girl’s Fan proud, thoughtfully curated farm stands dotting every street I turned on, and horses grazing in the autumn sun. I had found heaven -or more precisely, Plympton.
After that day I could not get that little town out of my head. When we began to look for a permanent home I had to add Plympton to the areas to search. Of course, anyone who lives here knows that there isn’t usually much available and I rather gave up hope of finding anything in that slice of New England heaven I had visited the year before. After a few months I decided to look one more time and there it was, the perfect place for my family to call home. When we purchased our home, now named Peaceful Pines Farm, we chose it strictly based on the surrounding area and land. What I could not have known or expected was that the townspeople in Plympton are just as special as the nature here.
Before moving in I connected with a few Plympton locals on an Instagram account I started for our farm. They noticed the hashtag “#Plymptonma” and had to “investigate” as one of them told me. Newcomers, even on social media, were noticed. Within months of settling into our home I was asked to be part of a barn dance committee to save at-risk land in our town from development. I was introduced to what I was told was “the belly of the town” in terms of residents who were known for frequently stepping up to offer their time and efforts whenever needed. After living in so many places all over the country I left the first meeting thinking that in all my nation-wide wanderings I had never met a group of people as welcoming and down to earth as the people I met that night.
Our little town was able to not only put together a never to be forgotten barn dance event for the community, but we raised enough money to help preserve the land that would have otherwise been developed. It was the first time I had seen a community rally together in such a way for the greater good of one another and their local environment. It was also the first time I saw what the people of Plympton are capable of. As an outsider and newcomer to the New England area (though I have never been made to feel like an outsider in Plympton) I have made some observations through the years about the many things, big and small, that greatly contrast any other place I have lived, and help Plympton give Tudor’s Corgiville a run for its money in terms of being a place where anyone is lucky to live.
As that first year progressed through the seasons, my family and I got to see Plympton’s magic further unfold. One of the first memorable Plympton events my family and I experienced was a holiday gathering at the gazebo featuring carolers and Mr. and Mrs. Claus followed by hot chocolate and cookies at the First Congregational Church. That same December, a Christmas tree farm in town was mentioned at a gathering with friends and that is how my family started our now annual tree hunting expedition and found that wandering Schatten Berg farm to search for the perfect Christmas tree feels more like exploring an enchanted Bavarian forest than just visiting a farm down the road.
The first winter in a new town could have been predicably isolating, but in Plympton it brought new connections and adventures with fellow townspeople through becoming part of the Plympton Historical Society Board. I was thrilled to learn that Plympton had its own compilation of tales published and available for purchase in two books, Tales of Old Plympton, Volumes I and II, compiled by Eugene A. Wright. Out west, where I grew up, I would have never heard of such a thing. Perhaps people from this area don’t realize that having a recorded collection of tales and events (a little fact mixed with a little amusing fiction) gathered from multiple people who lived in town is a bit of an American annal spanning generations and is a rare treat!
On St. Patrick’s Day, the Plympton Historical Society put on a potluck for the town with Irish dancers performing. The tables had craft paper runners on them and people were encouraged to write down an “Irish Blessing” for someone. When the event was over, the tables were full of wonderful sentiments and well wishes for our town and everyone in it. I was so moved that I took pictures of these sentiments to add to my personal town photo album.
The second year living in Plympton while there was still snow on the ground, I attended my first meeting for the Plympton Garden Club. I was introduced to some of the most inspiring gardeners I had ever met with decades of horticultural wisdom and experience combined. Years later, while starting the Plympton Flower Show, long-time members of the Plympton Garden Club loaned my Flower Show partner and I the old Plympton Flower Show program booklets for reference. We were astonished to see the rich heritage former generations of the Plympton Garden Club left behind. Today the Garden Club is equally stocked with an array of seasoned gardening and horticultural experts as well as people who are new to gardening and eager to learn from the sage wisdom in the group. Most places I lived before did not even have a local garden club so to find one that is such an integral part of the community made me swoon over Plympton all the more.
With warmer weather, spring sports season began for my children. I observed the behind the scenes efforts of a thriving town youth athletics program and was impressed with the dedication and energy voluntarily given by local parents to run the Plympton Athletic Youth Sports organization. Hours of time are freely given by mothers and fathers for practices and games as well as running an adorable Snack Shack (thank you for adding the Venmo for us cash- forgetting parents), picture days, and the much-anticipated Opening Day where all baseball, softball, and Tee-ball players march in uniform through the center of town to Holt Field for their first games and a cookout afterward. While private and competition sports leagues have their appeal, town sports programs like PAYS create a place where local children can feel they belong and are valued in their community as well as reaping the mental and physical benefits that team sports provide.
As a mother of four children, ages 19-8, and two decades of moving I was no stranger to enrolling my children in various schools across the country and seeing how each school coexisted in the community. After a few short weeks I immediately noted that the Dennett volunteer parent group, Community and School Association or CASA, work exceptionally hard to provide plenty of family-friendly events for the children of Plympton to enjoy throughout the year. With traditions like the annual Talent Show, the Harvest Fair, the Halloween Dance, Trunk-or-Treat, Thanksgiving Dinner for lunch, a Holiday Bazaar, and frequent Staff Appreciation Luncheons with meals and dishes donated by parents, CASA is consumed year-round organizing and hosting events that are meant to bring the families in our community together to have fun.
In addition to such town-wide effort to provide fun and enrichment for the families and children of Plympton, I noticed how very altruistic the first responders in our town are in supporting and interacting with the youth of Plympton in addition to excelling in their crucial duties to serve and protect our town. My youngest never missed a Touch-a-Truck event at the Fire Station and it was quite endearing to watch the Fire Department play the Dennett sixth graders in a neck and neck basketball game last winter. Each morning friendly police officers greet the children with high fives, words of encouragement, and sometimes cuddles from an adorable police dog as they enter the building for school each day. They have provided my son (and I’m sure many others) with a morning smile just by being friendly when coming to school.
Another noteworthy distinction for Plympton that I have perhaps more keenly witnessed as someone new to town and used to living in more overdeveloped areas, is the community outreach focus from the local businesses and farms of Plympton. It is encouraging to see how dedicated these entities are to providing not only high-quality services and goods to our town and beyond, but opportunities to gather and learn.
For example, every year our little town buzzes with the happy activity that Mayflower Market Days brings. This beautiful vintage and local goods fair brings people to Plympton from near and far to enjoy food, music, antique house tours, and also the opportunity to support local businesses selling their wares. I personally could not let an autumn pass by without wandering the bucolic open field to sit at a picnic table and listen to local bands while munching on food truck fare, or adding “just one more” vintage botanical print to my collection that hardly needs adding to. Be it community lectures on horse ownership and horse care at South Shore Equine Clinic or attending a 111 Love Yoga class from our resident Yoga instructor, Plympton business owners add a special touch and benefit to our town that the chain stores and strip malls I was used to prior to living here simply cannot.
My family and many of my friends do not live in New England, but in seeing the things I share about our town they have come to be intently curious about and enchanted from afar with Plympton. I am often asked to describe Plympton for them and one thing I always point out is that we are a farming community. The farms of Plympton are one of my favorite things about our town. Not one of the many places I lived had dozens of farms, big and small, in such a small area. I joke that if you need eggs and your local stand is sold out, all you need to do is go one street over and you will find more. The abundance of farm fresh food, easily accessible and offered at very affordable prices, within the boundaries of our town will never cease to amaze me.
In a modern-day society where there are many urban food deserts and fresh, local food is increasingly hard to come by, we are sitting on a gold mine of privilege here in Plympton. To be able to drive eight minutes across town to grab a few ears of Colchester Farm corn, or stop in Sauchuk’s for cider donuts and a box of peaches on the way home, or to take a five minute drive to Sunrise Gardens for annuals and perennials -these are luxuries that I have personally lived most of my life without and, prior to living in Plympton, only read about in magazines, books, or online sources talking about idyllic places to live.
I will never take for granted the memories of my children and I picking blueberries at the local patch or watching in awe as the cranberry bog down the street fills with water and turns crimson with floating red orbs. My family is forever enriched by the many joy-filled October days spent at the one and only Sauchuk’s where all my kids, no matter their age difference, PLAY together for hours on end. I fail every time to lead them successfully through the corn maze but all is forgiven and forgotten as we head out to the fields where hundreds of pumpkins await excited children and adults who step down from the wagons to choose the season’s best.
It is not only enjoyment and sustenance that I see our local farms providing, it is also education. As a rookie flower farmer I could not ask to be in a more supportive and inspiring community. There is no competition between us, only mutual respect, support, and camaraderie between the flower farmers of Plympton. Knowledge is not guarded, rather it is shared. Be it learning to make compost and grow flowers efficiently in a workshop at Just Right Farm or chatting with the Detterman’s about their vast array of seasonal crops, or picking up a roadside bouquet from the lovely Milkweed Meadows flower stand on the way home from school or eagerly planting the unique and well-bred dahlia tubers from Ten Oak Farm, I found a community of flower farmers and experts in Plympton that have freely shared their wisdom and consistently lent their support to my own growing little farm and encouraged me as I fumble through this new venture.
Lastly, I could not go without touching on what drew my family and I to Plympton in the first place: The land. Our local ecosystem is one of the healthiest and most undeveloped in Massachusetts. As someone who has oft lived in concrete jungles and places where the only vegetation left was the lawn in a parking strip of a mini mall, I cannot stress enough what a gift it is to live in Plympton’s environment. After over three centuries of being a town, Plympton remains largely untouched. Surveys given to our town residents by the Open Space Committee indicate that keeping our local ecosystems as pristine as possible is the top priority for most of the residents here. With our town relying on aquifers and wells for our water supply it makes smart sense to be concerned with the local environment, but the devotion to conservation and preservation goes deeper than the logistics of our water supply.
There is an underlying adoration by the people of Plympton for town lands and resources. Take a hike in stunning Cato’s Ridge and read the names of dozens of Plympton residents and families on the boardwalk who contributed time and money to preserving the land there. Ask a number of Plympton farmers about the local trees their farms are named after. Scan the town Facebook page where there are almost daily images shared of local wildlife -all met with comments of enthusiastic pride that we share our home with such amazing animals and creatures. Attend in person or watch the hours of meetings via televised footage that volunteers for groups like the Conservation Commission and Open Space Committee spend trying to enforce, draft, and preserve legislation to protect our local environment in the face of seemingly endless threats of development and land grabbing that could be detrimental to our natural resources.
I could go on for pages more about the merits of Plympton -this little unassuming gem of a place nestled in the New England forests that is filled with some of the hardest working, most talented, and generous people around. Instead, I invite all of you -Plympton residents or not, to reflect on the things that make your community unique. I could have moved to town and done as I had done nine times before -kept to myself and been friendly, but never really bother to get involved. When I drove through town that fateful autumn day, however, I just knew I was somewhere special -and for the first time, I am ashamed to say, I stepped outside of myself and my little world and started to learn about and work with the people around me.
I realized the utopic aspects of Plympton where not brought about through any measure of perfection, or by everyone always getting along and agreeing, or by an endless town budget, or by ease and everyone keeping to themselves. The best things in Plympton exist and are protected because of the people here. Plympton is not perfect, but it is made pretty darn near in comparison to many other places in the world because its imperfect residents love their community enough to work through issues that inevitably arise when running and inhabiting a town.
Plympton needs everyone in town to invest -to care, to offer their individuality. We need the long-time residents who were at the first Garden Club meetings, the new families with small children who just signed up for Tee-ball through PAYS, the single residents who are able to dedicate skills, time, and consistency that perhaps others can’t, and the teenagers who keep KKaties Express busy and play ice hockey on Bonney Pond in the winter. From our local astronomer to wood workers, from authors to chefs, and from farmers to female business owners, there is a place for everyone in our town and we sure do need you. Plympton would not be Plympton without US.
Take it from a few of our historic town heroes, Deborah Sampson, Samuel C. Wright, and Cato Freeman -no matter how inconsequential you think you may be, your choices and your voice are needed and absolutely make an impact for better or worse. Our town is what we make it but we have to show up. We need to root all of our differences in mutual respect and with a common ultimate goal for the best interest of this amazing little town. I have seen many times what happens when the small-town values and focus are lost -it is not hard to see it for yourself even in New England as towns like Plympton grow increasingly rare.
Decades from now I hope my children can take the exit off the freeway and still find the same instant transportation from the bustling modern society to the softer way of life in the Plympton countryside. I hope they find that there are fresh ears of corn waiting at the farm stands, that there is another lively town gathering at the gazebo on the town green, and that you still have to drive slowly and often wait for turkeys, chickens, deer, and horses to clear the road. My “Irish Blessing” for our town: “May the residents of Plympton be worthy authors of our towns story. May we continue to write new tales -ones that honor the past and ensure a peaceful future.”

Anyone who moves to Plympton hears it -the inevitable joke that there are more horses than people living there. Anyone who drives through a street or two will see enough evidence to think that may be true. Perhaps there is no town better equipped to house so many horses because in addition to being home to an impressive equestrian population, Plympton is also home to the renowned South Shore Equine Clinic and Diagnostic Center.
Founded in 2006 and run by Dr. Mark T. Reilly, D.V.M, Diplomate ABVP (Equine) and a team of six talented veterinary doctors, including his wife Dr. Linda J. Cimetti, South Shore Equine Clinic is a hub for the horse owning and loving community in Plympton and far beyond. As a young boy growing up in Abington, Reilly was exposed to horses through his father. “My father owned race horses,” Reilly says, “but he never touched them. He was just a huge fan of the sport. I rode at Briggs and rode a bit as a kid, but growing up I never had a horse of my own.” That is certainly not the case anymore as not only does Reilly have his own horse, Luche, who is referred to as the “babysitter” of the clinic, but Reilly is surrounded by horses every day and often nights, too.
Reilly worked at the horse racing tracks in his youth as a groom and later as a veterinary assistant. He states, “Horses just came easy to me.” A growing passion for working with animals took him to the University of New Hampshire where Reilly earned a B.S. in Animal Science. He then attended Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and graduated in 1991. Upon graduation, Dr. Reilly set off to work on the East coast horse racing circuit with Dr. Richard Kester. He divided his time between working on the East coast and spending winters in southern Florida before moving to work at Delaware Park with racing thoroughbreds and racing Arabian horses. Reilly then settled on Cape Cod where he established a large animal ambulatory practice in 1995 that serviced both Cape Cod and the Islands and then spread northward to the South Shore. In 1997, Reilly combined his equine practice with a small animal practice, forming Mid-Cape Animal Hospital.
With the combined veterinary establishment, it became apparent that Reilly needed to expand in order to tend to his growing patients and this would require a lot of space and land. While seeing to some horses in Plympton one day, Reilly was explaining his plight to the horse owner who jumped in and said, “I know a place!” That place was the current location on Palmer Road. “We pulled up and it was a shell of a house in major disrepair and the ‘For Sale’ sign was hanging off the hinges,” Reilly recalls. Still, the outbuildings and land offered the perfect site that Reilly envisioned for an equine hospital and the land was purchased. The main house was unsalvageable and too close to the road so it was torn down, but construction began in 2005 and by 2006 South Shore Equine Clinic and Diagnostic Center opened to the public.
Now seeing approximately 1,500 horses a year, South Shore Equine Clinic and Diagnostic Center has become one of the most revered medical and diagnostic centers for the equestrian community not only on the South Shore but in the country. What started as a run-down but brimming with possibility farm is now a 7,000 square foot facility, with two six-stall barns, two ICU stalls, exercise areas, four different lameness surfaces for evaluation, an indoor trotting aisle, sand and grass paddocks, open field, standing MRI room, a laboratory and diagnostics center, a surgical suite, two induction and recovery rooms, and an outpatient area. With state of the art technology and services offered that can’t be found anywhere else in the area, Reilly has made South Shore Equine Clinic an invaluable part of the community.
Stepping inside the welcoming reception area it is easy to see that order and cleanliness are standard as is the love of all things horse with pictures and décor of the equestrian nature covering the walls. Beyond the reception area is a trotting hall -a nine-foot wide, long hallway that not only allows the horses to move about the hospital but to also be observed by the team to evaluate their range of motion -especially in bad weather. The floor of the trotting area is a deep shade of red. “The floor is red because when, say, black surfaces are wet from snow or rain, the horses think it’s a body of water or a puddle and they will try to jump over it. The red doesn’t look like anything to the horses so they can move about without feeling like they need to jump when they are possibly injured,” Reilly explains.
Leading from the trotting hall is an induction room that is padded and equipped with a rope system to gently lower sedated horses to a resting position and be hoisted up into the adjacent surgery suite. The surgical suite offers the latest and most advanced veterinary technology such as a carbon dioxide laser, and is equipped to house 4-5 medical staff as well as manage almost any type of elective surgery such as castrations, tumor removals, orthopedic procedures, arthroscopy, and soft tissue procedures. Surgeries are available for viewing via a “birds eye view” television if the horse owners wish to watch the procedures. The procedures are often recorded and made available as instructional resources for veterinary students.
Another service that sets South Shore Equine Clinic apart from other veterinary centers is the open field, standing MRI facility. It is one of only eighteen open field units in the country. The open field design allows horses to stand in a semi-sedated but weight bearing stance to image all the areas needing evaluation on the horse. This way of conducting an MRI reduces risks to the patient as well as expense to the owner. Additionally, this technology allows highly detailed imaging. Reilly explains, “I can do 330 images in an hour and a half of 3mm slices of a six-inch area, so it’s just like human medicine -you can see everything. It has revolutionized especially how we deal with lower limb lameness.” Reilly also explains that because the imaging is digital now images can be manipulated to show layers and angles and can be emailed to anyone on the care team for the horse.
Maintaining this cutting-edge technology is hardly carefree, however. “The MRI room has its own HVAC and has to be maintained at 66 degrees -give or take a few degrees. The bigger the magnet the more important the stability temperature,” Reilly points out, “So if something is off -the humidity or temperature, an orange light goes off and notifies our on-call HVAC company and they have to come out and fix it right away. There are days I come in and they are already here adjusting things. They can also tap into the program and adjust things remotely sometimes.”
Further exploration of the large, well-maintained facility leads to an evaluation area with comfort ICU stalls that have 24-hour monitoring, a stock to examine horses, and easy access from the outdoor unloading and evaluation areas where owners drop off the horses. When it comes to comfort for his patients met with logic and efficiency for the staff, nothing is overlooked by Reilly. “We have padded floors in the comfort stalls with just the right level of softness to keep it safe for the horses but also soft enough that we don’t have to put down four bags of shavings every time that have to be changed multiple times and between patients. With these floors we only need a half a bag of shavings.” Reilly goes on to explain, “If the horse is on IV fluids, we have the IV bags up in the ceiling and the lines are fed from there to the horse. That way we don’t have lines getting stepped on or tagled and the fluids can be managed from above the stall so as not to disturb the horse. So it is much more efficient in terms of less mess and also the horses can rest.”
Outside South Shore Equine Clinic, the attention to detail carries through to various lameness surfaces in the unloading area. Here, Reilly often asks the owner to demonstrate the issue by riding the horse if possible and observing the horses movement and reactions on five different surfaces which help Reilly evaluate lameness or other possible issues. Across from the unloading and evaluation are four different size grass paddocks, one small sand turnout, a riding ring, a lunge area, and a deep sand round pen. Housed off to the side of those areas is a large barn with three of the six stalls equipped for IV fluids and 24-hour monitoring. There is also an isolation stall for horses exhibiting things like a fever or other symptoms of being contagious. “Usually, we try to keep horses with fevers at their own barns to control exposure, but if we have to keep them here this is where they will be treated,” says Reilly.
South Shore Equine Clinic is not only a standing facility, it is a mobile practice as well. With a fleet of mobile veterinary trucks equipped with drugs, ultrasound machines, endoscopes, and various medical materials and instruments tailored to each veterinarian’s preference or specialty services, South Shore Equine services can often be on site in the horses familiar surroundings. “On any given day there are at least three of our vet trucks on the road,” Reilly says.
Overseeing the whole operation is Reilly’s beloved horse, Luche, who lives at the clinic. Luche came to South Shore Equine Clinic as a two-year-old lame racing horse. The owner at that time was immediately uninterested in the horse once they found out treatment was needed. “The owner said ‘Well I don’t want him anymore,’ and I said, ‘Well I do!’” Reilly then performed surgery, after treatment, and rehabilitation to bring Luche back to full form and he made himself at home. Referred to by Reilly as the “babysitter” of the barn Luche is eager to welcome and interact with any patient or human who happens to be nearby.
Perhaps one of the most consuming endeavors available at South Shore Equine Clinic is the practice of foaling. A serene and well-equipped foaling barn allows Reilly and his team to safely and successfully foal out 18-20 foals a year. Reilly also says he performs artificial insemination for breeding on about 20-25 mares each year. The mares are monitored throughout the eleven-month gestation period and close to the expected time of delivery they are brought to the barn and kept comfortable and monitored. Once the foal is born there are 24-hour surveillance cameras with infrared camera for night vision observation without disturbing the protective mares and their foals.
Due to foaling, the busiest time at South Shore Equine clinic is in the spring. “Horses give birth in the spring months because mares instinctively don’t want their babies to be leaving and weaning in the middle of winter. They instinctively want to mate between February to June and give birth around that time a year later.” Reilly explains that the clinic foaling barn is run rather like a hotel reservation service and mares are booked to come in around the time of delivery -which means a full house -or barn, rather, for a few months each year. “This year we had eight mares ready to drop their foals all at once because some of them were kind of holding on and not delivering…that’s a little intimidating,” jokes Reilly, “It was like hot potato deciding who was going to be on call each night for that because we knew they would all go close together.”
With so many services and comforts available at South Shore Equine Clinic, Reilly has also managed to provide a fully functional and valuable laboratory on site. The full in-house laboratory is located in a former outbuilding that was converted. “It was our Covid project,” Reilly jests. In the past, when blood tests were ordered and cultures needed, it was all sent out for testing. The on-site lab now allows immediate blood test results as well as culture evaluations and other test results to be determined much quicker and at less of a cost. Reilly demonstrates, “It used to take about five days to get, say, a culture back. Now, I know in 18 hours what antibiotic to use. In 36 hours I can call a test negative. It means better treatment for the horse and less expense to the owner in making sure the right thing is done right away. Especially with regard to antibiotic resistance its important to be accurate.”
It is not all about horses, however, at South Shore Equine Clinic. Reilly understands that a horse is best cared for when the owners are educated and equipped to handle the huge responsibility of owning a horse. During the winter months, usually on Mondays, Reilly and his staff hold gatherings, lectures, and classes for the community on horse care. “We hold presentations on things like common maladies, hot topic issues -we survey our customers to see what they want to learn about. Sometimes there are sponsors for these events and door prizes and discounts are offered depending on the topic,” Reilly says. These presentations also offer the chance for people to ask questions in a non-stressful setting. Reilly points out, “When people are here with a problem they often aren’t thinking clearly. When they come to these classes they can ask better questions in a non-emergency event.”
Reilly also explains that this is his approach with passing on after care instructions to horse owners upon discharge of their animal. “The biggest cause for post treatment failure is non compliance with discharge orders,” Reilly says, “We make sure all the discharge information is clearly and thoroughly presented in the discharge area before they exit to the waiting room where the bill awaits them so they can focus on how to keep their horse from needing more treatment from failure to provide proper aftercare.”
Amidst all the complexities and hard work to run a state of the art center like South Shore Equine Clinic, the foremost mission of all who work there is the love of horses and the desire to care for them and give them the highest quality of life possible, and to provide owners and surrounding veterinary centers the ability and opportunities to do that. “We are here to give the best treatment and comfort we can to horses and to give the owners peace of mind,” Reilly assures, “We make sure each horse has treatment tailored specifically to them. You could have two horses with identical issues or illnesses and the treatments for both could be entirely different because we base it on what each horse needs.”
When asked about the demeanor of horses under duress or feeling ill Reilly says, “Horses are honest. Dogs and cats? Not so much. Dogs want you to think everything is fine even if their limb is falling off and cats mask symptoms, too -but horses give you instant feedback. Horses also respond to the tone and behavior of the owner, so if the owner is causing the horse anxiety we also help to calm the owner. A calm horse is a safer horse.” The staff at South Shore Equine Clinic share Reilly’s goals to make what could be a difficult experience as stress free and assuring as possible. “Not all of our staff ride or own horses,” Reilly points out, “But everyone here has a true love for them. Owning a horse is a passion, you have to want that responsibility and love it.”
When asked what Reilly would like the community to know about South Shore Equine Clinic he responds, “We are a partner in the care of your horse. We are available 24/7, 365 days a year. We want the best outcome for everyone and we work hard, around the clock to provide that for every patient and human that comes through the door.” After witnessing the nearly incomprehensible amount of work and dedication from Reilly and his staff in just one afternoon their love for horses is undeniable. Reilly and all at South Shore Equine Clinic have built more than a prestigious, well-outfitted medical practice, they have built a thoughtful, peaceful, healing center for horses to get them back home in the best condition and as soon as possible, because anyone who truly loves horses knows that home is where your horse is.

The sun moves at an unnatural speed across the daytime sky, sinking into a curved horizon and giving way to a night so clear and vivid that everyone around, yourself included, oohs and aahs. Moments later you are soaring in deep space, speeding past planets, careening towards nebulas, and a black hole comes into view. You can’t help feeling infinitesimal and helpless floating through the cosmos. Then, dim lights come on. You sit upright from leaning back in your chair and adjust to the reality that you have not just returned to earth from an exciting mission in space. You are at the Blake Planetarium in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
“We want you to have a butterflies-in-your-belly, sensory-immersive experience here,” says Alison Riordan, Administrator Program Coordinator for the Plymouth Public School District and Director of OpenSciEd Massachusetts. Providing the community with unforgettable learning experiences has been part of the legacy of the Blake Planetarium for over fifty years. Original to the 1973 building now housing Plymouth Community Intermediate School (PCIS) the Blake Planetarium has been a hub of cosmic and science learning even when the equipment was much simpler. PCIS was built amidst the years of the cultural phenomenon known as the Space Race and its unique construction includes “branches” that connect to a central point. The branches are named after the space programs Mercury, Gemini, Ranger, and Apollo. The cafeteria, library, and planetarium are located in the central meeting point of these branches.
The “star” of the planetarium in those days was the Spitz projector -a disco ball shaped orb with lenses and mirrors that had to be hand screwed and placed to project the stars onto the domed ceiling. “It would have lasted 700 years,” jokes Riordan, “But the problem was that you could only present things from one point of view -from earth looking up into space. You couldn’t go ‘up into’ space and it limited what we could explore in terms of learning experiences. It limited perspective. Still, we were lucky to have the old Spitz for as long as we did.”
Former Planetarium Director, Russell Blake, started the planetarium program in 1973. Back then PCIS was called Plymouth Carver Intermediate School. Blake taught astronomy and science supporting grades K-12 within the Plymouth School District and surrounding towns. Blake also taught Celestial Navigation, helped run astronomy clubs, and assisted numerous students in organizing field trips and astronomy outreach programs. Blake used the planetarium to give audiences “space rides” in which the participants reclined in their seats while he projected the ‘stars’ on the domed ceiling by spinning the Spitz projector in all directions to give the feeling of flying through space. When Blake retired in 2008 Plymouth Public School District honored him by naming the planetarium after him.
Following Blake’s retirement, talk of grants began with a hope to upgrade the Spitz projector to a fully digital projector. The proposal was made and at a town meeting in 2016 the project was approved by way of the capital improvement budget. In order to make the projected images on the new digital system properly fit the unique shape and curve of the Blake Planetariums ceiling, however, two computers run dual images while a third one corrects the overlapping images to synchronize them and create a seamless finish to the viewer. The planetarium also had to remove the old Spitz projector from its place in the center of the room. “A large space in the center of the planetarium was left once the Spitz was removed so seats were added to take the seating from 60 seats to 72,” Riordan explains, “Now we have the only 4K full-dome planetarium south of Boston and we use the same system as the Science Museum in Boston.”
Having a state-of-the-art planetarium in Plymouth does not go unnoticed by the community. With a range of programs, from workshops teaching how to navigate the local night sky to being a destination for school field trips, the Blake Planetarium has become the learning resource it was intended to be. The planetarium is now run by a team of experts including Steven Davies, Karen Merrill, Paul Bonfilio, and Riordan. With a background in biology, neuroscience, astronomy, and teaching middle and high school, Riordan’s inclusion in the planetarium was unintentional though natural. “I went to Boston to do research on how to improve the Blake and was blown away by how they use the planetarium there. It was so much more than space.” Riordan goes on to explain that with the digital projector they can use it for multiple points of view of space exploration but also for things like programs about weather, earth sciences, and even mediation. Together the Blake Planetarium team offers the public an array of programs such as First Friday’s at Blake -their most popular public program that sells out nearly every time. First Friday’s was created by Davies -a former science teacher in Carver who has substantial knowledge of and a deep passion for astronomy. Davies wanted to make a program from the point of view of looking up from earth at the stars. This perspective is easier for children to navigate and understand in terms of their current location.
In addition to First Friday’s at Blake, the planetarium hosts 30 other programs including school field trips, private rentals, monthly programs, and summer programs. Groups like the Scouts and other community organizations can contact Riordan about scheduling a program. At the heart of the community outreach, Riordan says the Blake Planetarium’s goal remains the same: To give every student in the Plymouth Public School District a chance to experience the planetarium at least once. Students who attend the Blake can obviously enjoy programs about space but also things like Earth Science, dinosaurs, life and physical sciences -even programs featuring beloved childhood characters such as Big Bird and The Magic Treehouses’ Jack and Annie.
In order to acquire this incredible array of resources for the community, a great deal of behind-the-scenes work goes into securing licensing for said programs. Riordan says a large portion of the time and budget allocated for the planetarium goes toward purchasing and renting planetarium programming. Another part of the budget for the Blake Planetarium is used to provide bus transportation for all field trip attendees to and from the venue. “What we do is astounding for kids. We want them to get here, to experience learning like this,” Riordan says, “Our biggest customers, however, are the preschoolers!” Riordan points out that the planetarium offers a truly unique experience for the senses. “It takes what kids often have in their hands (phones) and makes it immersive. It’s an IMAX experience -a sensory directional presentation that entirely immerses the viewer. Knowledge presented like that is something you take home with you and remember.” Riordan also brings up another advantage of studying the night sky in a planetarium: “No light pollution,” she says, “Plymouth is drowning in it and it dulls the visibility of the stars substantially. At the Blake we can omit all of that in addition to giving you a lesson on what you are looking at.”
The fact that the Blake Planetarium is only a quick commute away from many in the area is a privilege not to be overlooked. Many have come to experience the magic of learning about the cosmos and our world under its domed ceiling. “We have approximately 8,000 people a year come to the planetarium,” Riordan states, “We can always welcome more.” Davies goals for every person who comes to the Blake align with Riordan’s. “I want to give them a feel for where they are in the universe. We are star stuff -to quote Carl Sagan. We are the universe experiencing the universe. It is lifelong learning that happens here.”
So the next time you are looking for a meaningful experience that can take you and your family and friends to the Andromeda Galaxy, or to a volcanoes edge just before it erupts, or down to a molecular level inside the human body, or just to learn how to find the Libra Constellation without any light pollution or lengthy travel involved and at a low cost, pay a visit to the Blake Planetarium. There, universes big and small can be explored and you just might find yourself renewed with wonder. Perhaps some younger patrons who visit the Blake will one day nurture what they first felt at the planetarium and take it with them on a real journey into space, but for now it can all be found down the road at a local school in Plymouth, Massachusetts with a touch of the cosmos at its center.

If you happen to be driving along Palmer Road near the edge of Plympton, you may notice tucked among the quaint farm stands and antique houses, an idyllic-looking farm with a sign that easily hints at the name: Rocking Horse Farm. Always tidy and seasonally dressed with cheerful blooms in planters or pumpkins and mums tucked in every corner, Rocking Horse Farm is the epitome of countryside charm. Goats laze on wooden spool tables, two resident canines run about, toys in mouth, looking for someone to play fetch with. There are picnic tables, gardens, and white wooden fences, but what really makes this place special is what goes on inside the barn, stables, and arena: children and adults learning the beautiful sport of horseback riding.
Rocking Horse Farm was started in 1983 by Lillian Gilpin. Her parents, Paul and Dorothy Gilpin, purchased the land for their daughter immediately following high school so she could embark on her dream of running a barn. It began as a small garage and chicken coop and has grown into a 28-stall barn with a thriving teaching program. The program is now run by Katie Alemian Flannery, Gilpin’s niece. Flannery’s love for and involvement with horses began early in her life. “I began riding as soon as I could walk. My mom and dad were very involved with the horses when I was born. Once I started showing, my father took a back seat and let my mom and I continue to show.”
Flannery’s natural talent in the sport was nurtured as she spent nearly every day of her childhood on the farm where she quickly became one of the top students. She began to show at local shows such as Briggs in Hanover and at the South Shore Horsemen’s Council. Flannery then began to compete in leadline and walk trot classes at larger shows in the New England area. Gilpin was there for her niece every step of the way. “Lillian coached me throughout my junior exhibitor career, guiding me through new horses and new challenges almost always!” Flannery recounts. She then went on to compete at the Worlds Championship Horseshow in Kentucky multiple times and always came home with ribbons.
Showing and riding for fun were just the beginning for Flannery. She left Rocking Horse Farm to attend William Woods University in Missouri where she majored in Equestrian Science. Flannery worked with many top trainers during her academic years and loved it so much that she only came home for Christmas breaks. Although she enjoyed school in the South, she knew she wasn’t meant to stay there. “As much as I loved the South, I really missed New England and wanted to come home after school.” Flannery moved back and worked with Gilpin for several more years until she took over the business in 2019 -right before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. “This was so hard for me just staying on my own and many show clients moved when she (Gilpin) retired but my lesson program was what kept me going.” Flannery’s resourceful nature helped keep the barn afloat. She asked her students for continued financial support in lieu of tuition during lockdown. “Even though lessons couldn’t happen, horses still cost as much to care for,” she said. Once people were comfortable holding activities again, many found horseback riding and being outdoors cathartic and thus the barn recovered from this setback.
In keeping a barn and lesson program intact, in spite of such a huge disruption as a pandemic, Flannery has managed to take the business from surviving to flourishing. Being one of the only Saddle Seat barns on the South Shore, Rocking Horse Farm specializes in American Saddlebreds, horses known for their high stepping gait and powerful front action. “We do not jump, we do not do individual dressage patterns, but I like to say we put on a show!” Flannery explains, “Our horses perform their gaits in a ring and are judged on many specifications depending on division, to earn ribbons.” Flannery says there are sometimes as many as three judges in the center of the ring looking for techniques of the horse and rider working as a pair.
There are currently 50 lessons a week at Rocking Horse Farm and the riding program spans all ages starting at age six. The students are taught to be proficient in basic riding techniques and once they are deemed ready Flannery begins to take them to shows, beginning at local levels. As riders advance, Flannery has them show at larger horse shows throughout the Northeast. This summer Flannery is charting new territory as a teacher. “I am taking my very first student that I started from the beginning to our Worlds Championship Horse Show in Kentucky!”
Competitive horseback riding is a sport that demands stamina and the mastery of many skills, athletic and mental, of both human and horse. “Any student that wants to compete typically rides 2-3 times a week. Just like any sport the more you practice the better you get,” Flannery points out, “A lot of riding is the use of the core and the leg muscles, so the more you ride the stronger you become.”
Of course, it is not just the human athletes that put in hard work. The horses of Rocking Horse Farm are beloved, healthy, and trained to be at their peak. All of Flannery’s students who compete at higher levels own their horses and keep them at the barn. These majestic animals demand constant top of the line attention and care. “They are maintained just like athletes. They have an exercise routine that I maintain throughout the week and they are individualized for each horse,” Flannery explains. The students ride their particularly trained horses on Saturdays and use the Rocking Horse Farm lesson horses during the week. Flannery allows lesson students to take the lesson horses to shows to make sure they are enjoying the sport enough to make the commitment of purchasing a horse.
When asked what unique lessons riding horses teaches young (and grown) people Flannery replies, “Riding horses is so amazing for our youth because I feel like it teaches a responsibility that no other sport can teach. No matter how you’re feeling or how long of a day you have had, the horses still need you.” Flannery also models and teaches respect and admiration for the horses at Rocking Horse Farm. “I am thankful for the amazing group of lesson horses that I have and if you ask anyone that works for me, my expectations of their care is to always go above and beyond. They are the heart and soul of my program and I think it is important that all of my students know that.”
In addition to learning how to ride and show horses, students at Rocking Horse Farm are taught to care for them. They get their horses ready, clean their tack, and even clean their stalls. Rocking Horse Farm also runs a program called Paddock Pals where students come once a month and learn different aspects of horse care and farm maintenance, in addition to riding. Paddock Pals is open to anyone age six and above even if they are not enrolled as a student at the barn.
Rocking Horse Farm students also hold fundraisers to help purchase items the lesson horses may need such as blankets, new sheets, tack, etc. The farm also hosts two weeks of summer camp and day camps on holiday breaks.
In addition to a full schedule at the barn Flannery keeps busy with her family -including her twin sons, Joseph and Jameson, who will be two in October. Flannery’s husband, Nick, is also an intricate part of Rocking Horse Farm in spite of having no previous experience with horses or barn maintenance. Flannery remarks with gratitude, “He has put more than his blood, sweat, and tears into helping me almost completely rehab and maintain this older barn and I can’t thank him enough for it!” Flannery also makes sure to take time to work on goals for her own riding ventures. “I still show if we have new or young horses at the farm. This year I have been lucky enough to show my mom’s new horse, TickTock! He has been so much fun and now it’s time to turn the reins over to her.”
Flannery’s passion, not just for her career, but her way of life is easy to see and feel. Her positive enthusiasm sets the tone for Rocking Horse Farm and is a great benefit to the students and horses there. “Teaching is my passion,” Flannery says, “I love introducing kids to horses and watching them grow and learn with them.” Rocking Horse Farm’s success goes well beyond the collection of trophies in the viewing room and ribbons on the walls. Its success story is found in the many lives enriched by the life lessons learned and bonds forged between horse and human in the picturesque farm just off the side of Palmer Road.

When my daughter Heidi was grown, she was the first one out of our four children to give us a grandchild. When she was five months along, one day by chance we both happened to be at the Kingston Mall at the same time. Heidi had been concerned about her baby being deaf as both she and the baby’s father are deaf. In the center aisle of the mall that day was a display of very big wind chimes suspended from a metal rack. Heidi and I spotted each other at the same time and walked towards one another. When she was under the rack of chimes, a little boy ran through them hitting the clappers, which caused both melodious and clashing sounds simultaneously. Heidi turned her hearing aid off and put her hands on her stomach to protect the baby and was staring at me wide-eyed. She grabbed my arm as we stepped out from under the wind chimes. I asked if she was okay and she told me the baby was kicking and moving and didn’t stop until the chimes stopped. I was as thrilled as she was because she realized it meant the baby could hear.
In April of 1994, Heidi presented my husband Dave and I with our first grandchild whose name is Alisha. I felt honored to be in the delivery room with Heidi and her husband Chris when Alisha was born. She was beautiful and perfect and has extra sensitive hearing. The day after her birth when I went to the Hospital to visit, Alisha was laying down on her tummy beside Heidi on the hospital bed. When Heidi went to move her, her little fist went up in the air and her bottom lip jutted out, as if to say, NO! Heidi let her stay in that position and down went her little fist and her little mouth relaxed as well. Heidi and I looked at each other smiling as that told us she was already her own person, which has held true.
The first day she was home from the hospital, our kids (her aunts and uncles) came to visit. Grandparents on both sides of the family and great-grandparents took turns coming a few days later. Alisha’s grandfather Frank, on her dad’s side and Dave, my husband, were in competition when it came to buying pajamas, bibs and other articles of clothing for the baby. Frank had graduated from Holy Cross College and Dave from Boston College. They both got her clothing from their Alma Maters and were hoping she’d attend the colleges they did; which she didn’t. Dave and I loved taking care of her and she often stayed overnight at our house.

My husband Dave and my stepdaughter, Donna (Dave’s daughter), are Alisha’s God parents. Dave felt a need to be more involved with his church which was The Lady of the Lake Church in Halifax where we live. Because he was one of Alisha’s God parents, he felt it was important and he went to talk with the Priest, Father Murphy, several times and was asked if he would be interested in working with the teenagers who attended Saturday classes. He decided to give it a try. Starting in the Fall of 1997, Dave was also a therapist and dealt with all kinds of personalities in his work. This also helped him deal with the young people in the Saturday classes at the church, keeping them focused and interested. All through the winter he led his class at church and became friends with some of the other adults who were also educating, leading and guiding the classes. Throughout the Holiday Season, all went well, and he felt he was making progress when the students asked questions about some of the teachings of the Bible, the Catholic Faith, sacraments, prayer and beliefs and faith in Jesus the Christ. The more questions the young people asked and the deeper the discussions the happier Dave was as he felt he was truly reaching and helping them.

In April of 1997, Alisha had her third birthday. With the coming of Spring, the students were restless. Dave and some of the other teachers met privately to discuss what they could do to be more effective with the teenagers to hold their interest. They came up with some good plans and even some games centering around personal choices, helping others and being a power of example. That was successful for a while. Every few weeks they met again to change things to keep the classes going. By June Dave had decided he was not going to stay teaching the classes. He was glad he did it as he would have regretted not doing it. He had an opportunity to teach college classes and wanted to take the job. He also looked forward to having his Saturday mornings to himself once again.

On his last day at the church Dave forgot a book Father Murphy had loaned him and called me to ask if I would bring it to him as he didn’t want to leave without giving it back. Alisha was spending the weekend with us, and we got in the car and drove to the church. No one was in the rectory except Dave and the priest. I brought the book in and gave it to Dave. He and the priest were talking, and he introduced us. Alisha was walking around looking at the several blackboards on wheels that were in the room. I was wearing a full skirt and a summer top. Alisha was very shy around strangers at that age. Dave was very proud of her and picked her up to introduce her to the Father. She buried her head in Dave’s neck and looked away. Dave put her down and she ran behind me for a minute before looking around again. When Dave and Father Murphy finished their conversation, they shook hands and wished each other well. Father Murphy called out to Alisha, blowing her a kiss and calling her sweetheart. Alisha ran to me, grabbed my skirt, hiding in the folds of it, sticking her head out and yelling out to the Priest in a voice I didn’t know she had, “I NOT YOUR SWEETHEART!!” She grabbed my hand, pulling me outside, the three of us adults unable to keep a straight face.

Once we got home, Dave picked Alisha up and asked her what she wanted to do and she said, swim. She was in her bathing suit and beach jacket before Dave could change into his trunks so we could go to Stetson Pond. Alisha is now full-grown and happily married with a young daughter of her own – who also speaks her mind.

Driving along bustling Plymouth Street in Halifax you might take easy notice of the big box store, the food establishments, and the local businesses lining the main road in the town. But if you slow down a bit and look around you will not be able to miss spotting the picturesque Nessralla Farm stand tucked into the town scene. With a storefront flanked by two large Paperbark Maple trees, dozens of rows of long tables bursting with colorful flowers of all kinds, a sign advertising a local Lebanese festival, and hanging baskets heavy laden with curtains of cascading blooms, it is impossible to resist pulling in to further investigate such a cheery sight.
The inside of Nessralla’s Farm stand is no less charming and stocked with all the jewel-colored produce delights one would expect to find grown on a farm, as well as more preserves, jams, jellies, sauces, and handmade, local gifts than could be accounted for in one trip. Honey from their own hives, fresh local bread, baskets tipped on their sides to display an abundance of onions, garlic, and sweet potatoes and fridges packed with local meats, more produce, and fresh juices leave one inadvertently planning dinner for the evening.
All of this local bounty is the legacy of John Nessralla, who alongside his brother Mansur, are the head farmers and proprietors of Nessralla’s Farm in Halifax. If the beautiful farm store isn’t inspiring enough to visit, then learning about the family behind the operation will quickly make Nessralla’s Farm your favorite local destination. Nessralla immigrated to America in 1968 from Lebanon where his father and uncles were passionate farmers growing fruit, flowers, and vegetables. When his uncle and father came to Halifax they built their greenhouses on the site of the old Sturtevant Farms, at the intersection of Routes 58 and 106. Little by little they began to expand. They started Nessralla’s in Marshfield and took over Penniman Hill Farms in Hingham. Other members of their farm-skilled family have similar businesses in Wareham and Avon. Nessralla spent his youth following his uncle and father around their farms, observing their techniques and soaking up all the knowledge he could. “I learned from my father. Not by a book but by watching him and being out there every day.”
Nessralla certainly gleaned a wealth of knowledge enhanced by what must be a dash of inherited genetic instinct for farming because today Nessralla offers just about everything on the farm’s 55 acres on Hemlock Lane -from annuals and perennials to a wide range of produce and honey from the hives on site. “We grow about 80% of the flowers we sell here. We use greenhouses as that environment is easier to control.” The crops are further enhanced by the farm’s ten beehives kept on the growing fields. “We need the bees to grow this much. We make raw, natural honey, a light and dark honey, with nothing added,” Nessralla explains, “It will crystalize sometimes and that means its real.”
Nessralla is not only dedicated to farming, but dedicated to turning out top quality products with more than a price tag connected to them. It is easy to see in every voluptuous flower pot and the nearly picture-perfect produce displayed like an edible rainbow that nothing less than wonderful gets past Nessralla’s discerning evaluation. “We are not like one of the big stores. I won’t sell you something that I would not take home with me,” Nessralla says, “We offer people the best of what we have.” When asked what sets his grocery- filled store apart from others in the area, Nessralla points out that the quality of small-scale farming can’t be matched in mass-produced goods. “Our products look visibly different. You have to care about what you do and you can see that in what we sell -we care about it very much. We try to get things as picture perfect as we can. You can’t find this kind of quality in a store.”
Nessralla’s enthusiasm for offering only the best is not just a good business tactic, but downright enjoyable. When asked if there is any other profession he would have considered had farming not worked out he quickly says, “No. Farming is all I have ever known. I would not want to do anything else.” Nessralla also says he does not have a favorite crop to grow. “Everything. I like to grow everything. I also like to experiment growing new things.” One crop Nessralla is particularly proud of, “Mums. I grow 10-12 different colors of mums,” he says showing a picture on his phone of a tidy, black landscape fabric field with hundreds of healthy-looking young mum plants in pots being watered. Nessralla also explains that they used to grow pumpkins and corn, but have since stopped for crops less subject to nature’s harsh dealings.
If there is one life lesson Nessralla has learned from farming it is that farming is not a sure thing. “Farming is a gamble. One day it’s nice, the next day its 100 degrees or flooding rain. It is like rolling the dice. One year we had six inches of rain in August, and another six inches of rain in September – our pumpkins were out floating in the field. We lost them all. It is a huge investment to plant, say corn, and then lose it all. You have to adapt to what nature does.”
Still, Nessralla says that farming is not to be shied away from. Considering that Nessralla’s foundation for farming was built on the example of his family before him, he realizes that farming is something that must be passed on to the next generations. Nessralla’s also aims to show what a local farm can offer in a community. “It is where our food comes from. We need it. Everybody should learn about farming.”
Nessralla sees modern day habits coming between the required hands-on experience that farming requires. “Society is too into gadgets. You can’t watch a video or read something online and learn to farm. You have to be out there -weeding, watering, picking produce -if you aren’t out there in it you won’t learn it.”
Nessralla is certainly one to learn from as during the interview I am given several tips and recommendations for various gardening woes and profitable crop ideas with visible joy in the exchange of his freely shared knowledge. It is apparent that Nessralla truly loves what he does. “I don’t ‘go to work’. I enjoy it. Sometimes I am up at 1 a.m. to go to Boston to pick up produce and then at 5:30 a.m I am out in the field watering the mums. It is hard work but I enjoy it. If people come into the store and they see what we have and they like what they see, that makes me proud. That is what I love.”
As summer winds down, Nessralla says to be on the lookout for his beautiful mums for fall but also says he has plans to eventually bring back a tradition that Nessralla’s used to offer to the community. “I am hoping to do the corn maze again. It is a lot of fun and it’s located in an isolated, beautiful area that is quiet. I just need to be able to find help in running it. But I would like to do this again.”
Whatever the endeavor Nessralla and his family undertake, one thing is sure -it will be done remarkably well, with passion and purpose, and with a true love for the community. What can the community do for Nessralla’s? “Participate in our farm and business. We are not like the big stores. It is all done by us and we can offer quality that they can’t.”
As I leave with an extraordinarily large and vibrant pink Mandevilla plant in a hanging basket and a mental shopping list for next week’s dinners based on clocking several tantalizing jars of sauce, Lebanese bread, and stunning produce grown minutes away, I can’t help but feel that I am also bringing home a bit of Nessralla’s joy because his love for his life’s work in embedded in every product found at Nessralla’s Farm -and that is something that mass production and money can’t buy.