Chris D'Amore Photography [020]
Vernon Family Farm
You may be shocked to learn that, like a lot of kids in the 90s, I had a magician phase. I dressed up as one for Halloween and had a full kit of illusionary paraphernalia. I learned a couple card tricks and fumbled my way through some sleight of hand moves that my parents politely pretended to be wowed by as I Job Bluth’d my way through second grade. Needless to say, it didn’t last as my worldview morphed with each passing year. By adulthood, my definition of magic changed from one of cheap parlor entertainment to matters of the human spirit - experiences that transcended the mundane minutiae of everyday life. I found that the more complex life became, the harder it was to tease out that sense of wonder, but that made it all the more important to seek out. I began to cherish the people, places, and things that brought levity to the surface; ones that had the power to enable oneself to be present with the world on an elevated plane where the heart felt lifted and the mind felt like a transceiver for the living, breathing world around me.
There may be some places that come to mind for you that provide such experiences. There’s also a good chance these experiences revolve around nature, art, music, community, or food. I found a place that encompassed all of these things in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many of us needed a bit of magic the most.
Vernon Family Farm in Newfields, NH is a family-owned farm that raises their own livestock, houses a farm store that sells their own goods as well as products from 50+ other New England farmers and makers, and hosts dozens of community events throughout the year. Nicole and Jeremiah Vernon’s sustainable, community-driven approach is something I had never experienced to that degree before my first visit. In 2021, my band was asked to play a new outdoor music series they were piloting. With few spaces around that could safely provide a live music experience during the pandemic, it was a no-brainer. Playing live music again was an immense privilege at a time when it felt like we were all losing our minds a little bit. We have played at the farm every year since then.
Watching the Vernons grow their business into their second decade has been an absolute inspiration, starting as a small operation and blossoming into a community of arts, music, and food. The main stage overlooks an incredible wildflower garden, and every event feels like a celebration. I can only speak to my experiences there, but if you happen to visit, there’s no doubt you’ll find a bit of magic there too.
Unfortunately, there are forces in the world that seek to undo that magic, presumably by an unwillingness or inability to be able to experience it in their own hearts. Over the past couple years, the Vernons have endured uncompromising opposition from the town board and abutters, persistent legal action, and even harassment attempting to shut them down. All this despite operating within the regulations of their agritourism business and complying with the demands of local laws. The support for the Vernons has been overwhelming, but so are the legal costs they have amassed over years of defending their cause against a small group of antagonists. I’ll let their plea for help speak for itself:
"We are fundraising to save our family farm after three challenging years of legal battles with town regulatory boards and now a concerted effort by neighbors to halt our operations. Three direct abutter properties have hired a team of lawyers from one of the largest firms in NH to sue us in court and investigate our licenses and approvals to operate our farm. This follows the neighbors and their team of lawyers challenging our operations at the Select board, then the Conservation Commission, and then the Zoning Board, all this year—again. For our family farm, this has been and continues to be extremely costly in every possible way.
Farming is our livelihood, but it’s about more than just food for us; it’s about providing our community with a positive space to connect with local agriculture. Our farm provides thousands of individuals with local, fresh food, year round, grown on our own pasture and our farm store supports 50 other local businesses and family farms. Our chicken is often featured on restaurant menus throughout NH. Our agritourism events provide people of all ages with the opportunity to see where their food comes from and eat food raised mere feet away from their plates."
Places like this - places that literally give people life - need our support more than ever. You can donate to Vernon Family Farm to help cover their legal costs here! If that’s not an option for you, please consider sharing their story from their recent interview with Seacoast Stories below. After all, what’s the point of having a platform if not to bolster the parts of the community that have done so much to lift us all up.
Recently Featured Works & Shameless Plugs:
My band is playing the final Vernon Family Farm event of the season TOMORROW! You can buy tickets here!
Sounds From the Studio:
Archive Dive (a random photograph picked via number generator):
