Sunday, August 21, 2016 9:55:24 AM
Owner George Brooks of Green Hollow Orchards: Micro Farm finds cozy niche in Tewksbury
Posted: Saturday, August 20, 2016 11:00 am
By MARY LEACH News Correspondent mary@yourtowncrier.com
http://homenewshere.com/tewksbury_town_crier/news/article_b01576f0-6549-11e6-839a-5f1322a8307a.html?mode=story
George Brooks prepares to pick produce on his micro farm in North Tewksbury. (photo by Mary Leach)
George Brooks, owner of Green Hollow Orchards, looks for ripe tomatoes
Small white pumpkins are molded into eerie heads by George Brooks of Green Hollow Orchards in Tewksbury. (photo by Mary Leach)
Big things are growing in small spaces in Tewksbury. Green Hollow Orchards, a micro farm that has been operating on a half-acre of land in North Tewksbury for nearly 45 years, grows an amazing variety of produce and on normal years produces bushels of apples.
Owner George Brooks purchased the property on quiet Ward Street in 1972 and has been involved in micro or small-scale farming, ever since.
“It’s easier to list what I don’t grow rather than what I do grow,” Brooks said. “I don’t grow eggplant or Lima beans because I don’t like them. I find a place for most everything else.”
A micro farm is a farm that operates on little acreage. Brooks’ half-acre micro farm includes an orchard with 33 apple, two pear and one plum tree; multiple vegetable gardens, both in ground and in containers; a small greenhouse; and a chicken coop complete with a flock of hens. Seven of the apple trees grow on an espalier, a railing or trellis on which fruit trees or shrubs are trained to grow flat and take up less space.
On an average year, the orchards produce 4,000 pounds of fruit. Hundreds of pounds of tomatoes, squash, peppers and other produce are harvested and sold at the Billerica Farmers Market and the Hollis Flea Market. The amount of food that he grows in what is virtually a back yard is astounding.
On a recent visit, several varieties of squash (summer and winter), potatoes, beans, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage and tons of tomatoes grew side by side, in containers, on trellises and on the wooden fence that surrounds the area. Cleared paths ran along the rows, providing access to the crops. Metal cages surrounded the more delicate – and delicious – plants to keep critters such as rabbits away.
The micro farms’ plants were of various sizes, timed so different vegetables become ripe at different times, lengthening the season. Almost every inch of the garden was used to maximize yield. Insect and bird friendly wildflowers grew in seemingly random bunches to attract bees.
Weeding is done by hand, as is watering. Brooks says he avoids chemicals whenever possible and works hard to conserve water at all time, especially during this season’s drought.
“I water by hand just enough to last until the next rain,” he said. “This year has been very challenging.”
A former machine shop supervisor, Brooks’ fascination with farming began when he was about seven years old and visited a relative in Somerville whose home overlooked the backyard of an Italian immigrant.
“Every inch of the yard was covered with tomato plants,” he said. “It was amazing how much the man could grow in such a small space.”
Inspired, Brooks began experimenting with plants, digging up weeds and transporting them to his house in a small red wagon before transplanting them into his own yard to see if they would grow.
After Brooks married Cathy they moved to Tewksbury and bought their first house – the one that they still live in. Brooks lovingly brought back the neglected trees in the existing backyard orchard and began work on his micro farm, learning how to protect tender young shoots as they grew in the early spring by constructing little ecosystems around them.
“I collected storm windows that my neighbors were throwing away and use them to cover the plants,” he said.
Once Brooks retired he began micro farming full time. Depending on the time of year, the days are long and the work is hot and hard. But Brooks cannot imagine his life without his micro farm or without the satisfaction that good growing provides him and his customers.
“Nothing makes me feel better than hearing repeat customers at the Billerica Farmers Market telling me that my tomatoes are the best they’ve ever eaten,” Brooks said, adding that having the perfect soil is the secret to growing tasty tomatoes.
Over the years Brooks has experimented with different crops, sometimes growing giant pumpkins to enter in the Topsfield Fair (he won the New England division in 1991). He stopped that effort after it became to nerve wracking, he said, worrying about something going wrong after putting so much effort into one pumpkin. Today he grows many small pumpkins and uses a mold to shape them into his signature “pumpkin heads.”
Although the days are often long and he’ll never get rich from micro farming, Brooks said he would never dream of giving up the growing life.
“I used to work very stressful jobs and then come home to work in the garden. I retired and I have been doing it full time ever since,” he said.
To learn more about Green Hollow Orchards, visit https://www.facebook.com/
Green-Hollow-Orchard-127167447330282/.
Posted: Saturday, August 20, 2016 11:00 am
By MARY LEACH News Correspondent mary@yourtowncrier.com
http://homenewshere.com/tewksbury_town_crier/news/article_b01576f0-6549-11e6-839a-5f1322a8307a.html?mode=story
George Brooks prepares to pick produce on his micro farm in North Tewksbury. (photo by Mary Leach)
George Brooks, owner of Green Hollow Orchards, looks for ripe tomatoes
Small white pumpkins are molded into eerie heads by George Brooks of Green Hollow Orchards in Tewksbury. (photo by Mary Leach)
Big things are growing in small spaces in Tewksbury. Green Hollow Orchards, a micro farm that has been operating on a half-acre of land in North Tewksbury for nearly 45 years, grows an amazing variety of produce and on normal years produces bushels of apples.
Owner George Brooks purchased the property on quiet Ward Street in 1972 and has been involved in micro or small-scale farming, ever since.
“It’s easier to list what I don’t grow rather than what I do grow,” Brooks said. “I don’t grow eggplant or Lima beans because I don’t like them. I find a place for most everything else.”
A micro farm is a farm that operates on little acreage. Brooks’ half-acre micro farm includes an orchard with 33 apple, two pear and one plum tree; multiple vegetable gardens, both in ground and in containers; a small greenhouse; and a chicken coop complete with a flock of hens. Seven of the apple trees grow on an espalier, a railing or trellis on which fruit trees or shrubs are trained to grow flat and take up less space.
On an average year, the orchards produce 4,000 pounds of fruit. Hundreds of pounds of tomatoes, squash, peppers and other produce are harvested and sold at the Billerica Farmers Market and the Hollis Flea Market. The amount of food that he grows in what is virtually a back yard is astounding.
On a recent visit, several varieties of squash (summer and winter), potatoes, beans, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage and tons of tomatoes grew side by side, in containers, on trellises and on the wooden fence that surrounds the area. Cleared paths ran along the rows, providing access to the crops. Metal cages surrounded the more delicate – and delicious – plants to keep critters such as rabbits away.
The micro farms’ plants were of various sizes, timed so different vegetables become ripe at different times, lengthening the season. Almost every inch of the garden was used to maximize yield. Insect and bird friendly wildflowers grew in seemingly random bunches to attract bees.
Weeding is done by hand, as is watering. Brooks says he avoids chemicals whenever possible and works hard to conserve water at all time, especially during this season’s drought.
“I water by hand just enough to last until the next rain,” he said. “This year has been very challenging.”
A former machine shop supervisor, Brooks’ fascination with farming began when he was about seven years old and visited a relative in Somerville whose home overlooked the backyard of an Italian immigrant.
“Every inch of the yard was covered with tomato plants,” he said. “It was amazing how much the man could grow in such a small space.”
Inspired, Brooks began experimenting with plants, digging up weeds and transporting them to his house in a small red wagon before transplanting them into his own yard to see if they would grow.
After Brooks married Cathy they moved to Tewksbury and bought their first house – the one that they still live in. Brooks lovingly brought back the neglected trees in the existing backyard orchard and began work on his micro farm, learning how to protect tender young shoots as they grew in the early spring by constructing little ecosystems around them.
“I collected storm windows that my neighbors were throwing away and use them to cover the plants,” he said.
Once Brooks retired he began micro farming full time. Depending on the time of year, the days are long and the work is hot and hard. But Brooks cannot imagine his life without his micro farm or without the satisfaction that good growing provides him and his customers.
“Nothing makes me feel better than hearing repeat customers at the Billerica Farmers Market telling me that my tomatoes are the best they’ve ever eaten,” Brooks said, adding that having the perfect soil is the secret to growing tasty tomatoes.
Over the years Brooks has experimented with different crops, sometimes growing giant pumpkins to enter in the Topsfield Fair (he won the New England division in 1991). He stopped that effort after it became to nerve wracking, he said, worrying about something going wrong after putting so much effort into one pumpkin. Today he grows many small pumpkins and uses a mold to shape them into his signature “pumpkin heads.”
Although the days are often long and he’ll never get rich from micro farming, Brooks said he would never dream of giving up the growing life.
“I used to work very stressful jobs and then come home to work in the garden. I retired and I have been doing it full time ever since,” he said.
To learn more about Green Hollow Orchards, visit https://www.facebook.com/
Green-Hollow-Orchard-127167447330282/.
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