Hilltown Tree & Garden's Home/Office
"Victory Vegetable Garden"
Chesterfield Ma.
While the entire property, nestled in the hilltowns of Western Massachusetts, is 38 acres, 37 are managed for sustainable timber harvest, wildlife, and water quality in a program call "Forestry Stewardship". In the remaining one acre, Jim and his wife Lisa have designed, built & managed a: house, barn, solar panes, septic system, well, driveway, orchard, small fruits, vegetables, herbs, ornamental flowering trees, shade trees, cutting flowers, lawn, a root cellar and next spring...a few hogs.
The acre contains: 15 different kinds of fruits: apple, apricot, plum, peach, pear, asian pear, persimmons, cherry, strawberry (June and ever-bearing), currants, blackberries (thornless and thorny), raspberries (early, mid and late), blueberries (early, mid and late), grapes & kiwis. All are organically managed. The 12 herbs that are grown are: basil, cilantro, sage, hyssop, catmint, lemon balm, oregano, chives, coriander, thyme, italian and regular parsley. The two dozen plus vegetables that are grown are: squash (winter and summer), corn, asparagus, garden greens (mescaline, lettuce, asian greens, etc...) bush & pole beans, cabbage, peppers (bell & hot), okra, sunchokes, leeks, red & yellow onion, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, eggplant, kale, pumpkins, asparagus, beets, broccoli and garlic. The fruits, vegetables and herbs are preserved in a number of different ways allowing for year round consumption. There are dozens of cut flowers.
The photos below will focus only on the vegetable and herb garden.
Click to Read Customer Testimonial
Please roll mouse over photo to see After & Before
After (2 Years Later): Raised beds were installed that were framed in with rot resistant locust and the paths were mulched with wood chips.
Before: This was what the one acre looked like when the property was purchased.
A small greenhouse can be seen in the upper right corner. It allow for an early spring start and an extension of the season in the late summer. There are 30 raised beds with an average dimension of 4' x 15'
A bountiful harvest of garlic. This is an old fashion heirloom variety from Italy that produces very large, pungent, yet smooth tasting cloves.
Giant purple cabbage in a bed with bush beans. The cabbage will be used to make sauerkraut that will keep in the root cellar for months.
Carrots are being harvest for a summer salad. Carrots are grown in the garden for summer salads but mainly to store in the root cellar for winter consumption. Properly stored carrots will store from October to late May. All the while remaining crisp and delicious.
The summer harvest. Ever-bearing strawberries, beans, tomatoes, carrots, cukes, eggplant, basil, cilantro, and yellow squash.
