Early American history and modern times come together at McClary Hill Farm. Barbara and Dave Stewart’s 18th century farmhouse sets on the hill which got its name from the first Scotch-Irish pair to settle in their town of Epsom. Dave, formerly an owner of a company that manufactured custom molded polyurethane parts for things ranging from elevators to food processing plants, has returned to his zoology background. While his wife home schools their daughter, shuttles both of their kids to various music and enrichment activities, freelance writes, and studies cheese making, Dave manages their 138 acre farm. His main focus currently is on animals and thirty acres have been cleared for grassy pasture land.

But when he began thinking about future growth, he concluded that a farm is “all about people. The reason to have a farm is people,” he repeated for emphasis, “so grow your farm around people.” To follow this dictum, he is building a green house and attaching it to a building to house a commercial kitchen, office space, a cheese making facility, and a three zone root cellar for a future CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). “I want our farm to be a community center – we even will have a space for contra dancing.”

As part of his effort to be an environmentally friendly farm, Dave received a Conservation Innovation Grant from the National Resource Conservation Service to develop a system of drying wood in an enclosed chamber for heat with charcoal becoming the by-product. By mixing the charcoal with animal manure for fertilizing his soil, he is putting the carbon into the ground rather than as a gas into the air. In the ground the carbon will remain for eons without harm to society.

“The future of my farm is all about putting together the puzzle pieces of education, community building activities, recreation, and healthy farming before taking the next step. But make no mistake what drives Dave Stewart, “it’s the farming,” he says.

Dave and Barbara Stewart
3 Griffin Road
Epsom, NH 03234
603-738-4717
www.mcclaryhillfarm.com

Points of Sale:
At the barn on the farm 1 1/2 miles off Route 4
beef, chicken, pork, turkey (by special order)and a variety of vegetables

Retail only