Family Farming at the White Hart Inn

By Laura Modlin

Traditional family farms may be dwindling in number, but the fresh and local food they provide is still considered by many to be the healthiest and tastiest eating alternative. The appetite for that food is growing, and to help feed it, a small, industrious group in Salisbury is redefining the concept of the family farm.

In late 2006 Scott and Roxanne Bok purchased 115 acres of dormant farmland just down the road from their centuries-old White Hart Inn. They named the property Twin Lakes Farm. “Our farming operation derived from a natural love of land and wanting to protect it from development,” said Mr. Bok. It also seemed a sensible way to provide their chef fresh, local food that could go from the farm to the kitchen in under four miles.

Once the land was secured the Boks set out to put together the people who could run the operation. While the couple might handpick some fruit now and then, or gather a few eggs, they see their main role as providing guidance, encouragement, capital, and oversight. Enter the chef, the inn manager, and the three farmers. “They all really want to make it work,” Mr. Bok said. “Because the food tastes better, because it’s right for the environment, and because farming can be a beautiful use of undeveloped land.”

This summer the farm begins its second year harvesting the bulk of the inn’s food, growing over 50 varieties of pesticide-free produce for the 1,000-plus meals served each week. This year’s crop includes asparagus, salad greens, spinach, snap peas, radishes, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, berries, peaches, pears, watermelons, and apples.

The farm will produce the entire stock of beef for the inn’s restaurant from their more than 100 grass-fed, hormone-free Black Angus cows. They also raise chickens for fresh eggs.

Dave Luscher, the executive chef, came onboard in July of last year, just in time for the farm’s first harvest. He has infused the inn’s kitchen with fresh energy. “I liked the idea of food coming right from the farm to here,” he said. “There’s a huge difference in taste.”

After working as a chef in the South for over a decade, Mr. Luscher went through some adjustments moving to a region with such a different growing schedule. While he says it has “definitely been a challenge going from one season to four,” the steepest learning curve for him was working with the beef. “Grass-fed beef is treated differently because of the low fat,” he said. “It’s cooked differently.” It has to be cooked at a lower temperature and can overcook quickly.

Kendra Tobin-Chapman, the inn’s manager, has noticed a difference with the new beef as well. “The burgers are 92 percent lean,” she said. “Grass-fed beef tastes different. It has a much leaner, healthier, cleaner taste.” Ms. Tobin-Chapman interacts with the customers and is in charge of gathering feedback. According to her, the response to the beef has been so enthusiastic that for the coming year they have planned for “almost twice as much as last year, to keep up with demand.”

The collaboration doesn’t end at the doors of the inn. There are three farmers who work closely with the chef and the inn manager.

Gaye Parise and Peggy O’Brien tend to the garden. The two have many years of gardening experience and work closely with Mr. Luscher and Ms. Tobin-Chapman determining what and how much to grow.

One of the issues that came up last year was having too much of some crops. So this year they will be growing less of each type of food but will plant a greater variety. Any surplus is sold at a farm stand on the White Hart lawn, Saturdays from 9am to noon.

The other person in this farm family, Gerard Choquette, tends to the farm’s grounds for the gardeners and is in charge of the livestock. He stores hay and alfalfa in barns during the growing season in order to provide the animals with a healthy diet through the winter months.

Mr. Choquette is at home around animals, having grown up on a dairy farm in northern Vermont near the Canadian border. He admires the Boks’ philosophy of keeping everything on the farm free of chemicals. “We’ve talked about getting the pastures to grow a little more with chemicals, but they [the Boks] don’t want to do that.”

While they hope for a good eight to nine months of fresh produce in the coming year, much is being done to extend the farm’s influence through the winter months. There are portable greenhouses. Mr. Choquette built a root cellar so they can better store squash and root vegetables. The inn has a brand new walk-in freezer for sauces and dishes like eggplant parmesan that freeze well.

It takes the entire crew and a lot of hard work to realize the Boks’ dream of providing local food for guests in their restaurant, but the response has proven the effort worthwhile. “It’s definitely been very well received,” according to Ms. Tobin-Chapman. “And you feel better knowing you’re doing something good, not just for the local economy but putting good food into people’s bodies.”

The White Hart Inn
The Village Green
14 Undermountain Road
Salisbury
800.832.0041,
860.435.0030
www.whitehartinn.com

Breakfast
Mon–Sun 7–10am
Brunch
Sat & Sun 10am–4pm
Lunch
Mon–Fri 11:30am–3pm
Dinner
Sun–Thur 5–9:30pm,
Fri & Sat 5–10pm
Twin Lakes Farm Stand on the White Hart lawn
Sat 9am–noon