These Intimate Images Seize a Household Farm’s Bittersweet Closing Years | Arts & Tradition

By

Jeff Campagna

Images and Captions by Ellen Harasimowicz

Alongside Route 110 within the tiny village of Nonetheless River, Massachusetts, about an hour west of Boston, sits a small constructing the place passers-by refill on produce—corn and tomatoes in the summertime; flowers within the spring; and pumpkins, gourds and squash within the fall. In the event that they’re fortunate, they’ll meet brothers Paul and Wendall Willard as the 2 farmers lay out that day’s harvest.

After 350 years and plenty of generations, nevertheless, the farm’s future is unsure. Photographer Ellen Harasimowicz has been documenting what she refers to because the “lengthy, gradual ending of the farm” in her ongoing challenge, Dwelling Like Grass, that will probably be on exhibit in Harmony, Massachusetts, in Might. Their story is way from distinctive; in Massachusetts, household or individually owned farms symbolize almost 80 percent of the commonwealth’s inventory, in line with the latest USDA Census of Agriculture (2017).

The Willard household has lived and farmed in Nonetheless River since 1676; to say that they’ve constructed a neighborhood is each actually and figuratively true. In line with Harasimowicz, the Willards have grown a loyal following, promoting their produce solely on the farm stand and utilizing an honor system. “Individuals respect the neighborly really feel this service supplies,” she writes. “You weigh your tomatoes, do the maths, and go away the cash—the massive payments go in a slot within the protected—or you may make change within the wood field with smaller payments. Generally folks go away an IOU. I at all times spherical up. I feel many individuals do.”

Alas, Paul, 80, and Wendell, 74, are rising nearer to retirement, they usually say reliable assistance is troublesome to seek out. Their 65-year-old farmhand died in January, and a younger man Paul was coaching left for an additional job. Working bills are rising, climate extremes are inflicting erratic crop yields, and it’s unlikely any next-generation Willards will probably be taking over the household enterprise.

“Right now, the price of producing something is method out of line,” Paul tells Harasimowicz. “A greenback will get spent nearly earlier than you earn it due to the price of pesticides, diesel gas, labor, insurance coverage—every part has gone up. You’ll be able to solely get a lot for a tomato.”

There’s an awesome magnificence and a quiet unhappiness mirrored in Harasimowicz’s challenge. For the previous three years, she has documented the Willards and their farm, one she’s been returning to for greater than 25 years to purchase her produce. It’s vital to her to visualise People’ private connections to the land and to meals, that are quickly dissolving. Perhaps, the 17-acre Willard Farm won’t proceed; on the very least, Paul and Wendell will seemingly be the final Willards to farm this land.

Images from Dwelling Like Grass will be on display in an exhibition at the Three Stones Gallery in Harmony beginning Might 10. Harasimowicz spoke with Smithsonian about her challenge by way of electronic mail under.

What initially drew you to the Willard household?

I’ve been shopping for produce on the Willard’s farm stand since shifting to Harvard, Massachusetts, in 1991. I typically noticed Paul unloading his baskets of corn on the desk or buffing gourds with a delicate fabric. He enjoys spending time on the roadside stand speaking along with his prospects. We turned associates.

What’s your favourite factor to get at Willard Farm?

Oh, the corn. Their corn is so candy. They usually have a number of sorts.

What drew you to farms as a photographic topic?

I grew up on the South Shore of Massachusetts and didn’t have a connection to farming, however once I was younger, my mom used to cease at an area farmstead to purchase corn on our method house from the seaside.

What had been their preliminary reactions once you requested to {photograph} them?

The primary time I requested to {photograph} them was 20 years in the past. The farm is a visible gold mine. Once I requested once more three years in the past, they stated, “After all.”

What was essentially the most difficult factor about photographing this challenge?

Discovering new issues to {photograph}, as a result of there’s plenty of repetition on the farm. They do the identical duties each day, month-to-month, yearly. That’s additionally a profit on the identical time, as a result of I may go there, see them performing a activity, and say, “I need to come again when it’s cloudy or when there’s brighter gentle.” It was additionally: How do I actually present the laborious work, the overwhelmingness of farm work?

What’s the greatest distinction between the farm 20 years in the past and in the present day?

I wasn’t paying shut consideration to how a lot land was farmed again then, however there’s been a giant change within the final three years. In 2020, Paul farmed two fields on his property and three extra on leased land as soon as owned by the Willard household. By 2021, he now not farmed one of many two corn fields on leased land, and final yr he planted fewer pumpkins on the remaining leased land. Normally by this time, the previous plastic that retains down weeds was eliminated to get the fields prepared for tilling, Paul’s favourite farm chore. However the previous plastic continues to be there.

You didn’t simply make current-day pictures, however you additionally did a deep dive researching the Willards’ historical past, their household tree, the historical past of the land. What was that course of?

At first, once I went to the farm I used to be making extra conceptual pictures. However then, when Paul informed me the historical past of the farm and the way far again it went, I used to be actually intrigued by that. When he stated, “I don’t know the way for much longer I can do that,” I made a decision the course I wanted to go: I must honor this household. That is coming to an finish quickly.

I went over to the historic society, which is actually throughout the road and over a home or two—that was once on Willard land—and began doing a little analysis into the farm. They’ve this big family tree ebook. The very first Willard to personal this land was Simon Willard. He’s identified throughout Massachusetts. The present I’m having is in Harmony, and Simon was one of many founders of the city. He was additionally on the Board of Overseers at Harvard Faculty, and two of his heirs turned Harvard Faculty presidents, and that’s how this city obtained its identify, Harvard. It gave the impression to be such a wealthy historical past that when this farm ends, I felt it must be honored for every part that it was and nonetheless is.

What’s been essentially the most stunning factor you found throughout this challenge?

I’ve been shocked to see simply how damaging the wild fluctuations in climate have impacted the crops. One summer season, we skilled plenty of rain and cloudy skies. For weeks, we hardly ever noticed the solar. Paul stated that the rain was manageable, however crops don’t develop with out daylight. That they had a really gentle yield that summer season. The next yr was bone dry. The tomatoes and smaller produce develop in irrigated fields, however the corn doesn’t. There was hardly any corn final yr and no large pumpkins.

Does Eleanor, the one member of the following era of the Willards, have any want to remain on the farm?

The query of what is going to grow to be of the farm is a really sophisticated and painful one for Eleanor. They’re an educational and a author, and their household desires them to pursue their passions. Eleanor has little interest in farming themself, however they don’t need to see the farm disappear. They now stay in New York State and miss house on a regular basis. The household desires to carry on to the property, if in any respect potential, to allow them to stay out their days right here and go away it for Eleanor to do with it as they need.

What do you hope viewers come to know after they have a look at these pictures?

I hope viewers may have compassion for the way troublesome issues are for small household farmers. Along with coping with altering climate patterns, they’ve the problem of discovering younger folks to assist in the fields. I would like folks to contemplate the place their meals comes from and assist native growers. And I would like folks to think about what it means to be deeply rooted in a spot like a lot of our ancestors had been.

What’s your subsequent challenge?

I’m persevering with to make pictures on the farm. Issues have positively slowed down, however work continues to be occurring. I’m in it for the length.

I’m additionally a part of a newly shaped worldwide group of artists, scientists, college students and different specialists specializing in easy methods to higher see, join and amplify the “transformation” programs of the Casco Bay Bioregion in Maine. We’re wanting particularly on the seagrass ecosystems. Eelgrass meadows are house to a staggering variety of fish and invertebrates. Seagrass can take up nitrogen from the water and sequester carbon by burying it within the sediments. These meadows additionally serve like a garden within the estuary, lowering the results of storms, waves and the erosion they will create.