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Kimball Fruit Farm: Cultivating Family, Community, and Connection
By David Wadleigh
Local agriculture holds a special place in my family’s history. My maternal grandparents met working at Bell Farm in Hollis, and my parents met working at Brookdale Farm. My early childhood was spent watering the greenhouses at King Farm in Townsend, planting, weeding, and picking in my grandpa’s garden in Pepperell, and falling asleep in my dad’s lap on the tractor at Lull Farm. When I was fifteen years old, I started working at Kimball Fruit Farm so by the time my wife, Amanda, and I started dating after college, farming was deeply ingrained in my life. Amanda and I have been planting and picking in the fields together since the beginning of our relationship and now include our children alongside us. After working with Carl and Marie Hills for so many years, they approached Amanda and me with an offer to sell us Kimballs, we knew it was a great way to combine our mutual passion for agriculture with our deep roots in Hollis.
Our Mission-Cultivate and Grow Relationships
Our mission is to allow local families to enjoy healthy food together. At Kimball Fruit Farm, our fields and orchards are filled with fruit and vegetables, but our fundamental goal is to cultivate and grow relationships. Every member of our staff understands that we don’t just sell produce; we provide the catalyst that brings loved ones together around the dining room table. This mindset shapes our customer relations. Providing food for one's family is an essential and intimate part of daily life, and engaging with people in this process naturally creates a special bond between us and our customers from the moment they enter our store. Agriculture has been a vital part of our family’s story, and we strive to offer our community members the opportunity to make it a part of theirs as well.
Farmstand and Farmer’s Markets
Over the years, Kimball Fruit Farm has expanded the size of our community. You can find our produce at our farmstand and 11 weekly farmer’s markets in the greater Boston area. We have a very diverse customer base. We ask questions like “What are you feeling for dinner? Chinese? Italian? Mexican? Thai?” Based on our conversations with our customers, we offer a wide range of produce and products to meet their needs.
This season, you will find 51 varieties of tomatoes, 17 varieties of winter and summer squashes, 16 types of greens, 12 types of peppers, 9 varieties (in 5 different colors) of potatoes, 7 types of plums, 5 colors of cauliflower, 4 types of berries, as well as multiple shapes and colors of beans, melons, eggplant, herbs, root vegetables, table grapes, and peaches (which we are happy to see a lot of on the trees this season). And of course, to remain true to our roots as a wholesale apple farm, we also grow 54 varieties of apples.
Children’s Events
This will be our second year of free children’s events on the hill. These events share the wonder of farming with our community's littlest members. We want to thank the Hollis Social Library and the Hollis Arts Society for collaborating on more than one of these events.
PYO-Pick You Own
We offer PYO strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, flowers, apples, and pumpkins. We also have pricing sheets and information available for local schools or organizations interested in field trips.
Savings and Value-Produce Value Card, Harvest Boxes, Bloom Boxes
Our Produce Value Card is a refillable card you can use at any of our locations and gives a 10% discount. Our Harvest Boxes are filled with a seasonal variety of fresh-picked produce and are available in three sizes of harvest boxes (mixed fruits and vegetables) and can be purchased as one-time purchases or season passes. All of our boxes are also available for local delivery.
For farm news, updates, pictures, events, and online ordering we encourage you to visit our website http://kimball.farm or follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Thank you for allowing Amanda and me to introduce ourselves to you. We hope to see you out at the farm soon!