Conserving Warner’s Vegetable Ranch
CERTIFIED ORGANIC PRODUCE SINCE 1988
The Vegetable Ranch has grown certified organic produce of exceptional quality for more than twenty years. In 1988, Larry Pletcher’s 125-acre home on the slopes of Mt. Kearsarge became a successful, diversified farm melding traditional organic methods with contemporary knowledge to carry sustainable agriculture forward to new generations.
The farm’s produce is sold at favorite markets, retailers, and restaurants including the Concord Farmers’ Market, the Concord Food Co-op, Dimond Hill Farm, the Warner Public Market, Sweet Beet Market, Whole Foods Market, and Revival Kitchen & Bar.
Vegetable Ranch is a participating farm in the Local Harvest CSA, sells weekly veggie bags through Concord Hospital and Local Baskit, and provides fresh produce to the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program of the Belknap-Merrimack Counties Community Action Program.
STATUS OF THE CONSERVATION PROJECT
In 2020, Five Rivers Conservation Trust and Larry Pletcher began collaborating to place a conservation easement on his property. Conserving the farm will prevent future development and make agricultural use more financially viable for future farmers. In addition to protecting an important local food source, conserving Larry’s 118 acres provides protection for streams, wildlife, and forestland.
The Five Rivers community was saddened to learn that Larry Pletcher passed away on May 12, 2021. The Concord Monitor featured a front-page story that week, is found here. Larry’s obituary is found here.
How does Larry’s passing impact the final stages of the project to place a conservation easement on the 118 acres? Larry’s wife, Carol, and daughter, Jennifer, are eager to keep pace with the original project timeline to the extent that we all can. We are so glad to be continuing to work with Carol and Jenn. Their commitment to see this land remain in agricultural production and be protected from future development is admirable and unwavering.
What are the next steps in the project, and when will the land be officially conserved? There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into officially conserving land by purchasing a conservation easement. The conservation easement is the legal instrument that protects conservation values – in this case, such as keeping the productive farmland available for agriculture, supporting forest management, and conserving water quality. Our staff and board volunteers have been hard at work on this project since 2019. Much of the heavy lifting is already complete, and work remains to survey parts of the property and finalize legal documentation. There may be some issues out of our control that could extend the timeline, but we are aiming to keep as close to the original timeline as we can.
How did your fundraising efforts go to conserve the Vegetable Ranch? In 2020, we were very successful raising funds through grants, including a significant grant from NH’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program. Then we began a community fundraising effort to raise the final $40,000 needed. Larry was a big part of this, and helped us to distribute flyers to his customers. He was a willing (and eloquent!) spokesperson on the video that we created to help tell his story. He posed for photos, including the one above taken at the farm this past March. This community fundraising effort brought so many people together, and we were incredibly touched by messages that we received from donors about why they were giving. Larry has been an inspiration and a hero to many in the organic farming and local food communities.
Do you need any additional funding for the project? Will Five Rivers Conservation Trust accept memorial gifts in memory of Larry Pletcher? We are in a strong financial position to close out the project. That said, it is difficult to estimate exactly how project costs will end up when the actual project closing is still months out. We expect to have a small fundraising gap (to finalize the conservation easement on the 118 acres), and we can always use additional funding for the ongoing costs associated with stewardship of the land.
Yes, Five Rivers can accept donations in memory of Larry Pletcher for this project specifically or Five Rivers’ work in general. Thank you for supporting local agriculture!
