Meet Your Local Farmer: Taylor-Bray Farm, growing community since 1639
As the countdown continues to the Meet Your Local Farmers event on March 28th, we thought it would be fun to chat with some of the local farmers who will be attending.
Taylor-Bray Farm in Yarmouth Port. Photo by Halley Steinmetz
This week, we had the chance to speak with Lisa McIntyre of Taylor-Bray Farm, located at 108 Bray Farm Road North, Yarmouth Port. Lisa is a Board Member of the Taylor-Bray Farm Preservation Association, the nonprofit volunteer group that keeps the farm humming.
Taylor-Bray Farm is a magical place. Open every day of the year from dawn to dusk and free to visit, the farm borders a scenic marsh and features animals, a boardwalk, a walking trail and historic buildings.
The farm also hosts seasonal festivals, group visits from school and other organizations (including Harwich Conservation Trust) and is home to a summer farmers market. It’s also a great place to bring kids for an off-phone adventure.
You can find out more about Taylor-Bray Farm at the Meet Your Local Farmers event on March 28th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School (351 Pleasant Lake Avenue in Harwich). It’s going to be a hootenanny, so save the date!
The animals are a big draw at Taylor-Bray Farm in Yarmouth Port. Photo by Halley Steinmetz
The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) and the Orleans Farmers’ Market. It’s a great opportunity to chat with farmers, purchase local produce, fish, meat and handcrafted products, and marvel at farm animals.
We are grateful to Lisa McIntyre of Taylor-Bray Farm for taking the time to answer our questions. Here we go!
Tell us a little bit about Taylor-Bray Farm.
It’s pretty amazing. We’re 100% volunteers. No one gets paid down here–it’s just out of the love of the history of the farm, and the love of the animals and being able to be a place for the community, whether it’s school groups or whatever. We have a great group of volunteers that are very dedicated.
We have 23 acres of marsh-side property. It’s the oldest farm in Yarmouth Port, dating to 1639. It’s a beautiful green space and we are open every day of the year. It’s family-friendly and it’s free, although we do take donations.
What kinds of animals live on Taylor-Bray Farm?
A group of students from the Monomoy Regional School District’s SHORE Program visited Taylor-Bray Farm in Yarmouth Port recently for a Harwich Conservation Trust program with naturalist Andrea Higgins. Harwich Conservation Trust photo
We have Spaghetti. She’s our 10-year-old Highland cow. And Caraway, a Navajo-Churro ram. And we have sheep: five ewes and one male, Dave. He lives with the ewes. We have two donkeys, Sam and Nestor, they have been here the longest. They turned 20 last year. We have a full-sized Nubian goat named George and his counterpart, a Saanen goat named Billy George. The two of them have a good time. We also have 23 chickens and Dudley the rooster.
What’s your favorite thing about the Meet Your Local Farmers event?
Meet Your Local Farmers is one of the best events I’ve attended yet. It’s great meeting the people who are so active in the community, and who care about the resources of Cape Cod. Whether it’s farming or fishing, they care about providing good, quality food. And we’ll get to promote some of the educational things we have going on.
Going to the event helps you realize how many resources there are on the Cape for fresh produce and meat and vegetables. It’s pretty amazing!
SAVE THE DATE: The Meet Your Local Farmers event will bloom on March 28th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School (351 Pleasant Lake Avenue in Harwich). Hope to see you there!
Photo gallery: Over the years, Taylor-Bray Farm has hosted many Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) programs guided by HCT Naturalist Andrea Higgins. Enjoy these scenes from the farm! Photos by Halley Steinmetz.
