Edgewater Farm is a family farm located along the alluvial plains of the Connecticut River in Plainfield, NH. Originally a five generation family farm, Edgewater Farm was owned by the Colby Family from 1835 to 1974. The Colby family cut and sold firewood, eggs, butter and buttermilk in neighboring West Lebanon. The family’s long tenure of stewardship came to an end when Pooh and Anne Sprague took up residence at the farm in 1974, not more than a mile from where Anne grew up. Her family still owns and operates Mac’s Happy Acres Farm (McNamara Dairy), a diverse multi generational dairy farm that processes milk and has large fresh egg and maple sugar enterprises. Although initially the two Spragues maintained outside employment (Anne as an elementary school teacher and Pooh as a day laborer, ski patroller and part-time musician), they were encouraged by their county agents William Lord and by Stan Colby (previous owner of the farm and also a former UNH county agent) to try growing strawberries on the farm.
Our first strawberry crop was harvested in 1976, and from that point other crops were added to accommodate market demand. We sold vegetables out of a barn adjacent to the house, and we sold corn out of the back of a pickup on the streets of West Lebanon and Hanover. By 1983, both of the Spragues were working full time on the farm and, along with a few greenhouses, they opened their first version of their Route 12A Plainfield farm stand. Children grew up and returned to the area after college and worked on farm. In 2013 Ray and his wife Jenny bought the Putnam Farm in Cornish, NH and the farm added The Plateau in Windsor Vermont and another 26 acres of tillable land was added. Today in 2024, Pooh and Anne- along with their children- Sarah, Ray, daughter in-law Jenny, and 43 year veteran Mike Harrington- are all involved with managing the many different aspects of the farm. Edgewater Farm currently crops 100 acres of tillable land on which cash and cover crops are grown.
We have approximately 70K square feet of poly greenhouses in which we grow ornamental bedding plants as well as greenhouse vegetables. Our small fruit production includes 5-6 acres of strawberries, 2 acres of raspberries and 3.5 acres of blueberries. Our produce is retailed directly through our greenhouses, our farm stand, through our CSA models as well as being available at select locations in the Upper Valley area. We donate to area food shelves and kitchens through our participation with the local nonprofit organization Willing Hands.
A third generation is now present on the farm as we find Haddie 11), Hobbes (7), Rozzie Hope (6), and Billie (4) weaving amongst our legs during daily activities. We will continue to take a long view of land stewardship as our farming family goes forward.
