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| Heritage sheep at Cabbage Hill. Photo courtesy of Samantha Martens. |
Seventy acres of Cabbage Hill Farm, one of Westchester’s original and best-known organic farms, has been preserved forever thanks to a conservation easement donated to Westchester Land Trust by Nancy and Jerry Kohlberg.
The farm, which sits on a hillside near Mount Kisco, has been in operation since 1986 and is in the vanguard of the local food movement, producing livestock, poultry, vegetables and fish, much of which is used at The Flying Pig and other area restaurants or sold at a farm stand in Mount Kisco.
The conservation easement, which had been in the works for more than two years, allows agriculture to continue on the 70 acres, protects its many important environmental characteristics and ensures that the property will not be further subdivided.
Most of the farm is pasture for cattle and sheep. Livestock, particularly pigs, graze on portions of the property’s forest of red oak, sugar maple, white oak, chestnut oak and hemlocks, where they help clear invasive vegetation from the understory. Cabbage Hill is known especially for raising rare heritage breeds, including the appropriately named Large Black Pig, Devon Beef Cattle and Shetland Sheep.
The conservation easement also includes the 10-acre Cockrene Pond, an important waterfowl habitat. The easement helps protect the pond and several streams on the property which drain into the Kisco River and eventually the Croton Reservoir, a source of drinking water for New York City.
The farm, which sits on a hillside near Mount Kisco, has been in operation since 1986 and is in the vanguard of the local food movement, producing livestock, poultry, vegetables and fish, much of which is used at The Flying Pig and other area restaurants or sold at a farm stand in Mount Kisco.
The conservation easement, which had been in the works for more than two years, allows agriculture to continue on the 70 acres, protects its many important environmental characteristics and ensures that the property will not be further subdivided.
Most of the farm is pasture for cattle and sheep. Livestock, particularly pigs, graze on portions of the property’s forest of red oak, sugar maple, white oak, chestnut oak and hemlocks, where they help clear invasive vegetation from the understory. Cabbage Hill is known especially for raising rare heritage breeds, including the appropriately named Large Black Pig, Devon Beef Cattle and Shetland Sheep.
The conservation easement also includes the 10-acre Cockrene Pond, an important waterfowl habitat. The easement helps protect the pond and several streams on the property which drain into the Kisco River and eventually the Croton Reservoir, a source of drinking water for New York City.
A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a private landowner and a not-for-profit organization such as Westchester Land Trust to protect land in perpetuity. The property remains privately owned, and the land trust is responsible for documenting the environmental resources and checking at least annually to ensure that they are being protected. Conservation easements are filed with the county clerk and remain in effect even after the land changes hands.
Although Cabbage Hill Farm’s address is Mount Kisco, the portion of the farm protected by the easement is actually in Yorktown.
The farm is not open to the public, although public tours are given on the first and third Fridays of each month, at 1 p.m. Check www.cabbagehillfarm.org for details and please call the farm for a reservation.
With the completion of the Cabbage Hill easement, Westchester Land Trust has helped protect almost 7,300 acres, including 180 conservation easements covering 4,300 acres.
More than two dozen of those easements protect agricultural land. Farmland protection is one of the key goals of Westchester Land Trust’s Farmers Network, which brings farmers, landowners, market owners, chefs and others together to work on making local agriculture more sustainable.
More than two dozen of those easements protect agricultural land. Farmland protection is one of the key goals of Westchester Land Trust’s Farmers Network, which brings farmers, landowners, market owners, chefs and others together to work on making local agriculture more sustainable.
Westchester Land Trust sends its sincere thanks to Nancy and Jerry Kohlberg for their generous donation and for their commitment to local farming.
Westchester Land Trust thanks Samantha Martens for the photos of Cabbage Hill Farm. www.samanthamartensphotography.com
Westchester Land Trust thanks Samantha Martens for the photos of Cabbage Hill Farm. www.samanthamartensphotography.com