Over 40 years ago, Tamarack Farmstead was a small apple farm known as Colby Farm perched on a hill above the Merrimack river. The farmstead, built in 1759, was one of the first homesteads established in “River Village”.
A portion of the farm, including the original farmhouse, carriage house, and barn, were purchased by Robert and Nannette Becker in 1975 and they rebranded it as “Tamarack Farm” for its towering Tamarack trees which dotted the landscape. Nan and Bob were inspired by the “Back to the Earth” movement of the time, and wanted a slice of earth to call their own. The farm was in rough shape when purchased, but Nan and Bob (and their newborn daughter Caroline) took on the challenge as a labor of love and a lifelong project to protect and preserve this land’s natural beauty.
To help with the overgrown pastures the Becker’s decided to purchase some sheep to clear the land which started the now 40+ year run of Tamarack Farm raising lamb as its main source of commerce, despite having dabbled in other ventures including honeybees and christmas trees over the years.
After running the farm for nearly 40 years, Caroline, along with her husband Mark, and daughters Kenda and Gwendolyn, moved from New York City to Merrimac, Massachusetts to take over operation of the family farm and continue the tradition started by her parents. Mark and Caroline’s dream was to raise their youngest, Gwen, in the same fashion as her mother, having the freedom and opportunity to be raised in a beautiful and epic setting now known as Tamarack Farmstead. Mark and Caroline also had a dream to one day start a farm-brewery and to open their farm to the community.
Caroline and Mark quickly rolled up their sleeves and went to work establishing a half-acre hop yard, raising chickens and using the 40+ acres best natural resource, hardwood trees, to start a small but vibrant cordwood business. The sheep are happy and healthy and continue to pull their weight on the farm.
The future is bright here at Tamarack Farmstead with a great deal on the horizon for this place of natural beauty. Please check back often as we are endlessly busy in our pursuit to bring people to the farm, especially our local community, to enjoy the beautiful vistas. So please stop by, support your local farm, roll-up your sleeves for a bit, and then sit and enjoy the view…