By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo

The former Curtiss Farm is once again a full working enterprise. The property, just past the three-way intersection of Ashpohtag Road, Lovers Lane and Loon Meadow Drive, is doing its heritage proud. An acre and a half of land is now dedicated to growing vegetables. The rather impressive garden sits at the high point of the property and is lovingly cared for by two full-time employees, Norfolk residents Steve Archaski and Molly Peterson.

Molly Peterson tends the onion crop at Husky Meadows Farm.

It is a big operation for two people, but Archaski and Peterson are clearly proficient. “We grow an obscene amount of vegetables,” says Joe Hurst, who can probably best be described as the chief operating officer of the farm.

Excessive is certainly a word that comes to mind when touring the meticulous rows of vegetables—12 varieties of tomatoes, 6 varieties of carrots, 7 different kinds of beans, 5 beet varieties, peppers, broccoli, eggplant, celery, horseradish, garlic, cucumbers, asparagus, leeks, onions, fennel, kale, potatoes, cabbage, parsley, squash, sunflowers and corn.

Hurst has managed the property, owned by Dominique Lahaussois and David Low, for almost 20 years. The owners never felt right about it only producing hay. “The land was just screaming out to be farmed again,” says Hurst, and so they purchased organic seeds a couple of years ago from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow, Me. In 2014 Archaski designed the garden, which is a work of art in itself (and hasn’t a weed in sight), and then doubled the size of it this summer. Peterson helps out in the garden and also manages the website and communications.

The operation is organic, although not certified. No pesticides or herbicides have been used on the property in years, and only their own composted material is used for fertilizer. Previous owner Jack Curtis certainly has no reason to toss in his grave—his apple and pear trees are meticulously cared for and laden with fruit. One pear tree, estimated to be 80 years old, is so abundant that it looks like something out of a painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder.

The Garden of Eden may have been a better name for Husky Meadows Farm. It is a dreamlike place, and there are no huskies at the present time—but there used to be, and will be again. Of all the beautiful spots in Norfolk, this is certainly a front runner for the best-spot-in-town designation. Lahaussois and Low bought the property from the Glennons in 1993, and renovations and improvements have been near constant ever since. The original 36 by 86 barn and a number of outbuildings have all been beautifully restored, and every turn of the property affords a more stunning vantage point than the last.

Steve Archaski harvests vegetables for the farm’s commercial and private clients.

The farm supplies produce to local restaurants (including The White Hart inn) and delivers 30 to 40 pounds of produce to the food pantry at the Church of Christ each week. It also sells prepared foods. Archaski spends eight to ten hours a week cooking up the fruits of his labor in a rented commercial kitchen. His signature product is a gluten-free lemon almond cake made with the farm’s own stone-ground cornmeal. Husky Meadows offers soups, stews, cookies, cakes and bread. Archaski can also whip up dishes for small parties, whether you need beef stew for 10, lasagna for 8 or biscotti for 30.

“We’re happy to be providing a place for local people to work, and wonderful, fresh, healthy food for people in our community,” says Hurst. Plans for the near future include installing their own commercial kitchen so they can increase the production of prepared foods, getting their own bees and hiring more local employees.

Full or half bags of produce and fresh-cut flowers can be delivered to your door every Friday from mid-July through late October. Husky Meadows Farm customers who aren’t in Norfolk full-time can opt for the “summer fling” (just one month of full or half bag deliveries) or request just a single bag. Additions or substitutions are accommodated, and the contents of the weekly bags are posted on the website by Wednesday of each week. To purchase a bag, or prepared foods, visit www.huskymeadowsfarm.com.

Photos by Savage Frieze.

Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to the “Curtis Farm,” instead of the “Curtiss Farm.”