NORFOLK – From the 300 hilltop acres surrounding Husky Meadows Farm in Norfolk, there are no other houses in view. Traffic on Doolittle Drive is limited to people picking up discounted items from the farm, supporting a non-traditional form of community-supported agriculture.
A square, white sign suspended from a weathered gatepost proclaims, “Seed & Spoon at Husky Meadows Farm.” The driveway leads to a newly constructed red building with three guest rooms, a sunroom and a community kitchen. A fourth guest room is in a building across the driveway.
It's a destination where guests can help pick their own food from the organic garden, take cooking classes and spend time outdoors.
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There's the sound of bird calls, maybe a low growl from a red Kubota tractor in a distant field, and now and then, a rush of wind.
The farm's culinary director has been at Husky Meadows for more than six years, and brought years of farming experience to the job.
“I’ve been working here since late 2017,” said Tracy Hayhurst. “I was a farmer for most of my career, (and) also (worked in ) the culinary world as well.”
Hayhurst was the farm's manager before becoming culinary director, then did both jobs for a while. Brett Ellis, a former restaurant chef as well as a farmer, became farm manager in 2023. Steve Archaski has been Husky Meadows' chef and baker since 2015. The farm is busy now with activities.
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“We do stuff during weekends,” Hayhurst said. “We have open houses. If it’s not a cooking class or a dinner, it’s a special event.”
Archaski assists with cooking classes by baking pies or brioche bread, she said.
“Sometimes, it’s one specific item, but usually it is around creating a meal," she said of the classes. "We will have like an Italian class or a Mediterranean class.” In addition to dinner classes, they conduct summer brunch classes on weekends.
“It’s usually hands-on,” she said. “And then people sit down and eat the meal afterwards.”
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Archaski was mixing ground lamb with herbs and spices to make kofta, or lamb sausages, for an upcoming weekend meal. “I’m having a great time,” he said.
He is also known for making “the best biscotti,” according to a recent guest, who preferred to remain anonymous.
Hayhurst said there is usually a theme around the dinners. “Right now, it’s a meet-the-farmer dinner," she said. "We’ll have a farmer as kind of a special guest, and we will use their products."
The next meet-the-farmer dinner on July 30 will feature Lost Ruby Farm, also in Norfolk.
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Hayhurst said she enjoys teaching culinary arts to both overnight and private-instruction guests.
“I like sharing it, because you can cook a meal for somebody and they enjoy it, or you can grow food for people, and then they’ll appreciate it," she said. "But when you’re both doing it together, sharing the knowledge and creating something, it just gets to the next level.”
There are no livestock at the farm, so local dairy farmers often supply meat and dairy products for culinary events, Hayhurst said. All other ingredients are grown organically at Husky Meadows Farm.
She said that during farm-stay weekends, guests accompany the chef, Ellis, in the field. “The purpose is to really show them every step of where your food is coming from,” she said.
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On a walking tour of the orchards and vegetable gardens, Ellis led the way past statuary and through a topiary arbor bursting with lavender. The stone walkway led to an apple orchard, where young trees were espaliered along a fence, their limbs stretched out toward each other like children holding hands.
“It’s a way of pruning trees so they stretch straight out like that,” he said.
In the vegetable gardens were strawberry plants, new to the garden this year, he said. There were six or seven varieties of heirloom tomatoes, Salanova lettuce, sunflowers, carrots, beets, Swiss chard, Amarosa fingerling potatoes, winter squash, garlic, cucumbers, basil, peppers and eggplant.
The tour ended at the rustic farm stand, open Fridays from 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. A slate sign listed herbs, salad mix, spinach, kale, cabbages, kohlrabi, radishes and scapes.
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Ellis said he enjoys both cooking and farming. “I like working with my hands, my senses, and connecting with the natural world, connecting to kind of traditional things,” he said.
Hayhurst said she is pleased to hear, or overhear, her guests praising the accommodations and hands-on programs at Husky Meadows Farm. She said she hears people saying, “It’s so beautiful here. I was relaxed the moment I stepped onto the property.”
“What’s not to like?” Archaski said.
Seed & Spoon at Husky Meadows Farm is at 26 Doolittle Drive in Norfolk. The farm stand is at 30 Doolittle Drive. For more information, call 860-540-4757 or go to www.huskymeadowsfarm.com.
860-261-4405
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