Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/565724
168 Growing up, Jan Richen- burg hated working on the family farm in Salisbur y: She hated the smell, the hard labor, the long hours. As soon as she could, she headed to school in Boston. But her escape didn't go according to plan. "I hadn't been there a year when I re- alized ever ything there was pavement and there was no place to walk in the woods," Richenburg says. So she moved back home and joined the business at Pettengill Farm, adding her name to a tradition dating back to at least 1792. Back then, the farm produced food for the family and prod- ucts that could be bartered with other locals. By the 20th century, the land was home to a thriving farm stand and Richenburg's grandfather traveled in a horse and wagon, peddling milk and eggs. Richenburg took over the operation in 1982. Today, the 70-acre farm boasts gorgeous display gardens and sells perennials, annuals, and other orna- mental plants. Richenburg 's daughter and son-in-law have also joined the busi- ness; the next generation is raising chickens and pigs, as well as branching off to include aquaponics systems, in which fish and plants grow together, the plants drawing nutrition from the fish waste. And these days, Richenburg 's distaste for farm life is ver y much a thing of the past. "It's food for the soul is what it is—I wake up happy," she says. "I am so happy that somebody is go- ing to take over who loves it as much as I do." Pettengill Farm 45 Ferr y Rd., Salisbur y, 978-462-3675 pettengillfarm.com