D&R Farm, providing pies & poultry
Diane and Rob Rollins have been selling turkeys for Thanksgiving at their D&R Farm in Hampden, MA, since 2009. They also raise and sell chickens, eggs, seasonal produce, jams, pies and baked goods from their farm store and at farmers markets.
Rob was born and raised on Sunny Acres Farm in bordering East Longmeadow. The operation spans three generations, so he’s been raising turkeys and poultry his whole life.
“He married me, and his parents had stopped raising turkeys,” said Diane, so they started their own farm in 2009. They raise over 200 White Holland turkeys that are delivered to the farm as day-old chicks at different times, beginning in July. They are staggered over time to have the turkeys ready at different weights just in time for Thanksgiving. A five-month-old turkey results in a “38-pounder.”
Their free-range turkeys are fed a custom-made feed from Pleasant View Farm Inc. in nearby Somers, CT. “They can go in and out as they please,” Diane said.
Their farm is 2.75 acres and they lease another 30 acres.
The best part of raising and selling their turkeys is the reports of “happiness from people when they order their turkey and call us back and tell us it was the best turkey they ever ate,” Diane reported. “We have had returning customers since the beginning.”
Customers order their turkeys for the next year when they pick up this year’s turkey so they have year-long standing orders.
“We are trying to raise our Christmas flock as well as Thanksgiving, but we keep selling out,” said Diane. They also raise and sell broiler chickens and eggs year-round.
Is there a “usual” turkey people request? “They order all sorts and sizes,” answered Diane.
In 2014, the couple opened a year-round farm store for people to buy their chickens, homegrown produce and pick up their turkey orders. Their seasonal produce is organic, grown without sprays or pesticides but not certified organic. They grow and sell turnips, corn, carrots, cabbage and much more.
And then there are the pies. Diane makes 50 pies at a time in her 20-by-40-foot kitchen – fresh Canadian meat pie as well as blueberry, apple, strawberry, strawberry-rhubarb, rhubarb and blackberry pies. She tries to have pies available at all times but they sell out fast too. Customers can pre-order them.
She makes other baked goods as well as jams, peach butter, salsa and pickles. They grow all the fruit except for the peaches, which they purchase from another farmer.
Diane also makes soups – tomato basil, butternut squash and barley, to name a few.
On the ceiling of their farm store are hanging baskets that can be filled to order with jams, baked goods or meats to give as gifts.
They also participate in local farmers markets at the Holyoke Senior Center, the Monson Housing Authority and the Ware Housing Authority.
For more information, access drfarmhampden.com/#turkeys.
by Laura Rodley
