Maple Knoll Farm welcomes farm expansion, more goats

Victor and Jo-Ann Jarvis of Maple Knoll Farm in Springfield were outside on Monday morning, May 22, feeding their herd of Nubian dairy goats and bringing out fresh containers of goat's milk for a customer.

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2017-05-24 / Front Page Maple Knoll Farm welcomes farm expansion, more dairy goats «» Victor and Jo-Ann Jarvis feed their herd of Nubian goats at Maple Knoll Farm. http://www.themessage.news/sites/www.themessage.news/files/DSC_0036_w_Story.JPGhttp://www.themessage.news/sites/www.themessage.news/files/DSC_0053_COVER.JPGhttp://www.themessage.news/sites/www.themessage.news/files/DSC_0041COVER.JPGhttp://www.themessage.news/sites/www.themessage.news/files/DSC_0033.JPGhttp://www.themessage.news/sites/www.themessage.news/files/DSC_0045.JPGhttp://www.themessage.news/sites/www.themessage.news/files/DSC_0048.JPGhttp://www.themessage.news/sites/www.themessage.news/files/DSC_0060.JPGhttp://www.themessage.news/sites/www.themessage.news/files/DSC_0063.JPG By Tory Jones Denis SPRINGFIELD — Victor and Jo-Ann Jarvis of Maple Knoll Farm in Springfield were outside on Monday morning, May 22, feeding their herd of Nubian dairy goats and bringing out fresh containers of goat's milk for a customer. Maple Knoll Farm has been a working farm since the 1700s, one of the oldest in the area. In the past five years, the Jarvises have expanded their herd of registered dairy goats. In the first year they had just one goat, then four by their second year. They now have about 26 goats, including five of this spring's 29 babies. “We’ve got one of the few Nubian herds,” Victor Jarvis said. “You can’t mis it - they are the ones with the hound dog ears.” The Jarvises have been working Maple Knoll Farm for nearly 20 years, on 16 acres of land. Victor is from the Ascutney area, part of the Jarvis and Sons Construction family, and Jo-Ann is originally from Manchester, New Hampshire. After retirement, “we figured out we wanted to be farmers when we grew up,” Victor Jarvis said. The farm is one of the original homesteads, including the house and the main barn, from the Fort at No. 4. When they bought the land, they first got into sugaring. Victor built a maple sugar house out of wood planks he harvested and aged from the couple’s land, building up the machinery over the last 15 years and installing about 3,500 taps. They now offer tours during maple season, while the sugar is boiling, and throughout the year. They also give dairy farm tours, and welcome visitors and families with children to see how the farm works. “People bring their kids. The goats are usually out,” Jo-Ann said. Jo-Ann also teaches sustainability, and how to live off the land, she said. The goat’s milk and other products are available at the farm. Victor Jarvis said the goat’s milk has a rich cream, and that the fat in it is “a lot easier to digest” than cow’s milk. A customer at the farm on Monday, buying four large glass jars to take home, said he preferred the milk to any store-bought cow's milk. The Jarvises start their day at 5 a.m. and work until 9 p.m. every day on their farm, which is state-inspected and certified for the sale of raw milk. Twenty-four of the new dairy goats have been sold since the new kids arrived, as the regular herd-thinning process, but the five kids — MacGuyver, MacGregor, Xavier, Heather and Sophia — remain with the herd. The goats each have their own personalities and names, such as Maggie and Dolly and Holly (the Wood sisters), Sadie Sue, Crow, Chocolate Moose, Nutmeg and Champagne Bubbles. Jo-Ann also makes jams and jellies from the Concord grapes that have been growing on the land since the 1700s, along with her blueberries and blackberries. Eggs, pickles, and seasonal fresh produce and livestock are also available at the farm, located at 1678 Connecticut River Road in Springfield, about three miles from the Weathersfield line. Although GPS signals often send people a few miles down the road, a sign near the road at Maple Knoll Farm welcomes visitors. The farm is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call (802) 885-1688 or visit http://www.mapleknollfarmvermont.com.