Producer
Here And There Grain Project
Contact: Andrew Dixon
City: Essex, MA,
Website: hereandtheregrain.com
About Us
Who are we? A community-oriented agriculture project with a vision, Here and There Grain Project is
many things—a peri-urban farm, a seed cleaning facility, and a mill for locally grown staple crops
(primarily grains) on the North Shore of Massachusetts.
Established in 2021 by a bread baker interested in working more closely with grains and
soil, Here and There Grain Project aims to lower the barrier of entry for established farmers to
incorporate grain production into their crop rotations through technical assistance and
collaborative cultivation.
many things—a peri-urban farm, a seed cleaning facility, and a mill for locally grown staple crops
(primarily grains) on the North Shore of Massachusetts.
Established in 2021 by a bread baker interested in working more closely with grains and
soil, Here and There Grain Project aims to lower the barrier of entry for established farmers to
incorporate grain production into their crop rotations through technical assistance and
collaborative cultivation.
Practices
Why winter grains?
Winter rye and winter wheat can grow for 295 days, making them one of the longest
annual crops. During this time they cover and protect our soil, photosynthesizing in the shoulder
seasons, providing structure for microbial life and cycling nutrients. For the vegetable farmer,
after periods of cultivation and productivity it becomes important to fallow fields, and winter
grains provide an option to do so when considering crop rotations.
In the late summer or fall, after a vegetable crop is harvested we plant wheat or rye
which sprout and grow their first few tillers before winter. In the early spring, these hearty
grasses with their firm holds on life can be grazed, giving our ruminant friends an opportunity to
deposit some organic fertility on our fields. We often seed nitrogen-fixing clover near the final
frost date, our winter grains act as a nursery for the clover and when the grain is harvested off
as a mid-summer cash crop, the clover is ready to take off and nourish, aerate and protect the
soil through another winter, readying the field to return to vegetable production.
Collaborating Farms and Farmers:
The grains for sale this year were grown at Alprilla Farm in Essex, MA during the 2022
season. Here and There Grain Project started with Andrew’s time spent at Alprilla Farm in 2021,
where he got to see how winter grains integrate into a vegetable farm and got to ask all of his
nerdy questions about rye. Noah and Sophie have been busy building the infrastructure at their
new farm location in Warner, NH, this season, and Andrew has been the “boots on the ground”,
monitoring the maturing grains, taking over the grain drying and milling, assisting with the
seeding and harvesting. The grains grown at Alprilla Farm in the 2022 season are some of the
freshest and tastiest around; they really benefited from the moisture-holding ability of Alprilla’s
dense clay soils in MA’s extended drought.
We look forward to a 2023 harvest at Iron Ox Farm in Hamilton, MA! As Here and There
Grain Project looked at getting some rye seeded for the 2022-23 winter growing season, Alex
and Stacey were plotting a course towards grain raising at Iron Ox and the partnership took
shape. Alex and Stacys’ sensible approach to land stewardship sees their farmlands often
covered in mulch, sheep, diverse cover crops, bees, flowers, and the care-taking hands of the
many volunteers and dedicated farm crew members. We’re really excited to be a part of this
growing community!
For more info, please visit www.hereandtheregrain.com or send your questions to
andrew@hereandtheregrain.com. Ask to join our monthly ordering email list!
Winter rye and winter wheat can grow for 295 days, making them one of the longest
annual crops. During this time they cover and protect our soil, photosynthesizing in the shoulder
seasons, providing structure for microbial life and cycling nutrients. For the vegetable farmer,
after periods of cultivation and productivity it becomes important to fallow fields, and winter
grains provide an option to do so when considering crop rotations.
In the late summer or fall, after a vegetable crop is harvested we plant wheat or rye
which sprout and grow their first few tillers before winter. In the early spring, these hearty
grasses with their firm holds on life can be grazed, giving our ruminant friends an opportunity to
deposit some organic fertility on our fields. We often seed nitrogen-fixing clover near the final
frost date, our winter grains act as a nursery for the clover and when the grain is harvested off
as a mid-summer cash crop, the clover is ready to take off and nourish, aerate and protect the
soil through another winter, readying the field to return to vegetable production.
Collaborating Farms and Farmers:
The grains for sale this year were grown at Alprilla Farm in Essex, MA during the 2022
season. Here and There Grain Project started with Andrew’s time spent at Alprilla Farm in 2021,
where he got to see how winter grains integrate into a vegetable farm and got to ask all of his
nerdy questions about rye. Noah and Sophie have been busy building the infrastructure at their
new farm location in Warner, NH, this season, and Andrew has been the “boots on the ground”,
monitoring the maturing grains, taking over the grain drying and milling, assisting with the
seeding and harvesting. The grains grown at Alprilla Farm in the 2022 season are some of the
freshest and tastiest around; they really benefited from the moisture-holding ability of Alprilla’s
dense clay soils in MA’s extended drought.
We look forward to a 2023 harvest at Iron Ox Farm in Hamilton, MA! As Here and There
Grain Project looked at getting some rye seeded for the 2022-23 winter growing season, Alex
and Stacey were plotting a course towards grain raising at Iron Ox and the partnership took
shape. Alex and Stacys’ sensible approach to land stewardship sees their farmlands often
covered in mulch, sheep, diverse cover crops, bees, flowers, and the care-taking hands of the
many volunteers and dedicated farm crew members. We’re really excited to be a part of this
growing community!
For more info, please visit www.hereandtheregrain.com or send your questions to
andrew@hereandtheregrain.com. Ask to join our monthly ordering email list!