ABOUT HARPERS FARM AND GARDEN

We are a 4th generation Fruit and Vegetable farm growing on 98 acres. My grandfather William Harper moved the farm to Lancaster from Greenwich, MA in 1903.

Today we grow over 70 types of fresh Fruit and Vegetables, selecting only the best tasting varieties.

All of our transplants are started by us in one of our greenhouses using only NON GMO seeds. We grow majority of our produce using sustainable organic practices, including biodegradable mulch, crop rotation and cover crops to maintain soil fertility and organic matter.

At our farm stand, we grow using the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), an environmentally responsible approach to pest control. IPM helps us protect our crops from insects, plant diseases, weeds, and other pests in a way that keeps people, pollinators, and the environment in mind.

Rather than relying on routine spraying, we carefully monitor our fields, prevent problems before they start, and only treat when truly necessary. When we do need to act, we start with non-chemical methods like encouraging beneficial insects, rotating crops, and using physical barriers. We employ a professional crop scout to observe our fields on a weekly basis, set insect traps, and take soil and tissue samples. This allows us to know when to release beneficial insects such as predator wasps and lady bugs, to keep ahead of insect weed and disease problems. If a pesticide is needed, we choose the least harmful option that targets the pest without affecting the rest of the ecosystem. IPM allows us to grow healthy, vibrant produce while supporting long-term soil health, water quality, and biodiversity.