Soil Safety at Land's Sake Farm

In 2007 our farm was tested for lead arsenate and the results showed that our farm is not contaminated. Over 30 sites were tested including cultivated fields and the old orchard area identified in historical photos. On half-acre old orchard site, which Land's Sake has never used to cultivate or grow any food or other crops, hazardous levels of lead arsenate were found. In the winter of 2007/2008, the contaminated soil was removed from the farm and replaced with clean material. The testing results determined that there is no hazardous level presence of lead, arsenic or chromium at other parts of the farm.

We were Certified Organic by NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Associtation) in 1994, and maintained our certification through 1999. In that process, our cultivated field soils were tested and also determined to be free of contaminates. While we are no longer certified organic, we have never used (before or after certification) any synthetic chemical which would compromise organic standards. We are not certified having let it lapse about ten years ago due to the administrative burden and cost. Like many small farms that sell directly to customers, certification is not considered necessary for us from a business or public relations perspective. We continue to use only organic methods at the farm.

The land we farm at Land's Sake, also known as the Case 40-Acre Field, was part of the estate of the Case family in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The parcel was owned by Louisa Case, not Marian Case, and was used primarily as an arboretum and for hay production, rather than intensively managed for fruits and vegetables. Marian Case owned what is now better known as the Case Estates further south along Wellesley St. She managed the Hillcrest Gardens and farmland there and was an avid proponent of state-of-the-art agricultural practices. These included using lead arsenate as a pesticide which has now been found in hazardous levels on some parts of the Case Estates.

The Town of Weston tested the soil at the 40-Acre Field in response to a line of logic that if there was contaminated soil on one portion of one family's land, there might be contaminates on other sites. These included Land's Sake Farm, the Field School and Library sites as well. Of all those sites, only the small half-acre area of former orchard at Land's Sake was determined to be contaminated.

More information regarding the results of the 2007 testing can be found at Weston Town Hall at the Town Manager's Office and on the town's website.