Down on the Farm: Visiting the Dudley homestead (video)

Sheep grazed. Chickens squawked. Calves mooed in their pens and kicked up their heels. Two women sat serenely on the front porch of the farmhouse, their white-haired heads bent over their handiwork. With the melody of voices carrying across the meadow from the community garden, it might as well have been a setting from a bygone era.

“People are always telling me how privileged they feel when they’re out here, whether they’re helping out or picnicking or hiking around the grounds or watching their kids discover the farm animals,” said Janet Dudley, president of the Dudley Foundation, on a recent sun-dappled day at the Dudley Farm in North Guilford. “It’s almost as if time stands still.”

Except on Saturday mornings, that is, when growers of organic vegetables back their pickups into the field below the main farmhouse from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. They join peddlers of warm scones flecked with bits of peach, fresh-cut flower bouquets, handmade jewelry, and other homemade products like soaps, jams, and honey, vending their wares to the lively beat of local country fiddlers.Read Story