About Powisset Farm

109 acres

This farm has been revived as a Community Supported Agriculture project, with a loop trail exploring the surrounding woodlands, fields, and wetlands.

What makes Powisset Farm a special place?
We think it’s the restored farming operation, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, on a landscape with a history of pastures and planted fields dating back three centuries. Take a leisurely walk through the farmstead – complete with chickens and pigs – then follow an easy, one-mile loop trail past woodlands and wetlands through the far reaches of the 108.5-acre property.

You are always welcome to stroll down the farm lane, say hello to the pigs, and admire the rows of vegetables and herbs. Beyond the cultivated land, Powisset Farm features an upland oak forest, a pair of brooks, vernal pools, and wooded wetlands. You’ll enjoy broad views across furrowed croplands and thick hayfields; the latter attracting white-tailed deer, wild turkey, and grassland-nesting bobolinks.

Mowed trails through the hay fields link to adjacent Hale Reservation, and Noanet Woodlands lie across the street.

Trails
An easy loop trail, less than a mile long extends beyond the farmstead past woodlands and wetlands before returning to the barnyard. A trail spurs lead into adjacent 1,200-acre Hale Reservation.

When to Visit
Trails: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. Allow a minimum of 1 hour.

 

Regulations & Advisories

• Please respect restricted-access areas, and do not open gates, touch or feed livestock, or interrupt farm operations.
  
  
• Dogs are not allowed.
  
  
• For your safety, please observe all posted signs.

Directions

39 Powisset Street
Dover, MA
Telephone: 508.785.0339
E-mail: charlesrivervalley@ttor.org

Get directions of Google Maps.

From I-95/Rt. 128: take Exit 16B (109 West). Follow for less than 1 mile and take a right on Dover Rd. Follow for 2.5 miles. Take left into farm immediately after big gray barn. Farm office is on ground floor, underneath barn.

From Medfield Center: Take Rt. 109 east, take left onto Hartford St. Follow for 1.5 mi. and take left onto Walpole St. Follow for 0.75 mi. and take right onto Powisset St. After 0.25 mi., take right immediately before big gray barn.

Admission

When to Visit
Trails: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. Allow a minimum of 1 hour.

Drop-in Volunteer Hours
Fridays | 8AM – 3PM
Saturdays | 1 – 5PM

CSA distribution hours
Tuesdays and Thursdays | 1:30-6:30PM
Saturdays | 1:30-5:30PM

Admission
FREE to all

Property History

The roots of this re-energized farmscape run deep. Native Americans living in what is now eastern Massachusetts had been clearing land with fire and raising crops long before Columbus crossed the Atlantic. Colonists who settled in Dedham claimed this area in the 1600s and this land was farmed steadily through the 1700s and 1800s. Timber and charcoal industries were also part of its history.

In 1923, Miss Amelia Peabody of Boston purchased a house just north of the farm. Over the next 60 years, until her death in 1984, she would add 30 additional lots (including this parcel and what is now Noanet Woodlands) to her land holdings, totaling almost 800 acres. Miss Peabody enjoyed a privileged life shared by many of her Brahmin background, giving parties and riding to the hounds. But she also opened her vast estate to local people, who walked the trails and carriage paths, admired the farm’s champion livestock, and enjoyed the simple, restorative effects of being in nature. Miss Amelia’s commitment to public access to open space is continued today by The Trustees.

Property Acquisition History
Originally 188-acres purchased from the Executors of the Amelia Peabody Estate in 1985. 33 acres sold to the town of Dover as permanent conservation land and another 33 acres that were not essential to the farm operation were sold as a limited development. The remaining agricultural land was protected with an Agricultural Preservation Restriction to the Commonwealth and the Town. In 1989 the farmland was transferred to The Trustees and opened as a reservation in June 2008.

Programs

Powisset Farm is a 250-person Community Supported Agriculture program that was started in 2007.

We currently farm about 10 acres of land in Dover, MA. We provide produce for our CSA shareholders, as well as for a few local restaurants and five different local food pantries. In addition to our CSA program, our farm is open from dawn until dusk for hikes in our open fields, for enjoying a picnic, or for picking flowers and herbs from our pick-your-own flower and herb gardens.

Click here to learn more about our Summer in the Valley Photo contest.

Volunteer Opportunities

Work Parties

Maps and Resources

Printed trail maps are available for free from the bulletin board in the parking area. Please understand that supplies sometimes run out. Download a trail map before your visit. 

Planning Your Visit

Before You Go
We encourage you to visit as many Trustees properties as you can.

Wherever your travels take you, please observe all posted regulations, follow special instructions from property staff, and keep in mind the Stewardship Code:

• Protect wildlife and plants.
• Guard against all risk of fire.
• Help keep air and water clean.
• Carry out what you carry in.
• Use marked footpaths and bridle paths.
• Leave livestock, crops, and machinery alone.
• Respect the privacy of neighboring land.
• Enjoy and share the landscape with others.

Click on links below for further visitor information:

Before Setting Out

Enjoying Trustees Reservations

Safety

About Hunting on Trustees of Reservations Land

Tell Us What You Think