Interviews

Two recent radio interviews featured Mandell Hill property in Hardwick, Mass., where Ridge Shinn's beef cattle graze the pastures.

In mid-September, and again in November, the Albany-based NPR station WFCR featured the East Quabbin Land Trust's (EQLT) Mandell Hill property in Hardwick, Massachusetts, where Ridge Shinn's beef cattle graze the pastures of the 200-acre farm that overlooks the Ware River valley. The cattle are being pastured in rotation.

To hear the Nov. 9 interview, click here.

November 2009 Interview

In the November 9, 2009 program, Field Notes naturalist Laurie Sanders interviews Ridge Shinn about Mandell Hill's owner, George Mixter, who in the late 1800s was a prominent cattle breeder with some 50 employees. The last of the Mixter family was Betty Mixter Morss who lived on the property from the 1970s. In her will, in 2003, she donated the land to the EQLT. In addition, her house and a $500,000 endowment were given to ensure that the building and property could be maintained into the future.

EQLT Board Member Judith Jones and Executive Director Cynthia Henshaw are also interviewed and describe how the Trust and volunteers restored former pasture land plus a half mile trail. For the first time in 300 years, the land is accessible to the public. In a field called President's Field (where George Washington reportedly slept), Devon cattle are grazing healthy and happy.

September Radio Interview

In September Both EQLT board member Chris Buelow and farmer Ridge Shinn spoke about the land stewardship being practiced at Mandell Hill, stewardship that combines agriculture and ecological values. The grazing practices on all these fields are modified to facilitate successful breeding by grassland breeding bird species.

To hear the Sept. interview, click here. Read the printed interview.

Chris Buelow noted "One of our major intentions of this property is also to work as a model for the community, to show how working profitable agriculture can be compatible with sustainable ecology, especially with grassland birds. A lot of these farmers who were very skeptical of what we were doing back in 2003 and 2004 and who said they couldn't work with a lease like this, are now approaching Ridge and approaching us, and saying you know I've been watching what you guys are doing and we are starting to see how this could work."

Mandell Hill is a 200-acre farm overlooking the Ware River valley to the east of Hardwick center. According to the EQLT's brochure, "Historically, the fields were pasture or produced hay and corn. The woods are largely mixed hardwoods and occupy the steepest and rockiest portions of the property. An abandoned apple orchard on Barre Road provides food and cover for wildlife."

To learn more about the East Quabbin Land Trust, visit their website at www.eqlt.org/FieldNotes.html.

Naturalist Laurie Sanders each week reports on the ecology and environment of New England for WFCR. Additional programs can be found here: www.wfcr.org/field_notes/index.html.