Harding Hill Farm in Sunapee is a 3rd generation family farm that provides sustainable forest management services and raises as small herd of grass-fed beef cattle. You can also find maple syrup and firewood for sale. Founded by Richard H. Webb in 1948, the farm includes a large white farm-house, a red barn with a cupola and solar panels, and spacious fields surrounded by forest. Richard purchased the property with the intent to run a bed and breakfast near the Mt. Sunapee ski area which opened in the same year.
By Colby Sawyer Students (December 12, 2015)
Harding Hill Farm is in a beautiful mountain location on Stagecoach Road in Sunapee, New Hampshire. Founded by Richard H. Webb in 1948, the farm includes a large white farm-house, a red barn with a cupola and solar panels, and spacious fields surrounded by forest.
Richard purchased the property with the intent to run a bed and breakfast near the Mt. Sunapee ski area which opened in the same year. After the original purchase, he acquired additional forest lands and put nearly all of the land under a conservation easement. The family now owns 2,800 acres of sustainably managed forest lands in the Lake Sunapee region.
The current operators and owners of Harding Hill Farm are father and son, Van and Tyler Webb. Tyler and his wife, Kelly, are actively growing the farm and family business. As a three generation farm, the family goal is to keep Harding Hill’s farming tradition alive.
During our visit two dogs, Acer and Nellie, raced around the yard while the family harvested apples and pears in the orchard to feed the four pigs in the adjacent field. With approximately 37 acres of farm land, the family does “a little bit of everything” on the farm including raising grass fed beef, pasture raised pork and growing hay. Although the family grows fruits and vegetables for themselves in a large family garden, the activities that support the farm are timber harvesting, tree care service, maple syrup, grass fed beef, and pasture raised pork.
One thing that makes living on Harding Hill Farm enjoyable is the fact that the work changes constantly as the seasons progress. In the summer, the Webbs focus on their tree care services and pastured farm animals and, in the winter and spring, they concentrate on logging and maple sugaring. They collect and boil their own maple sap and bottle it at their sugar house located on Rte 103 in Sunapee. On most evenings and weekends during the maple season, people can come to the sugarhouse to sample the maple syrup as it is being made. For livestock, the family raises grass fed beef cattle and sell the meat directly from the farm to local residents. New for 2015, was their pastured pork.
In the future, Tyler, with Van, a licensed forester, will continue to sustainably manage their farm and forest with conservation in mind, while Tyler, a certified arborist, plans to expand his residential tree business. The Webbs will also be tapping more trees on their property to expand their maple syrup business and look for Tyler and Kelly to increase the number of cattle and pigs on the farm to meet the demand for locally raised meat.
Owners: Tyler and Van Webb
Address: Harding Hill Farm LLC
524 Stagecoach Road
Sunapee, NH 03782
Phone number: (603) 863-6493
Website: www.hardinghillfarmnh.com
Direct consumer sales: Maple syrup, firewood, grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork and hay.
Also available: Tree care and timber harvesting
By Colby Sawyer Students: Grace Ledgard, Milani Hicks, Sandesh Upreti, and Nicole Pignone