A Story Of Revival  

The History…

Sterling, similar to small towns across the country, has experienced the rapid disappearance of farmland over the past few decades as family homesteads are sold to make way for housing development. Once a thriving agricultural community, Sterling now has only has a handful of operating farms left.

My great grandparents bought Maplebrook Farm in 1935 when they were raising 11 children at the farm next door. When my grandparents wed, they moved to Maplebrook and started a dairy, milking a small herd of Ayrshire cattle and tending to 175 acres of fields, forests, and pastures. This tradition continued until 1998 when low milk prices forced the sale of the dairy herd. The farm slipped into a state of quiet disarray and nature began to reclaim what was once hers.

 Today…

When I (the sole member of the family’s 4th generation) graduated from college in 2017 with a degree in agriculture, I knew I wanted to come back to the family farm to make my life here. I added cows, goats, and chickens to the menagerie of farm critters, and they’ve been quickly put to work to utilize and restore the pastures that had been abandoned for so long. Buildings are being repainted, old machinery gets pulled out of the weeds, and a field of flowers now grows near the farm stand (thanks to my talented mother). As we bring new life to the forgotten spaces of our beloved farm, my mission will always be the same.

As a steward of this land I promise to provide my community with safe, nutritious food that comes from healthy soil and happy animals. A love for this place and all of its inhabitants is as the forefront of everything we do on our farm.

- Hannah Miller