in the
MAKING Don, Heather, Kristin, and Melissa Minto, 1980
A Chapter in the Story of Watson Farm Don and Heather Minto have lived and worked at the 265acre seaside Watson Farm in Jamestown, Rhode Island, for forty years, almost from the time that it was donated as a working farm to Historic New England in 1979. With Don as farm manager and Heather as site manager (retired in 2016) they made many changes to improve the land and share it with the public. Don will retire in 24
Historic New England Winter 2020
News and notes from Historic New England
April after a year of training the successor farm manager, Max Sherman. The Mintos will move to a farm in northern Rhode Island. The Mintos have been worthy caretakers of the land and historic buildings, bringing new life and purpose to the property. In 2009 they were inducted into the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Agriculture Hall of Fame. They understand the importance of building community through their
work, and the whole Historic New England community is grateful. Recently, Don talked with Jane Hennedy, Historic New England’s regional site manager for Southern Rhode Island, about their experiences on Watson Farm. Jane: What are some of the best results from your work? Don: In 1980, we saw a diamond in the rough. Our vision was to bring this historic agricultural landscape into the future as a wellrun, working family farm. We are eternally grateful for having had that opportunity. Setting up fencing, developing water systems, planning intensive rotational grazing, and improving fertility of the soil took years to bring to fruition. Heather improved our heritage breed sheep for better textile production. We changed the genetics of the cattle herd to purebred Red Devons for grass-fed beef production through artificial breeding, probably my most noteworthy accomplishment. Jane: Tell me more about your part in making changes for farmers and consumers. Don: When we started, grass-fed and pastured production was not considered possible in this country. Here, we created a model for other small farmers to follow that showcased sustainable, healthy food production at the local level. I was honored to speak to the state legislature about the importance of preserving and promoting agriculture. We’re proud we moved the local food movement forward
