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Kathy Mullen at the Kneeland Glen Farm Stand on the Freshwater Farms Reserve. Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
316 E st • OLD TOWN EUREKA • 443-7187
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Trouble at Kneeland Glen
A farm stand’s broken lease and its ripple effects By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill jennifer@northcoastjournal.com
T
o the left of the gravel road entrance to the Freshwater Farms Reserve — 74 acres of marshland, working pastures and trails — Kneeland Glen Farm Stand’s little shop is nearly camouflaged by the vines and shrubbery growing up to its green rooftop. The entrance, too, is obscured by flowering branches on one side and a stall of free items — clothes, shoes, books and VHS tapes — on the other. Inside, the tables and shelves are packed with sourdough bread, herbal tinctures and soaps, homey pies and jams, cookies and bushels of dry beans. The stock is provided by some 30 local producers, some of them farms, others cottage food businesses run out of home kitchens. Some of the produce is grown just outside in a handful of garden beds. Last week, owner Kathy Mullen stood by the table of plant starts in a pair of overalls, updating friends and regulars on
her impending eviction by the Northcoast Regional Land Trust, which owns and manages the reserve. After Mullen repeatedly violated her lease by not keeping her 14-pound dog Tootsie either leashed or off the property entirely — including one incident Feb. 7, when the dog bit a cyclist — NRLT is giving her until the end of the month to move out. The stand, and to some extent Mullen herself, has become a community hub connecting patrons and local producers, particularly during the pandemic. Both customers and vendors have rushed to support Mullen with calls and messages to NRLT, as well as a protest at the organization’s offices in Arcata on May 15 with dozens of attendees. Mullen herself has seemed at turns contrite and defiant, admitting, “The truth is I made bad decisions in regards to my little, tiny dog,” and vowing to fight the eviction. A young man in a sun hat walked over from the garden beds out front and asked
Mullen for a hug. She obliged, patting his back when he said, “I love you,” and responded in kind. “We’re gonna fight this,” she said with a little pump of her fist, “or we’ll find another place where you can work in the garden.” But there may not be much to fight. Under a handwritten sign about the eviction and protest lay a three-page letter from NRLT Board President Susan Moranda, detailing each time Mullen violated the terms of the lease by having Tootsie off her leash or on the property, and each time Mullen was warned in writing that such a violation could lead to eviction. The letter describes the puncture wound and bruising Tootsie’s bite left the cyclist with and the potential liability issues for NRLT. Moranda notes Mullen’s “continued inability to follow our straightforward requests put in place for the safety of othContinued on next page » northcoastjournal.com • Thursday, May 20, 2021 • NORTH COAST JOURNAL
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