Corse Family Farm
A hill farm
Leon, his wife, Linda and their daughter, Abbie, farm in the foothills of the Green Mountains on land that has been in the family since 1868. Farmers usually prefer flat, wide-open land, Leon explains. “Most would cringe if you asked them to farm land like this,” he continues. “But it’s ours, and we wouldn’t trade it. We’re hill farmers. We farm differently.” Linda jokes that she fell in love with the land, “even before I fell in love with Leon. There’s just something about this place.”
Fresh perspective
Linda and Leon raised three children on their beautiful hilly farm. All left for college with no expectation Abbie would be the one to return. Abbie had always sworn she would never be a farmer, but after working in other sectors, she realized she wanted to do something more personally meaningful. “I never pushed my kids into farming, I just wanted them to be happy,” Leon says. Abbie encouraged her parents to consider a transition to organic. “Our certification coincided with the 140th anniversary of the farm,” Leon says, “a very significant moment in the farm’s history.”
Future success
Abbie has also brought the next generation, her sons, Eli and Niko, onto the farm and, in 2013, the family conserved their farm with the Vermont Land Trust. “As I look back at each generation, I can see what each did to ensure the farm’s future success,” says her father. “For us, I feel the decision to become certified organic and to conserve the farm are what will ensure this place will continue.”