Prospect Hill Community Orchard, located on Prospect Hill Road in Harvard, offers a stunning, panoramic view from Bare Hill Pond to Wachusett Mountain. The land, composed of prime agricultural soil, is part of a wildlife corridor that includes Dean’s Hill conservation area, Fruitlands Museum, and the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge. It supports 3,172 fruit trees of 14 different varieties. It is a treasure. We have the good fortune, right now, to preserve it forever
The preservation of Prospect Hill Community Orchard provides an unusual opportunity to address state, regional, and local land conservation concerns, while at the same time providing hunger relief in Worcester County. This remarkable property, if preserved, will protect a critical, historical agricultural landmark while offering access to almost 1,000 acres of conservation land.
The orchard land has long been part of the agricultural fabric of the region. Records of its ownership date to the first half of the 18th century, and it has been an orchard in continuous operation for over 100 years. It is currently owned and operated by Community Harvest Project (CHP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to hunger relief. Over 150,000 pounds of apples and peaches are harvested from this property annually. Every piece of fruit picked, packed, and sorted by thousands of volunteers is sent to regional food banks for distribution to hungry families.
The Community Harvest Project donates all its produce; its business model does not provide income. After several years of ownership, CHP sought help to protect this prime farmland for agricultural use via an agricultural preservation restriction (APR) on 70 of the 75 acres. The APR proceeds will sustainably fund the maintenance, equipment, and operation of the orchard. Additionally, the APR will permanently extinguish development rights on 70 acres of the property, and that acreage will remain in agricultural use in perpetuity.
A partnership made up of Community Harvest Project, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, Sudbury Valley Trustees, the town of Harvard, and the Harvard Conservation Trust formed with the goal of raising $2.5 million for the APR. State and federal sources will provide $1,239,000. Once the funds are raised, the Department of Agricultural Resources and the town of Harvard will hold the APR. The Harvard Conservation Trust will hold an easement for a trail along the southern edge of the property, connecting Prospect Hill Road with the Dean’s Hill Conservation Area.
The financial and legal details of the APR may seem complicated, but the results are simple: more food for people in need, more opportunities to volunteer on a crisp autumn day to pick apples. More places to take a winter’s walk through a snow-encrusted orchard, or to go birding when the orchard is in bloom. These experiences matter. Harvard Conservation Trust is asking you to help us enable these experiences for now and for years to come.
Fundraising efforts for the Prospect Hill Community Orchard are coming to an end, but Harvard Conservation Trust needs your support to cross the finish line. Our town’s culture of volunteerism and community will be so well served by the preservation of the orchard. Please donate generously to protect Prospect Hill Community Orchard and its harvest. Donation information can be found at harvardconservationtrust.org/donate.
Abbe Alpert is a trustee of the Harvard Conservation Trust..
