About Us
Applefield Farm is a three-season farm in Stow, MA, that has been growing the highest quality plants and vegetables for over 40 years. Today, as always, producing clean healthy food and a large variety of interesting plants is our priority and it’s what keeps our customers coming back year after year. We never use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides and we feel privileged to be the caretakers of 25 acres of protected, agriculturally-zoned farmland.
Our farm stand operates from mid-April to the end of October. In the spring we offer an incredible variety of annuals, perennials, and vegetable plants for your home garden or patio planting. Plus our greenhouse team creates beautiful mixed flower container gardens for you to enjoy all season long. We also offer compost (bulk or bagged), potting soil, bark mulch, and organic fertilizer.
As the season progresses, vegetables and cut flowers from the fields add to the offerings at our store. We recently built a new high tunnel greenhouse in hopes of earlier and later production of some crops. Gradually, and as the weather allows, more variety arrives until we have all your vegetable and flower needs in stock. We rarely buy in any of the produce we sell (with the exception of local fruit and sometimes corn), and clearly label anything that is not “our own.”
When vegetables are abundant, we begin to offer some items to our wholesale customers. They include local restaurants, Debra’s Natural Gourmet, Whole Foods, and the Boston Food Hub. In late June, the Maynard Farmers Market begins and we attend each Saturday until the market closes at the end of September.
Our Story
The story of Applefield Farm began in 1981 when Steve and Kirsten Mong cared for a small apple orchard, and baled a number of hayfields in town, hence the eventual name of the farm. When their success in the orchard resulted in an overabundance of apples, they built a self-serve shed on their property and began selling apples. Kirsten also put out a bouquet for decoration and that sold, too, as well as some excess vegetables from their home garden … and Applefield Farm was born.
Before long, they moved the retail operation down the street to the old Ten Acre Farm site to gain more visibility. More vegetables were grown, more farmland leased, and a greenhouse was built, growing the business little by little. In 1986 Steve’s brother Ray left a 10-year career in cooking and joined the farm.
From the beginning, it was a “learn as you go” situation since none of the Mongs had a background in agriculture. And there was plenty to learn. Through trial and error, gaining knowledge from other growers, and after multiple successes and failures, they persisted. Early one spring they put a trailer full of plants at the stand, mostly vegetables, and sold out in a day. More greenhouses were built, the hay equipment was sold, and plant sales became the farm’s early season income instead of hay. As the seasons have passed, our production and selection of veggies and plants has grown steadily.
Today we farm close to 25 acres and have 12-15 seasonal employees. Our main production greenhouse is 14,000 square feet and uses a geothermal system for most of the heating needs. Solar power supplies almost all of the farm’s electricity needs. And it is our continuing commitment to use the beautiful land we farm sustainably, and to produce clean healthy food for the community that we love.