Boesch Farm Tenant Abandons Property

The report from the police log made it public: “Arriving on [Boesch Farm] we were met by Joseph Duarte from the DPW and it was confirmed that the property has been abandoned.”

With that, community-supported agriculture in East Greenwich was over, at least for now.

on South Road is owned by the town and administered by the East Greenwich Land Trust. In 2004, it was leased to Erik Eacker, who began Ledge Ends Produce, a CSA with more than 200 subcribers at its peak. But Eacker had poor yields last year, struggling to fill even partial shares for subscribers by the end of the season.

Ongoing health issues this year prompted Eacker to leave the farm, leading to the abandoned property proclamation last week.

Eacker told land trust members in May that he had 54 subscribers this year. The land trust cut his rent in an effort to help Eacker get through the season. But in the intervening weeks, his situation worsened.

A visit to the farm on Sunday found it quiet except for an East Greenwich resident there walking his two dogs. There was a “no trespassing” sign on the house, which dates back more than 250 years. In the greenhouse, vegetable seedlings were lined up in rows, but the little pots are filled with weeds.

According to longtime Land Trust member Doug Brown, Eacker’s family plans to pay back those people who had already subscribed for the season. The cost to subscribe to 20 weeks of produce was $600 this year.

“Our major concern is obligations to CSA members who have paid for the year,” said Land Trust member Doug Brown. He said that rent was lowered last month in an effort to help Eacker succeed.

“I'm very sad that Ledge Ends will no longer be active,” said EG Farmers Market manager Tracie Truesdell. “Bosch is a wonderful property. I would love to see it continue to be used as a working farm with a CSA program, perhaps this time with livestock as well as produce.”

“We have someone who’s highly qualified who’s eager to step in,” said Brown. “There may be sort of an interim arrangement. It’s important to maintain a presence on the farm.”

The town purchased the land in 2003 and it was leased to Erik Eacker and his then-wife, Trisha Gardner, in 2004.

In addition to providing produce for subscribers, the farm sold produce at several area farmers markets, including the Goddard Park market on Fridays and the EG market on Mondays.

The property itself  has roots going back to 1672.

Dave Egan, who lives up the road a bit just off South, subscribed to the CSA at Ledge Ends for several years, until this year.

“A few of us had a lot of interest in working with Eric and trying to help him to adjust for this year and modify his business plan to rebound,” said Egan. “We think we had a plan to make it work. Eric just wasn’t able to follow through.”

Still, Egan hasn’t been scared off of the CSA concept. “It’s the green thing to do. It’s the way we should all be trying to live: To eat and buy locally.”

The EG Land Trust meets tonight at 7pm at Town Hall.