Viewfinder: From the Land to the Stand, Farms Provide Local Food for Portsmouth Residents

In 1961, the DeCastro family decided to sell the vegetables they grew in their backyard out of cart in front of their house.

“That’s what a lot of older customers remember, that cart,” said Patti DeCastro, who is married to the oldest DeCastro son, Stephen. 

This year, their 50^th anniversary year, the DeCastro farm has more than 100 acres of corn, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash and other colorful vegetables. 

The DeCastros said they try to funnel everything through their retail location on East Main road, but what they can not sell, they wholesale at the Providence and Boston markets, which serves the Northeast regions of stores. 

In addition to their produce, they provide their retail customers other local food options such as meat from grass fed cows, eggs, milk and cheeses, from other local farmers.

The family said that customers can look forward to a large selection of high quality mums for the fall -  they have more than 8,000 that just began to bud. They expect them to be in bloom in about a week.