History of Berry Best Farm
Herbert Colburn purchased the land off Center Road in Lebanon in 1948, shortly after returning from service in WWII. He and Natalie (a self-proclaimed "city girl") proceeded to develop the land into a productive farm. With the help of Herb's brother Bob and Bob's portable sawmill, land was cleared and the family home built.
In 1950, they built a poultry barn and began raising laying hens (6,000 of them). They continued to raise chickens up through the early 1960s. The southwest-facing slope on the farm was also a good site for peaches, so an orchard was established. They called the farm "Hen Fruit Farm."
Herb noticed that wild highbush blueberries grew readily on his cutover woodlot, and he began planting some of the first cultivated varieties available from New Jersey sources. Five varieties were established in the late 1950s, all of which are still productive.
Potatoes were one of the first crops in a newly cleared field, but he found that raising potatoes was too much work. The next year, he sowed grass instead, and that field has remained a hay field ever since.
By 1956, Herbert could no longer stay away from his love of horses. He and Natalie started breeding, training and racing Standardbred trotters and pacers. A 1/3 mile jog track was built at the farm. (If you look closely at the aerial photo, you can still see the outline of the track.) The poultry barn was converted to a horse barn. The farm was now called the "Colden Stock Farm."
For two decades, the Colburns raced their horses throughout New England.
In 1967, Chris and her husband moved from Oregon (where John had been working as a forester) back to their roots in New England (Strafford, NH to be precise). The Bozak family (with sons John & Brian and daughter Jennifer) became active in helping manage the farm, especially as Herb became physically unable to do so. More blueberries were planted, and in more varieties. Chris and John acquired the farm from the Colburns in the late 1980s and built their home on the hill in 1996. Now we call it the "BERRY BEST FARM," as we continue to grow berries and fruit.
Nowadays, we have over 3,000 highbush blueberry bushes in 11 different varieties, growing on about 5 acres of farmland. Some of our blueberry varieties include Early Blue, Blue Ray, Patriot, Atlantic, Jersey, Herbert, Dixie, Pemberton, Blue Crop, and Wareham.
We also grow the following varieties of peaches in our orchard: Garnet Beauty, Red Haven, Canadian Harmony, and Harrow Beauty.
Herb and Natalie are no longer with us, but we hope to carry on their love of the farm and protect it for future generations.