WELCOME TO CLEARVIEW FARM

We give visitors to our farm the opportunity to experience traditional farm culture. Set atop Kendall Hill, our property enjoys a westerly ‘clear view’ of Mt. Wachusett located in central Mass. We invite and welcome you to share in the fruits of our harvest. Witness fall colors beneath beautiful sunsets after enjoying a wonderful day at Clearview Farm. We grow fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs on eighty-five acres of orchards and fields, both new and old. Purchase fresh produce and baked products at our Farm Store or pick your own (PYO) right from the farm. Come see what we’re picking now.

OUR HISTORY

This site has been a farm for over 200 years. Our family has occupied the old farmhouse and original barn since 1906—six generations. Rick and Diane Melone moved their 4 children to the family farm in 1989 and made it retail, and eventually a destination. As descendants of Mary E. Sawyer and current owners of the Sawyer homestead where Mary grew up, they are happy to tell you about the historical events when the "little lamb followed her to school one day" in the early 1800's. A statue of the lamb can be found ½ a mile away on the Sterling town common. We value our guests at the farm, and strive to provide customer satisfaction through consistent quality, education and friendliness. Expect to create memories, take on new family traditions and, hopefully, make lasting friendships.

THE PROPERTY

The original Clearview Farm property, which consisted of a traditional farm house with post and beam barn and wind driven well, was purchased by Caswell and Etta Wood in 1906. Their only surviving child, Edith Wood, a well-known elementary school teacher in town married “the boy next door”, Norman Sawyer, from the Sawyer farmstead of ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ fame. In the 1940's Norman planted the standard orchard of mostly Macintosh apples, still used today for PYO, and cider apples. Norman and Edith’s oldest grand daughter, Diane, and her husband, Rick, moved to the farm in 1989. They were the first to make it a retail farm operation. It started with a single PYO pumpkin patch for their 3 daughters to earn enough to have a horse.

The farm produces up towards 30 varieties of apples from early macs to late baldwins – a winter apple great for cider. The farm is not certified organic due in part to the fact that orchards don’t lend themselves to crop rotation, an essential part of organic farming. Rick is certified in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods and uses them to grow their orchards, fruits, and vegetables. IPM promotes minimized pesticide use by using environmentally sound practices. This combined with crop rotation and natural fertilizer use helps Clearview Farm produce a healthy product.

FUN EVENTS

Clearview Farm hosts fun fall events that the whole family can enjoy. We are leashed dog friendly, so those special members of the family don’t miss out on all the fun. Our festivals boast hayrides, live music, beer and wine tasting from local microbreweries. The hayride starts to roll mid-September through Columbus Day to take you to the apple orchard to fill our peck or half-bushel bags. Our dwarf orchard is within walking distance. We host groups of all sizes and types in our outdoor pavilion - birthdays, reunions, corporate events, scouts, schools, and church groups. Rent a table or the whole space for your next outdoor event tailored to what you would like to do: picking, hayride, pressing cider, storytelling, treasure hunting, and eating cider donuts are all popular activities. We also offer educational programs that include a snack, hayrides and produce picking to many school groups.

See Our Events

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to provide our visitors and their families an opportunity to experience traditional farm culture; purchase fresh, healthy local produce and related products as well as value added activities and services to enhance their feeling of being on an authentic rural farm. Our business values customer satisfaction, which we achieve through consistent quality, education and friendliness.

OUR PRODUCTS

We are your fall farm so that’s when our Farm Store is open for business. The store opens in mid-August with seasonal fruits and vegetables, including peaches, plums, nectarines, blueberries, apples, pumpkins, squash, gourds; and natural goods like non-pasteurized cider (pressed on site), maple syrup, cheese, pickles, jams, baked goods, crafts and gift items. Our bakery products, including fruit pies, cookies and muffins, are made with ingredients grown fresh from the farm in our nut-free kitchen. The Melone’s also sell flowers and potted plants, primarily hardy mums. Between mid-August through the end of October, purchase fresh healthy local produce and products made from ingredients grown right here on our farm. Weather permitting, the farm stand stays open through the holidays.

GALLERY

PICK YOUR OWN

You and the entire family can Pick Your Own (PYO) beginning in June and on through to October. Walk along fresh fields and orchards filled with fruit, vibrant flowers and fragrant herbs makes a wonderful outing. We offer five products you can pick:

Blueberries- June and July
Peaches and Raspberries- August
15 Apple Varieties- September
Pumpkins- October

Fall bearing raspberries yield until mid-October. We provide pickers and pint or quart containers. On weekends between mid-September through Columbus Day, we host groups or parties in the outdoor pavilion where the hayride takes you for a ride to pick in the traditional NE apple orchard with Gravenstein, Macintosh, Cortland and Delicious varieties. The newer orchard with semi-dwarf trees has more contemporary varieties such as Empire, Macoun and Honey Crisp, to name a few. Come to Clearview Farm and see what we’re picking now.

sandra m.

2022-10-17

*******. Check this place out! ******* Produce is wonderful. Nice family business. Great baked goods. Apple turnovers are flaky and delicious. Pumpkin muffins with pumpkin ice cream😋 Fresh pressed Apple cider. This is an excellent place to get fresh baked goodies on the weekend. The apple cider donuts are gone as soon as they come out of the oven. The ice cream is very good too.

John Dutton

2022-10-06

Ice cream to die for

Karen Brennan

2021-11-03

Had a great time picking apples .

Keith Durling

2021-10-02

Cole's 1st time tractor ride/ apple picking !

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