Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark and Ellen Parlee.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The story of Parlee Farms began when we (Mark and Ellen) met while working as engineers in Boston. After we were married in 1982, Mark continued to spend his Saturdays just as he had done since he was 12 years old – working at his uncle’s farm in Chelmsford. Mark always thought that being a farmer would be the perfect profession. In 1986, we purchased 10 acres of beautiful river-bottom land on Farwell Road in Tyngsboro and the dream of Parlee Farms was becoming a reality.
From 1987 through 1993, we rented land on Westford Road in Tyngsboro from the Academy of Notre Dame while developing the Farwell Road property. We opened the field to the public in June 1988 with two acres of strawberries, a scale set on a plank, and a blue tarp over our heads to keep the rain off the fresh picked strawberries and the scale. We also farmed about 5 acres of strawberries in Chelmsford and would alternate picking days with Mark’s uncle who continued to run the home farm. Since we were operating from two locations, we named our business Parlee Farms.
During this time, we became the parents of two wonderful daughters, Mary and Annie. With strawberry season lasting only 4 weeks, we continued to work in engineering to supplement our income. In 1991, we were able to purchase 42 acres of land adjacent to our 10 acres on Farwell Road. At that point, we were certain we would have enough land to build a successful farm. The Farwell Road location opened to the public in June 1994.
As our daughters grew, we worked hard as a family to make our dream of farming a reality. Mark left engineering in 1992 to farm full-time, while Ellen continued to work in engineering until 2004. Mary and Annie both began working on the farm when they were seven years old and have been very instrumental in the success of the family business.
Over the years, we were fortunate to be able to purchase more land on Farwell Road. Almost 70% of our 93 acre farm is preserved under Massachusetts’ Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program, which means the land will always be used for farming and cannot be developed. As our Tyngsboro farm grew, we gradually pulled out of Chelmsford and by 2001, we were operating only in Tyngsboro.
As we added land, we added more crops. To sell the crops, we added the Farmstand, Annie’s Animal Barns, Mary’s Country Kitchen and Bakery, 15 hay ride wagons, an Indoor Restroom Facility, and many wonderful employees to keep everything running smoothly. Of course, this would not have been possible without the fabulous customers that visit us every season. We are so thankful to all who allow us to do what we love to do!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As farmers, our biggest challenge is always Mother Nature. Every season has its own challenges with the weather, but the weather events of 2012 were some of the most difficult. The warm March brought our fruit trees out of dormancy three weeks early. Early on the morning of April 3rd, the field temperature dropped to 19 degrees. It was too early in the year to fill our irrigation systems for frost protection and we lost our entire sweet cherry crop and over 30% of our apple crop. The decrease in apples would affect not only apple picking, but with a smaller customer base, it would impact the sales of other items including pumpkins, fresh picked apples, apple cider donuts and other bakery products, and warm apple crisp with ice cream. In addition, our apple picking school trips – usually over 7000 children tour the farm and pick apples in the fall – would be impacted. Our concern was also that a severe reduction in our income would reduce our resources needed to keep the business growing.
Throughout the summer, we carefully monitored the apple production and made adjustments to the care of the developing crop to save almost all the apples that did form. We also made adjustments to how our fall season operates. We lined up a local farmer, who is a good friend of ours, to purchase apples to supplement our diminished supply. The teachers that booked school tours were notified that there would not be apples available for picking on the trees, but all other aspects of the trips remain the same and we were offering a free apple cider donut to all students, teachers, and chaperones. Almost all of the trips went on as scheduled, with many teachers saying that they would use our crop loss as a teachable moment to the students about the risks of farming. We cancelled weekday apple picking and focused all our picking on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays when we have the largest additional purchases at the farm. These adjustments, along with the understanding and support of our customers, saved our 2012 fall season.
After feeling a great sense of relief that we survived the 2012 weather impacts, we closed our season on the last Sunday of October with Hurricane Sandy raining down on us. Mother Nature always has the last word!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Parlee Farms – what should we know?
Parlee Farms is a 93 acre farm located on the banks of the Merrimack River in Tyngsboro. We are predominately a pick-your-own farm specializing in apples, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, sweet cherries, pumpkins, and flowers. We have a retail farmstand from which we sell our fresh picked fruit, corn, and flowers, as well as other high quality local vegetables, jams, jellies, and honey from our beekeeper. Mary’s Country Kitchen & Bakery produces fresh donuts made right in our Farmstand, bakery items made with our own fruit including apple crisp, strawberry shortcake, and blueberry crumble, as well as offering over 20 flavors of delicious ice cream. Annie’s Animal Barns house over 60 young goats, sheep, chickens and bunnies for our customers to pet and feed. We are open from June through October and are presently in the middle of our 31st season of growing.
Our customers range in age from the very young to the mature and they visit Parlee Farms for many reasons. A customer once told us that ‘we create memories’. Picking fruit directly from the field grown in an environmentally safe way, to feeding one of our young dwarf goats, or enjoying a farm-made strawberry shortcake at one of our picnic tables on that perfect summer afternoon are just some of the ways to spend time at the farm. Whatever they choose to do, we want every single person who visits the farm to leave with delicious, healthy fruit and precious memories.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
As we find great satisfaction in all we have accomplished professionally in the 31 years of Parlee Farms, our greatest accomplishment is that we have raised two wonderful, independent, compassionate children. Our family / work balance has always been the main consideration in any endeavor we undertook. As our business is literally outside of our front door, we have had the benefit of being able to have our children be a part of the business from a very young age. Both Mary and Annie started working during strawberry season when they were both seven years old. Although small in stature, they were both blessed with sunny personalities and good math skills. They learned early on how to work with customers to provide a great experience at the farm, how to deal with a not-so-happy customer, and how to work hard to achieve your goals. In addition, the seasonal nature of our business allowed us to have a ‘normal’ family life for six months a year ~ a rarity in a family business. The path we chose for our family and our family business has allowed us to keep family first. Both our daughters are now have their own careers and are married, but they (and their husbands) still work on the farm as time allows. We are so fortunate!
In addition to our family, the farming community in Massachusetts is a very close group. We have learned much about growing our business from other farmers. During our early years, we would attend meetings to learn about the growing, marketing, and business aspects of commercial farming. There are many great role models who guided us throughout the years.
Now that we have been in business for more than 30 years, we are often asked to host other farmers to share our experiences on how we grew our business. In recent years, members of the North American Strawberry Growers Association, the Massachusetts Fruit Growers, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Massachusetts Ag in the Classroom, and the University of Massachusetts Extension Twilight Group have been among the agricultural groups to tour the farm and learn from our business model. In 2013, we were honored to be part of the International Tree Fruit Association (IFTA) tour where over 300 of the most successful tree-fruit farmers from all over the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia toured New England farms and learn about farming operations and direct marketing to the consumer. Mark also speaks at many technical conferences on different aspects of farming. We are honored that our peers want to learn from our experiences and we are happy to give back!
And finally, we know that our success is due in large part to our wonderful staff and our faithful customers. Through their support, Parlee Farms has been able to grow into the business that it is today.
Contact Info:
- Address: 95 Farwell Road, Tyngsboro MA 01879
- Website: www.parleefarms.com
- Phone: 978-649-3854
- Email: info@parleefarms.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/parleefarms/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/parleefarms/
Image Credit:
The Personal Family Photo is Anne & Bryan Hennigan, Ellen & Mark Parlee, and Mary & Gregory Durkin along with two of our friendly goats from Annie’s Animal Barns at Parlee Farms.
All photos are owned by Parlee Farms
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