BACON HILL FARM TOUR
Purintondale Farm
Data Barn
75 cows
50 youngstock
200 crop acres
50 acres pasture & woods
2 employees
crops: corn, raspberries & vegetables
Win$um Ranch
Data Barn
50 beef cattle
24 horses
100 crop acres
40 pasture & woodland acres
crops: hay & grain
Win$um Roping
Purinton Farm
"Where the cows graze and the
berries are sweet."
Purinton Road [Mile 7.2]
Turn left onto Purinton Road.
Purintondale
Farm [Mile 7.3]
Lyle and Nancy Purinton own and operate this 75-cow
dairy and raspberry farm which has been in the Purinton family for five generations. Lyle
purchased it from his aging parents in 1986. "Farmers don’t ever retire,"
Lyle says. In fact, his father worked on the farm until three days before his death at the
age of 84.
Since 1976, Purintondale Farm has hosted 14 foreign trainees from France, Russia, Australia, England, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary and Poland who have introduced Lyle to many different methods of agriculture. "I think of it as a way for us to travel without leaving the farm," Lyle says. Cara Alexander came as an exchange student from Australia in 1992 and stayed to work on the farm. She convinced Lyle to adopt a rotational grazing technique for his herd after they ran out of feed in her first spring here. With rotational grazing, Lyle uses less fertilizer and pesticides, while also reducing fuel and feed costs. In addition, his soil is healthier and erosion has decreased.
Intersection of Purinton and
Stone Bridge Roads [Mile 7.7]
Continue straight-ahead past Stone Bridge Iron and Steel on the north side of the road,
one of the largest employers in the Town of Northumberland.
Win$um Ranch
Win$um
Ranch [Mile 8.0]
George Peters, his wife, Terry, and step-son Shawn
Quinn, operate Win$um Ranch, a 140 acre horse boarding
and training facility which offers riding lessons, horse boarding and training in a
72’ x 200’ solar building. George competes in team roping events at rodeos
throughout the Eastern seaboard, while Shawn vies for honors in both team roping and calf
roping events. Terry is a barrel racer.
This facility offers training opportunities for other team and calf ropers. George maintains a herd of 50 beef cattle, either longhorn or corriente, a Mexican breed, for practice and roping events which are held biweekly on the farm. George considers this business recreational farming, a way to preserve a piece of our American heritage.
Route 32 [Mile 8.2]
Bear left onto Rt. 32 at the yield sign.
James Carrigan House c. 1830 [mile 9.0]
The Vanderwerker family originally built
this former tavern on a stagecoach route. The house mason incorporated a Flemish Bond
pattern on the brickwork in the front of the house.
Vanderwerker
Farm c. 1840 [Mile 9.3]
The Vanderwerker family settled in
Northumberland around 1772.
Map3
"I can’t wait to start the cows
grazing in April," Lyle says. "It’s a totally different experience from the
way I used to farm. The cows seem happier and would probably smile if they could."
Vanderwerker Home
