Farm Forward – Posthumous interview eyes Holcomb future

• Holcomb Farm Has High Hopes For New Year

By Bruce William Deckert

Editor-in-Chief • Today Magazine Online

• The board president for the Friends of Holcomb Farm has ​offered Today Magazine an exclusive interview to move the Holcomb story forward after our previous cover story — this is the third feature in a series

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The nonprofit Friends of Holcomb Farm manages this historic farmstead in the heart of Granby that has deeper roots than the American Revolution — indeed, Holcomb Farm predates the Declaration of Independence by two decades.

Yes, the United States is celebrating its 250th birthday this year, but our nation is a relative youngster compared with Holcomb Farm. Age-wise, the farm is old enough to be America's parent. Since the farm was birthed in Connecticut, one of America's original 13 colonies, this is a paradoxical comparison yet is nonetheless true.

Founded in 1756, Holcomb is a signature New England farm that is emblematic of Connecticut's Farmington Valley — a region known for rural beauty and open space as well as suburban amenities within convenient commuting distance to and from Hartford, the state capital.

The Holcomb property encompasses 310-plus acres and is the Valley's largest farm. Today Magazine defines the Farmington Valley as the following five towns: Avon, Canton, Farmington, Granby and Simsbury. Holcomb Farm is located​ ​in West​ Granby,​ a distinct section of Granby in north-central Connecticut. Tulmeadow Farm, based in West Simsbury, comprises about 265 acres and is the second-largest farm in the Valley.

The Farmington Valley features at least 10 working farms. Holcomb and Tulmeadow are the only Valley farms that surpass 100 acres, according to various online sources.

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Holcomb Farm offers a year-round CSA program — an in-demand model across the country, CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Instead of buying fruit and vegetables at a local supermarket, customers sign up for produce via Holcomb's CSA subscription program. Reservations for the summer of 2026 will be available soon, per the Holcomb website.

Since 2014, farm manager Joe O'Grady has superintended Holcomb’s agricultural enterprise. O'Grady, his partner Emma and their two daughters reside in a farmhouse built in 1790 by Nahum Holcomb.

"We offer fresh produce rather than produce that is weeks old because it’s been trucked here from other parts of the country," he says. "Shopping locally for produce reduces the carbon footprint."

The Granby-Simsbury Chamber of Commerce​ named O'Grady the 2025 Granby Business Leader of the Year for his work "meeting the needs of the community and many nonprofits requesting food supplies for their programs," according to a chamber spokesman. "He also was instrumental in gaining the rights to use the old church next door to the farm and convert it into a seasonal farm store."

On the Holcomb website, O’Grady says: "Don’t tell anyone, but we came here in an act of desperation after struggling to find affordable farmland and dealing with insane landowners. ... After a decade and a half of searching, we found a farm to love and cultivate, a community to call home and children to raise!"

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In 1976, more than two centuries after establishing the farm, the Holcomb family donated their farm property to the University of Connecticut. Serendipitously, the United States celebrated its bicentennial that year. In 1990, UConn gave Holcomb Farm to the town of Granby.

In the mid-1970s, before the donation occurred, the brother-and-sister duo of Tudor and Laura Holcomb gave a five-acre parcel of land to the West Granby United Methodist Church. The congregation stopped meeting in 2021. Fast-forward to 2025 — in May, the Friends nonprofit recommended that the town of Granby retain the building and property for use by the farm, and in August the Granby board of selectman approved the transaction.

After the Friends issued their formal recommendation, board president Jenny Emery provided an exclusive interview to Today Magazine Online. Publication of this interview has been delayed until now due to the ongoing news deluge.

In September 2025, tragedy stuck — Emery died in the aftermath of a bicycle accident in Vermont. She was 66 years young. Emery had joined the Friends board in 2014 and also served as Holcomb's executive director.

A tribute to Emery in the Granby Drummer online newspaper states: "She found great joy in nature and in her family. ... Jenny was not just a leader — she was a force of nature."

Holcomb spokesperson Trish Percival notes and applauds "the extensive and important work Jenny did over the last decade — we are well-positioned for 2026 and beyond. We are so grateful to Jenny for all she did to put us in this position."

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• Today Magazine Online is honored to present this exclusive Jenny Emery Q&A posthumously:

• Since Holcomb Farm was featured as a cover story in Today Magazine in August 2021, what do you see as the top highlights connected to the farm?

• Emery — The single most transformative development for Holcomb Farm occurred in October 2022. After extensive analysis, the town of Granby agreed to place a permanent conservation easement on 277 of the 312 acres, assuring that this place will forever be undeveloped open space.

The Granby Land Trust holds the conservation easement, and the Friends of Holcomb Farm, through a long-term lease and use agreement with the town, steward the land. Stewardship includes building and maintaining over 10 miles of public hiking trails, developing an educational tree trail (aka arboretum) and farming the agricultural fields.

• What are your hopes for Holcomb as 2025 moves forward and beyond?

• Emery — We have more than hopes; we have plans. We want to grow the positive impact we have on Granby and the region: growing quality, chemical-free produce for local sale — raising funds to share the food we grow with people in need through our Fresh Access program — and managing the land for public enjoyment and education.

We are beginning the process of renovating the church building that is contiguous to the farm into a produce storage and processing facility, a commercial kitchen for creating value-added products on-site, and a local food store/hub for other producer’s products to be sold, year-round.

Our historic mission — "to preserve, promote and utilize a historic New England farm” — has been amended to include: "for the benefit of the community."

 • Additional comment — as you wish:

• Emery — Today, the collaboration between the town of Granby, which owns the property and manages the main campus of buildings, and the nonprofit Friends of Holcomb Farm, is the key to assuring we have a solid foundation to grow our positive impact for years to come.

Together with support from other community partners like the Granby Land Trust and the Granby Community Fund, our hopes for the future become plans, and our plans become reality.

We are blessed with a very talented farmer and farm crew, a passionate board of directors, supportive donors, and committed volunteers and members — and we are very conscious of keeping our doors open to the next generation of people who are looking to be involved in something local that makes a positive difference in their neighbors' lives. We welcome everyone's involvement. +

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• This article is the third feature in a series — here are the first two:

• Farm Charm – Holcomb legacy dovetails with US history

• Heartfelt History – Farm legacy precedes American Revolution

• View Photos — Holcomb Farm homepage • Photo Gallery

HOLCOMB FARM

 • Ownership

    Town of Granby since 1990 – under stewardship of Holcomb Farm Inc.

• Address

   Farm Store & CSA – Community Supported Agriculture

   111 Simsbury Road • West Granby CT

• Administrative Offices

   113 Simsbury Road • West Granby CT

• Phone – 860-844-8616

• Website – www.holcombfarm.org

• Email – info@holcombfarm. org

Featuring community news that matters nationwide, Today Magazine Online aims to record Connecticut’s underreported upside — covering the heart of the Farmington Valley and beyond

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