Who owns the land that Soule Homestead is on?
The short answer is the town of Middleborough. Soule Homestead Education Center leases the municipal land that is our current 120 acre property. We maintain a lease from the town that is re-approved by the Select Board every 10 years and in conjunction with the support of members of the farm and general members of the community.
Who last owned the land before it was sold to the town?
In 1988, Don and Mary Guidobone sold most of the property that is now Soule Homestead to the Town of Middleborough, through a town meeting vote. Middleborough purchased the farm with the intention of maintaining it as an agricultural area for farming.
When was Soule Homestead Education Center established?
In 1992, a group of community members joined together to incorporate as a nonprofit organization. Their aim was to develop the property into a working organic farm and agro-ecology education center.
Who is financially responsible for the running and preservation of the farm?
Soule Homestead Education Center and its Board of Directors is solely financially responsible for preserving and improving the building and property, farming the land, and providing public educational programs. After a number of years, the organization began to be responsible for paying a monthly assessment fee, utilities, inspections, and licensing that is involved in the upkeep of the farm and the running of programs such as our summer camp.
Many improvements have been made over the years to help maintain the farm you see today, and we are always working to support both the historic and new buildings here. As a non-profit organization we lean on the invaluable support of our wonderful community in many ways, whether it’s through volunteering, donations, or participation in activities at the farm. We appreciate the generosity of other non-profits, social groups, and youth groups who support us with their time and money, but it is our responsibility to raise money for operating expenses which allow us to keep the farm open and available as a rural agricultural and historic site.
How do you fund the preservation of Soule Homestead Education Center?
We raise funds to support the preservation of Soule with programs such as field trips and summer camp, our community garden program, and a variety of hand craft workshops for all ages. We rent land to 6 leasing organic farmers, host annual festivals, fairs, concerts, nature tours, gardening programming, a plant sale, a wonderful farm to table dinner to celebrate farmers and their bounty – events big and small, as well as ask for memberships to help build our community and in turn support the farm.
All of these things together help the Soule Homestead and farm-based educational programming, as well as contribute to our mission and keep Soule largely open and free to the public almost every day of the year.