Growing steady profits

GROWING SEASON: Maplewood Farms owner Judith Carvalho says her goal is to run the farm and keep it as open space. Pictured above, from left, are employee Courtney David, Carvalho and manager Joshua Anderson. / PBN PHOTO/KATE WHITNEY LUCEY
GROWING SEASON: Maplewood Farms owner Judith Carvalho says her goal is to run the farm and keep it as open space. Pictured above, from left, are employee Courtney David, Carvalho and manager Joshua Anderson. / PBN PHOTO/KATE WHITNEY LUCEY

Maplewood Farm, a three-season business since 1950, is a family affair and the owner wants to keep it that way.

Owner Judith A. Carvalho inherited the 37-acre Portsmouth farm from her father, Manuel, who died suddenly in 1988. She works with her nephew, Joshua Anderson, and another full-time worker on 20 tillable acres to plant and sell potatoes, potted herbs and small crops of sunflowers and tomatoes.

For 20 years, the same part-timer has sold the produce to farmers markets in-season, when several more part-timers are typically hired to help.

“We sell here at the farm and do some wholesaling,” said Carvalho, who adds the business is profitable but not without challenges.

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Apart from the high cost of fertilizer, plastic produce containers and the unpredictability of the weather – there’s pressure from developers interested in buying the property, Carvalho said.

“My goal is to run the farm and keep it [as] open space,” she said. “Farming is difficult to make a profit, [so] it’s very difficult at times not to give in to developers.”

Originally, Carvalho was a Catholic school teacher and administrator in Massachusetts before taking over the farm, she said. Under Manuel Carvalho, the farm supplied potatoes for Cape Cod-brand potato chips for many years, a relationship that ended in 2000 when Carvalho decided to diversify, she said.

This year, Maplewood Farm has been open since early May and grows all-purpose potatoes, including the red, white and Yukon Gold yellow varieties, and specializes in the blue and fingerling potatoes, Carvalho said.

The farm sells 50-pound bags of potatoes for about $12, a price that fluctuates, at four farmers markets, including Mount Hope in Bristol, a state market at Goddard Park and growers markets in Middletown and Newport.

“A lot of restaurants sell our potatoes through Farm Fresh Rhode Island,” she added.

More than 30 varieties of potted herbs, which range from $3.75 to $20 depending on the size, were introduced in early 2000s and have proven popular, she said. Three greenhouses are critical for growing the herbs and tomatoes, she said.

The farm grows thai, purple and lemon basil. There are five varieties of thyme, plus sage, cilantro and more, Carvalho said.

Carvalho is committed to keeping the farm intact and its produce accessible in the marketplace, although prices have had to be bumped up somewhat in recent years and can fluctuate.

“We try to provide quality produce at reasonable prices,” said Carvalho. “My father had that written on top of the sales slip. It’s on my business cards.”

In 2000, Carvalho planted 3 acres of cut sunflowers in front of the farm to add color, and found customers eager to buy them.

“At the time, people were willing to pay $6 for a bunch of sunflowers and 50 pounds of potatoes were going for $6,” she recalled. “But I found potatoes feed the body and sunflowers fill the soul.” •

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