DOVER, N.H. (Aug. 1) — In 1632, John Tuttle arrived from England to a settlement near the Maine-New Hampshire border, using a small land grant from King Charles I to start a farm.
Eleven generations and 378 years later, his field-weary descendants – arthritic from picking fruits and vegetables and battered by competition from supermarkets and pick-it-yourself farms – are selling their spread, which is among the oldest continuously operated family farms in America.
"We've been here for 40 years, doing what we love to do," said Lucy Tuttle, 65, who runs the 134-acre farm with brother Will. "But we're not able to work to our full capacity any longer, unfortunately."
Just think about the tragedy here. This family made it through the great depression and every other depression since before the founding of this nation, but this depression has driven them out. This is a sad story indeed and may be mirroring what will happen very soon to our great nation.