Everyday Hero: Gloria Varney

An organic pleasure palace

To fully grok the depths of my Gloria worship, you have to first appreciate the magnitude of what she has created.

Gloria Varney and her husband, Gregg, farm 500 acres overlooking the banks of a meandering river. Here they raise something like 300 dairy cows, 30 head of beef cattle, 20 pigs, 600 chickens, 100 turkeys, 100 laying hens, 30 ewes with anywhere from 50-60 lambs, and 15 goats and their kids, alongside their own two-legged kids: Natasha, Samantha, MacKenzie, Roy and Everett.

Gregg oversees the cropping and manages the day-to-day operations of the farm proper. Gloria and Gregg, with a small team of interns and farm hands, tend the animals and the vegetable gardens. But the Nezinscot Farm store is Gloria's unique invention.

Like the general stores of yore, the Nezinscot Farm store has it all—meat, poultry, eggs, butter, cream, bread, milk, cheese, vegetables, pickles, preserves, and much more. Most everything is produced on the premises or nearby, grown organically, and brought to you by Gloria.

Need other grocery items? Gloria sussed out years ago that folks would appreciate it if she made it easy for them to do the one-stop shop thing. So she has kindly stocked bulk grains, herbs and spices, organic packaged goods, and earth-friendly household products for your convenience.

Hungry? Gloria or one of her helpers will whip you up a hearty breakfast or lunch, featuring a heaping helping of homemade everything. Freshly made dinner entrees such as turkey veggie pot pie or salmon pie are ready to be carted home, popped in the oven, and presented proudly to your expectant if under-appreciative family.

Looking for a gift? Choose from small-batch goats milk soap, gourmet cheeses, natural-hued wool yarn from Gloria's own sheep, hand-loomed rugs, felted slippers, cozy throws, shawls, and rattan baskets that—you guessed it—Gloria has woven for you in her spare time.

Need to relax? Gloria has arranged rocking chairs out in front of the store so you can sit a spell, enjoy the river view, and visit with the neighbors. On the weekends, you can make a reservation for high tea, complete with buttery, home-baked pastries, at a quiet cottage behind the store that Gloria fashioned out of an abandoned outbuilding.

Just can't decide what to buy? Join Gloria's ultra flexible CSA! Unlike other CSAs where you receive a tidy box of predetermined produce each week, Gloria's CSA works like a store credit. You can stop in whenever you want to pick up a dozen eggs, a skein of yarn, or all the ingredients for a candlelit dinner, right down to the hand-dipped tapers.