Cragmoor Farms expands protected land, offers farm-to-school project - July 8th 2017

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Demand in our region for healthy food has expanded into our school districts, with some significant examples in Greenville and Spartanburg counties. Servicing schools creates a large, consistent demand for local farmers. Thanks to a generous landowner, the farm-to-school project in Spartanburg just got bigger and better.

Cragmoor Farms, a historic farm in Spartanburg County adjacent to the Walnut Grove Plantation, added more land to nearly triple its protected acreage. The initially protected site is already being prepared to grow food to benefit Spartanburg County School District Six schools. Plans for the expanded acreage includes grazing fields for cattle. Upstate Forever protected the initial parcel with a conservation easement in 2016. This site will provide fruits, vegetables, and educational opportunities to students in pre-K through 12th grade. 

The 72-acre addition to Cragmoor Farms completes the 120-acre project and surrounds Walnut Grove, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and is open to the public as a living history farm. Cragmoor Farms was once part of the same tract as Walnut Grove, owned by a single family dating back to the Colonial Era. Partial funding from the South Carolina Conservation Bank will offset some of the costs involved in placing the easement, making the land donation, and endowing the property’s perpetual care.