This year marks the 100th anniversary of
Outlook Farm in Westhampton and is also the
60th anniversary for its current owners, the
Morse family, who purchased the property in
1962. The farm, which has adapted to the
ever-changing economic landscape through the
years, also serves as a community gathering
spot, as Connecting Point's Brian Sullivan
discovered when he stopped by recently.
This little farm stand on the corner of
Southampton Road and Route 66 in Westhampton
has been an enduring landmark since 1922.
Since being purchased by the Morse family in
1962, it's enjoyed six decades of success
under that one family and done so while
converting from what was primarily an animal
farm with orchards to the fruit and
vegetable farm we see today.
Back in the early '80s, pretty much the state
and whatnot promoted the idea of farms
diversifying. And at that time, I think it
was when we first got into the breakfast and
lunch thing out front, along with expanding
the deli.
We had our meats going anyway, primarily pork
in the early days, and then we expanded the
operation into all cuts of meat.
We have our produce.
We've got the bakery that's been built up
over the years. Originally, it was just
apple pies that were being made all the
time, or fruit pies.
My mother made those for years.
And then I wanted to expand it -- my wife
started way back in the 80s, also started
baking chocolate chip cookies and bringing
them here to sell, and that's what it went
from there into everything we got going
today for a full, full bakery.
Those baked goods, breakfast treats, and
coffee are quite the drawing card at this
family barn and eatery that's managed to
maintain its authentic, rustic charm after
all these years. And in a town with a
population of just over 1,600, saying that
this is the local hangout probably isn't too
much of a stretch.
I have a small roofing business and I meet my
guys usually on the jobs, which are nearby
here. And I live down the road, so I come
here and get my coffee or maybe a donut or
whatever else, and maybe sometimes get those
guys a muffin or a donut and coffees, and
just head to the job.
We came here to Westhampton in 1977.
My husband worked for Mass Electric.
And so, this was the coffee place to come and
to meet people.
And then in the 1990s, I came to work for
Brad's dad, Dave Morse, and I've been coming
back ever since.
And the last several years there have been
several people at the same table, and they
were all retirees, retired teachers, retired
nurses, and husbands that put up with all of
us.
Not to be forgotten, and certainly not easy
to miss, is the vast acreage of orchards
surrounding the property.
In peak growing season, they offer up the
kinds of visuals one might expect to find on
postcards from New England.
The family at Outlook Farm owns 40 acres of
land, 30 of those behind the barn, the other
ten are across the street here in these
apple orchards. But overall, they manage 60
acres of property, that includes apple and
peach trees about a half mile up Southampton
Road in that direction, and some blueberry
fields about a mile and a half down Route 66
in that direction.
But while the bushes and trees may have an
abundance of berries and fruits ripe for the
picking, Outlook Farm faces the same dilemma
as so many other small businesses nowadays,
and that is finding employees to do the
work, or in this case, do the picking.
We're running very, very short in the fields.
Nobody to pick apples right now, we're still
working on that.
In the store, it's the same thing.
We lose our college kids this week and it's
going to be down to hardly anybody to serve
the store. So, it's really tough as far as
employees go. That's the hardest part of it
all.
Outlook Farm continues to chug along, though,
by adapting to the times.
In this case, it meant turning the former
slaughterhouse into a brewhouse, or using
their surplus to make their own wines.
Keeping the produce local, if it's not grown
here on site, and having a fully functioning
butcher shop for fresh local meats.
Whatever it takes to keep money in the till.
You just make the changes through the years
that we needed to make to just keep things
running for the best and and hopefully keep
trying to make some money.