Hickory Hills Farm

by Nicole Zappone @TheChronicleCT

Nestled back in the land of Storrs is a farm run by a husband and wife team. Together, the couple manages 43 acres of land, and it’s no surprise that their passion for agriculture stems from the fact they both grew up on farms. There is also another 30 acres of timberland that is a natural sugar bush for sugar maple.

Curtis Sirico and his wife, Alison Sirico of Hickory Hills Farm

Curtis Sirico and his wife, Alison Sirico, have been managing the farm for nearly a decade.

“The farm is multigenerational and it’s been in the family for a lot of years,” Sirico said. “It’s bounced around the farm, and it’s been farm land since the Revolutionary.”

Sirico said he took over the farm in 2016 and then started full-time farming in the last two years. “We kind of made the decision that it needed to grow from a hobby to a business,” Sirico said. “I started doing this two years ago as my full-time job. I worked in forestry previous to that for a really awesome husband and wife team.”

For the last several years, they have done everything on the farm, from the flock of laying hens to the several acres of vegetables and flowers that they grow each year. A variety of vegetables includes summer squash, winter squash, a variety of tomatoes, pumpkins, different kinds of peppers, garlic, onions, potatoes and more. They do cut flowers such as sunflowers, and next year, they will do potted mums. The maple syrup operation will be expanded, and hopefully, this winter, Sirico said he hopes to build a sugar house with their own wood from the sawmill. “We will be able to boil our sap right on site,” Sirico said. “We are known for our vegetables and eggs at the farm.”

At the farm, they have several types of chickens and ducks. Before that, they had pigs and cows. “We started selling eggs because we had extra,” Sirico said. “We did what a lot of people do and threw a cooler out. We’ve had the farm stand for three years now. Two years ago, we were going to concentrate on selling vegetables and eggs. That is what started our customer base.” Sirico said every week they receive a large number of pre-orders for a variety of vegetables and eggs. “We’re growing like wildfire every year,” Sirico said.

What got Sirico into farming is something he has always wanted to do.“I’ve always wanted to work in the woods and farm,” Sirico said. “I still do both of those. My mom grew up here; her father owned it before her. She didn’t grow up in the exact house across the street, as his uncle tore it down and built the one we live in now.”

This is the land where his mother grew up, and the family owns land down the road. “Her grandmother’s house, where she partially grew up, was the next road over,” Sirico said. “Her grandmother used to refer to her property as Hickory Hill, and as a homage, we took on Hickory Hills Farm to keep the name going on.”

Sirico said his great-grandmother had a very large part in raising his mother, so they wanted to keep the memory alive by naming their farm Hickory Hills. “Every year we are growing,” Sirico said. “And we’re expanding and adding a bunch of things. Like the sunflowers, we had a smaller patch, and it has gotten to the point we can’t keep up with the orders.”

The farm will dedicate a little over half an acre to growing more sunflowers. The same will be done with the pumpkins. Next year, the farm will offer honey with some assistance from another farm, which will provide the bees and ensure the honey is locally sourced.

“We want to have things year-round,” Sirico said. “We need things always for sale, and that is why our sawmills are so big.”

The couple runs the farm, along with the help of his mother. Family friend Michael Crosier helps with some projects around the property. He comes to the farm once a week since he is retired and helps with fixing equipment and more. Some cousins even come by and help as well. “You are working whether it’s snowing, raining, it’s a hundred degrees, it’s zero degrees out,” Sirico said. “The animals still have to get fed and the equipment still needs to be maintained.”

The farm is located at 523 Woodland Road in Storrs. For more information, email hickoryhill.curt@gmail.com.