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"Burn Ayr Farm" is the name we have given to the 250-acre Thomson Family farm, reflecting our family's Scottish heritage.
The name is derived from the Scottish word "burn," which means "brook," for the brook that runs alongside our farmhouse.
"Ayr" is short for "Ayrshire," the breed of cattle from Ayr, Scotland, raised on the Thomson dairy farm which operated here until 1968.
The Land
Our burn meets the Little Delaware River which runs through the farm and joins the main Delaware River below Delhi. The Delaware flows past Philadelphia and then to the Atlantic beyond. Our gently-rolling tree-covered hills are part of the Western foothills of the Catskill Mountains.
The landscape is very similar to the hills and stone
walls of Scotland. The walls were built as dividing
lines between farms as the stony soil was cleared for
pastures. The meandering brooks also reminded the first
farmers of home. Our brook has a beautiful waterfall
and there are remains of a dam and walls of a sawmill
that used the falls for power.
Our History
The farm was originally part of the Livingston Patent, a large tract of land
awarded to the Livingston family in the 1700’s by the King of England. Margaret
Livingston sold part of our farm to Elizabeth Wight and her daughter Mary in 1854.
It was sold to Francis Graham in 1860, who then married Mary Wight. In 1861 Robert
Livingston sold the remainder of our acreage to Francis Graham. Then in 1890 Melville
A. Thomson, whose father had emigrated from Scotland, bought both parcels. Melville’s
wife, Mary A. Brown, was the great-granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton.
The farm passed on to Melville and Mary’s son, Francis G. Thomson, and then to his
son Robert F. Thomson. Both Francis and Robert Thomson ran an insurance business in
addition to the dairy farm. Robert’s son, James R. Thomson, ran the dairy farm until
they sold the herd in 1968 when Jim went into the insurance business full time. Jim’s
sister, Kathleen Sullivan, now resides in the farmhouse with her husband Kevin and
their two sons Patrick and Ryan. Kathryn Thomson, Jim's and Kathy’s mother, still lives
in an apartment on the first floor of the farmhouse.
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Recent History
Since closing the dairy operation in 1968 the family rented some
of its pastures to a neighboring farmer for hay and corn production. Otherwise the land was not
farmed and the two barns were only used for storage.
In 1999, Kathy and Kevin Sullivan along with Jim Thomson
and his wife Nancy decided to grow vegetables for the local Watershed Agricultural Council. We raised
carrots, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables, which were sold in New York City.
That summer we put out a picnic table with an umbrella and
sold some of our produce on a self-serve basis. Customers left their payment in a can, a testament to the
trustworthiness of our friends and neighbors!
On September 21st, 1999 we participated in the Catskill
Family Farms Food Show at Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center. Chefs from several New
York City restaurants prepared the Catskills-grown produce for several food tastings.
The next spring we built our greenhouse behind the barns
to start our seeds. Nancy Thomson started growing herbs and flowers for cutting in raised
beds around the greenhouse. During the summers of 2001 and 2002 we replaced the picnic table with a large tarp
and expanded, adding hanging flower baskets and more vegetables, still on a self-serve basis.
In 2003 we put up a second tarp and bought a cash register.
We all took turns manning the stand Thursdays through Sundays and leaving produce and flowers out for customers
who could not come when we were open.
We experienced great success and decided to build a permanent structure. Designed by Kevin
Sullivan, a contractor by trade, the stand was built with much help from family and friends. Construction began in
the Fall of 2003 and was completed in the Spring. We opened the new stand on May 1st, 2004.
With the additional space we now offer locally-made cheeses, free-range eggs, local maple and honey products and a variety of local
handmade crafts as well as our vegetables, herbs and flowers.
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