Date: Fri 14-May-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

state-agriculture-Shortt

Full Text:

State Helps Business Find Its Way To A Sandy Hook Farm

(with photo)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

With the recent placement of an agricultural directional sign on Church Hill

Road, the motoring public will be more aware of the presence of a Sandy Hook

farm offering its produce for sale.

Shortt's Farm and Garden Center of 52-A Riverside Road recently erected a road

sign that faces eastbound motorists as they enter Sandy Hook Center. The sign

is posted along the curb near Newtown United Methodist Church.

The sign, which is similar to state road signs promoting tourism, uses

pictograms to advertise that Shortt's farm is straight ahead and sells locally

grown produce and eggs.

The sign was erected as part of a cooperative program between the state

departments of agriculture and transportation to help develop and enhance

Connecticut agriculture. The program allows placement of directional signs

along state roads for farms located off those roads, providing a subdued form

of advertising for the farms.

Jim Shortt, proprietor of the farm and garden center, is in his fifth year of

operations at the facility, which lies about 500 feet south of Riverside Road,

just west of Philo Curtis Road.

"I'm off the beaten path. People need to know I'm there," Mr Shortt said of

the added the visibility the road sign gives his business.

The state sanctions the placement of the sign and the farm pays for it.

The center doesn't compete with large garden centers in terms of the range of

items or the number of items offered for sale, but it does offer a pleasant

atmosphere for shoppers and provides personal attention for customers, he

said.

The year-round center grows organic vegetables including watermelon, tomatoes,

peppers, kale, squash, spinach, arugula and cucumbers, among other items.

Eggs, milk, cheese, juice, pastas, jellies and other foods are available. The

center also sells lawn and garden items such as bedding plants, shrubs,

compost and grass seed. Feed and grain are available.

The center now has a baby calf and a pair emus, as well as a garden pond.

The road sign program which advertises farms is part of the state's

"Connecticut Grown" marketing campaign for agricultural products.

Participating farms in the program are selected by the Department of

Agriculture through an application system. The signs used in the program are

of uniform size, symbol, color and lettering and bear symbols identifying the

products offered.