Tom
Tom traces his genealogy back to farmers who emigrated from Holland in the 1600s, at the height of Tulip Mania. Nearly every one of the succeeding generations of men in the Ice family farmed as a way of life here. In other words, agriculture has always been his destiny.
His parents, Ron and Gayle Ice, retired from their first careers to start our family’s organic farm in New Mexico, and Tom would cut his teeth on visits there. They became renowned for their agricultural work in The Land of Enchantment, winning Organic Farmers of the Year at the 2020 New Mexico Organic Farming Conference after thirty-five years running their Alcalde homestead.
They have served as inspiration in this adventure that is Wolf Pine Hollow. And though the soil underneath our New England farm is different than what’s out in New Mexico, the passion and hard work required to farm both lands are the same.
What we do at Wolf Pine Hollow is in part a dedication to Tom’s parents, and every generation of Ice that came before, tilling the earth, putting pride in their labor, and producing vegetables, fruit and flowers to share with the community.
Ariane
Ariane grew up in a bustling college town in Connecticut—a close-knit community with a cosmopolitan flavor. And flavor is the key here, because the area had an abundance of choices for good eating.
Along with long-standing institutions like the trio of old pizza places doing things the coal-oven way (a.k.a. the right way) and the requisite burger, barbecue and bagel joints (this was the birthplace of Lender’s, after all), there was delicious ethnic food of all kinds. And, of course, there was the wharf, where you could grab yourself a fresh, squirming lobster right out of the Sound for dinner that night.
But there was one part of her upbringing that’s had a lasting effect on her: family drives to the country. Crisp, clean air hitting her face as the car traced winding roads through fields and orchards. And her favorite, farms where you can “pick your own.” Apples for pies, pumpkins for carving, pine trees for Christmas, corn for grilling. Those days instilled in her the importance of “farm-fresh.” It’s not just a label to attract visitors. It’s a feeling, an experience, a memory.
So come. Take the winding roads to Hancock, New Hampshire. Let the breeze run across your face. Bring the Wolf Pine Hollow memories back with you. It would be our privilege.