Once a working farm built in the 1800's, the property which is the site of Mt. Gay Farms Cannabis was purchased by the family of the current owners in 1945.
The last known commercial product grown on the Mt Gay Farms field, currently planted in cannabis, was cabbage around the time of the great depression. The farm was located among many farming families in the hills of Gaysville. Families like the Allens, the Twitchells, the Whitcombs and the Burrs all worked private homesteads in a small area around what is now Mt. Gay Farms. The local mountain one room school house attended by the children of local families, remains intact on the Mt. Gay Farm's property. The school bell last rang well before WWII. Before and during the Second World War many of the farms, including Mt. Gay Farm, then known as the Burr Farm , fell into disrepair and went in receivership as families were unable to make a living from farming and moved off the mountain. Old cellar holes and barn foundations still dot the woods on Mt Gay Farms and adjoining properties.
In 1946 Glenn and Edith Wayne bought the property as a retirement project. They renovated the farmhouse and immediately joined in the growing Vermont reforestation movement in the late 1940s and 1950s.
40-50 acres of once open pasture was planted with white and red pine. Newly formed State programs supplied seedlings and labor forces such as the Boys Scouts, came by troops to what is now Mt. Gay Farms and hand planted thousands upon thousands of young trees. Existing Sugar bushes and hardwood stands were left to grow on toward becoming what is now known as old-growth forests. Glenn and Edith established the infrastructure for sustainable silviculture with a carefully planned selective cutting program in mind for the long term survival of both the forest, the farm and the family. Three generations later their plan remains intact. The property is maintained in and strictly adheres to the Vermont Current Use programs under the guidance of a Forest Management company, and follows very selective culling and responsible logging practices.
To be able initiate and orchestrate a commercial organic agricultural endeavor, whilst maintaining the values and goals of Glenn and Edith with the hope of being able to carry on the tradition of forest maintenance and restoration and the possibly of being part of establishing old-growth forest is an honor shared by all family members.
Growing Cannbis as licensed and regulated by the Cannabis Conntrol Board on this property in order to maintain family ownership for future generations, was an unexpected opportunity.