When Diane Knisley got a call from her neighbor last Monday to tell her her barn was on fire, her heart sank.
She rushed home.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” she said.
Her neighbor, Greg Somero, had wet down her house, which is only feet from the barn, and evacuated the pets. But the barn was a lost cause, and eventually had to be pulled down by an excavator to ensure the fire was completely out. Knisley said the fire at Storybook Farm on Ashby Road in New Ipswich, which she and her husband Paul own, did not cause any physical damage to the home, but a heavy smell of smoke lingered.
In the week since the fire, the family has been inundated with people from the community, all asking the same question – how can they help? Multiple people have set up fundraisers for the family, and a GoFundMe page has already raised more than $11,300 in support of building a new barn and replacing the Knisleys’ lost income until their farm operation can resume.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, but is believed to have started in the back right area of the barn. The Knisleys lost about a dozen baby chicks in the fire, but the barn also housed their farm store, milking equipment, Paul’s woodworking tools and the supply of hay for their cows.
The cows were grazing and not in the barn at the time. They were rounded up and are being housed at a farm in Massachusetts. They can be there as long as the Knisleys need – the first bit of kindness, but far from the last, that has been offered to them, Diane said.
“He sent me a text, saying, ‘You’re good people, in good hands.’ That’s the kind of friends that we hold,” she said. “Now, we have to figure out what to do.”
The barn did not have full insurance coverage, Diane said, and the family has only just started the process of figuring out the cost of replacing it.
“We’re rolling in a positive way. It’s in God’s hands. It’s his plan, and now he’s going to get me through the rest,” she said. “We’ve got contractors pouring in, offering to help, but I don’t know what I’m going to do with them.”
And in the midst of it, the Knisleys have been getting daily visitors, expecting to visit the farm store to pick up their regular purchase of raw milk or other farm products, not knowing that the fire destroyed it all.
“They all say the same thing – ‘Don’t go away, we’ll support you,” Diane said. “They’re all asking how they can help.”
The Knisleys’ daughter, Marlene Damery, said the farm has been a group effort from the extended family.
“The farm is truly a family farm. My daughter and niece worked at the farm filling the milk bottles and cleaning the tank. In previous years, my eldest and middle daughter did this same job,” Damery said. “When my dad dislocated his shoulder many years ago, from a haying injury, I helped take over the milking for the summer until school started again. During haying season, the entire family helps out with the picking up the hay and putting it in the barn.”
Damery said the farm is a passion for her parents.
“My mother is one of the biggest champions of the farm. She is often talking to milk customers about the benefits of raw milk,” Damery said. “My dad loves to see the joy and amusement the animals bring to the young visitors. Dairy farming is not easy. My dad wakes early every morning to take care of those girls. He cannot travel far because he has to be home to milk in the afternoon.”
Diane echoed that sentiment, noting that though the farm wasn’t their primary job, she and her husband have put their heart and soul into the property since purchasing it 16 years ago.
“Paul’s been milking for 22 years, and to me, he’s a hero, and he’s what has made this work,” she said. “We always say, ‘Farming’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle,’ and that’s exactly what it is.”
And with both Diane and Paul in their late 60s, she said the farm was part of their eventual retirement plan.
“We called it Storybook Farm, because this was where ‘Nana’ and ‘Jiggy’ live happily every after,” she said, referring to the nicknames their grandchildren and young visitors who come to the farm call them.
Diane said the farm store, like many local food providers, had a boom during the pandemic, and the farm nearly doubled its business selling its raw milk, cream, butter and meat products, eggs, honey, maple syrup and broth.
The farm is educational, she said, and they often have children visit to learn about farming and where their food comes from. She said she feels strongly in “putting your roots back where your food is.”
“This has been our passion,” Diane said. “The business was growing. It was catching on. Our age has caught up to us, but our spirit is still here.”
Damery has been helping coordinate efforts to help her family rebuild, which have been numerous as the community has rallied around the farm, she said.
The GoFundMe for the Knisleys is at gofund.me/30359595. People can also donate directly at TD Bank, at an account set up in the name of Storybook Farm Fund.
The New Ipswich Market has put out a jar to collect funds. Maria Hanley, owner of Willow Tree Yoga Studio in New Ipswich, is donating $5 per class during May from her four classes a week.
Stephanie Lumibao, of Steph Lumibao Photography in Greenville, who did a photo shoot of Storybook Farm during a calving, is offering digital photos from the session at $20, with proceeds going to Storybook Farm. The photos and information on how to purchase them are available at the Steph Lumibao Photography Facebook page.
Checks can also be sent to Storybook Farm, made out to Diane Knisley, and mailed to 756 Ashby Road in New Ipswich.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.