Our barn quilts
No. 15, Maple Gate Farm,
Jefferson Township
About the quilt & barn
Address:
1360 Griggs Road, Jefferson.
Directions:
Interstate 90 to the Route 11 exit; take Route 11 south to Route 46, Jefferson, exit. Go south on Route 46 to Griggs Road, on left.
The quilt:
4x4 feet, "Maple Leaf." The design is by Ken Moisio, Cynthia Nagy's brother. A resident of Indiana, Ken is also designing a smaller, 18-by-18-inch barn quilt for the brick utility storage building on the farm.
The barn and farm:
The barn, measuring 32 by 64 feet, was built circa 1990, when Joseph and Cynthia Nagy purchased their Griggs Road farm. The property, purchased from the Newman family, was previously farmed but had reverted to brush. Joseph worked a factory job while reviving the 62-acre farm. He had cattle for a short period, but mostly has done grain crops on the land.
"I like grain farming better," he says. "You don't have to clean up after the livestock!"
The farm was named Maplegate because Joe has always liked maple syrup and maple trees. But they do not produce a syrup crop.
The couple own other farmland in the county for a total of 160 acres farmed. Joe does most all of this by himself, with occassional help from their son, Jared. "I hire nothing done," says Joe, who also repairs all his equipment. As if the farms were not enough to keep them busy, the couple own a coin-operated laundry and a rental house! Joe retired from his factory job two years ago, but he can't give up farming. "I love it," he says.