Holden Creek Farm

Taking care of the land

A family legacy and lifelong passion for wildlife

“Here you are surrounded by life all the time. In the winter, we see anywhere from 300-1500 waterfowl.”

- Grayson Chesser

Holden Creek Farm is on the north side of Saxis Road and the south side of Holdens Creek which empties into the Chesapeake Bay. Surrounded by farmland and woodland, the property boasts significant wildlife habitat including ponds, impoundments, and a pollinator meadow. The drive is lined with trees that separate it from one of the wildlife impoundments and eventually opens onto a field which is mostly covered in pollinator friendly plants. “I love being in nature. Here you are surrounded by life all the time. In the winter, we see anywhere from 300-1500 waterfowl. We see quail and black and yellow rail too,” said Grayson Chesser, who lives on the farm with his wife Dawn. Grayson is a naturalist and a storyteller. A visit to Holden Creek Farm with Grayson offers both in abundance.

Deep roots

Grayson can trace his ancestry all the way back to the first European, William Anderson, to live on Holdens Creek. Since the 1600s, “at least part of the farm has always been owned by a descendant of William Anderson,” said Grayson. In 1912 Grayson’s great grandfather, Jesse Mason, had a store down the road and purchased 50 acres including where the house is now from Spencer Fletcher. In 1918, Grayson’s great great grandfather, John Cullen, bought the neighboring farm.

Grayson’s grandfather lived in the house on the farm until the 1960s and ran a filling station in Temperenceville. “My grandmother wouldn’t stay here at night alone. So, they rented a house out near the station.” Grayson and Dawn married in 1970 and bought the house and barn. “When we bought the house, my grandfather still owned the farm.” Eventually, Grayson and Dawn inherited a portion of the farm from his mother and purchased the remainder from a cousin.

At the time, it was primarily farmland with only a few cedar, pear, and cherry trees: “There were maybe five trees on the whole farm. When the wind came out of the West, there wasn’t a thing between you and Baltimore. Water glasses would freeze overnight in the winter.” Together, they slowly worked to fix up the house and add trees.

Cultivating the land and restoring wildlife habitat

Grayson’s ancestors farmed the land and in the early days traded with the Indigenous people. According to Grayson, William Anderson was arrested for trading. “I’m sure they had cattle and probably sheep. Early on they were probably growing tobacco and other crops.” Overtime the crops they grew changed. “When I was a boy they grew potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and soybeans. Soybeans were just getting to be a big crop then.” Much of the land west of Holdens Creek Farm grew strawberries. Strawberries were planted in newly cleared fields. “I remember walking behind the strawberry transplanter and picking up roots left from the clearing. You’d put them on the planter and dump them at the end of the row. I’d eat so many strawberries I’d break out in hives.” A blight stemmed the practice of growing strawberries in the area and competition from California reduced the production of other fruits and vegetables. Much of the land in the area shifted to corn, soybeans, wheat, and forestland.

“I farmed for a while and I liked it. But I didn’t love it as much as hunting and carving. From the time I was 12 years old I wanted to be a carver and a hunting guide. I probably enjoyed guiding as much or more than hunting myself. I enjoyed sharing it with other people.” It’s a passion he shares with his ancestors too. His father’s side of the family did a lot of fishing, hunting, and trapping. “From the time I was a kid, I always loved nature. I loved being in it. I hunted all my life. I love bird watching, walking through the woods, being in the marsh. But when I’m hunting, I’m on a different plane. Hunting is the ultimate intercourse with nature.”

Hunting paired well with his other interest: art. Grayson loved art as a kid. When he started hunting with his father he was hooked and saw how well hunting, decoys, and art went together. Grayson began carving when he was 12 or 13. He said, “One of the reasons I’ve been so successful carving is the back story of generations living on the same land, hunting, and carving.”

Grayson’s love of hunting and carving is reflected in the land and the amount of habitat he’s nurtured there. When the Farm Service Agency introduced the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), Grayson wanted to put the farm in the program right away. The CREP program provides rental payments for conservation practices on farmland. Practices include riparian buffers, filter strips, wetlands, and pollinator habitat. A significant amount of acreage at Holden Creek Farm is now in CREP with about 40 acres planted in pollinator habitat.

Taking care of the land through conservation

Grayson and Dawn have spent 50 years stewarding the land of Grayson’s ancestors. They’ve transformed it into a place quail, black rail, and waterfowl seek out and take shelter. They’ve shared it with hunters and boy scouts. And they preserved it for future generations by placing a conservation easement on the property in 2006. “It meant something to me that the land had been in the family for generations. I’m glad to see when I’m dead and gone it’s better than it was when I got it. It’s taken care of us for hundreds of years and I want to take care of it.”

About Holden Creek Farm

Holden Creek Farm is 136 acres with 3700 feet of waterfront on Holdens Creek, 6 acres of marsh, 19 acres of forest, 109 acres farmland including 40 acres pollinator habitat, and several ponds and impoundments. The farm is protected by a conservation easement held by VES Land Trust and is part of more than 14,000 acres preserved on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.