On July 12, one of the hottest days of the year so far, Belinda Learned was hunched over in the field, sweating over short snow pea plants as she taught her granddaughter, 3-year-old Annalise Tesst, how to nip the pods carefully.

In this weather, “it’s hard for us to be out here 12 hours a day,” she said.

But the weather was a serious improvement from last year, when drought conditions forced the North Stonington farm to make tough decisions about which plants to water. Tomatoes, onions and peppers were popular sellers, so others fell by the wayside.

Now with ample water from a wet spring, they’re able to grow everything they’d like.

“This year we tripled the cauliflower plants,” she said.

Belinda and Ed Learned bought Stonyledge Farm in 1992 from a farmer who had been raising cattle and growing potatoes on the 80-acre property. Nearly 25 years later, they’re still expanding to meet demand.

Their home and the very edge of the property is technically across the state line, in Hopkinton, R.I. But the rest of the farm, Belinda Learned is quick to say, is all Connecticut-grown in North Stonington.

Belinda Learned grew up raising chickens for the nearby poultry farm Arbor Acres, which burned down decades ago. Her parents still run Studio Farm in Voluntown to this day.

She grew a garden for her family on their small one-acre plot, and began selling produce out of a small shed at the end of her road.

“It slowly morphed into people wanting more and more,” she said.

Soon afterwards, she added a farm share program that grew from 10 shares to 50 shares, and a greenhouse to start produce even earlier in the year.

Her two sons, Tim and Ben Learned, run a dairy owned by Belinda and Ed with 62 milking cows and even more beef cattle. Tim and Ben Learned became the Dairy Farmers of America’s “Members of Distinction” of 2017 selected from 8,500 dairy farms in the Northeast in the spring.

The family raises laying hens and broiler chickens in addition to variety of produce: rainbow chard, lettuce, Chinese broccoli, among others.

The farm has also kept environmental and organic principles in mind — they don’t heat their greenhouse with fossil fuels. They raise their produce according to the National Organic program, meaning they don’t use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides and use untreated organic seeds, although they’ve declined to seek re-certification for organic status, describing it as a hassle.

“We’re all about educating the public” about how the farm works, Belinda Learned said.

Many of her customers come from her many visits to farmers markets across the region, of which the Stonington Farmer’s market is among her favorites. The farm appears weekly at the Niantic, Stonington and Denison farmers markets, and her husband Ed Learned puts on grilling and cooking demonstrations.

“I love giving 10 to 20 second recipes ... I really just enjoy teaching people to cook good food,” she said.

n.lynch@theday.com