Farm Info
Farm Activities
GardensAlthough our farm is not yet certified organic, we manage our 8500 square feet of gardens using the strictest organic standards. We feed our soil with homemade compost that we build using locally available organic materials including leaves, hay, animal manure (from cows, goats, and chickens), wood chips, wood ash, egg shells, weeds, and vegetable scraps. Nearly all of the ingredients in our compost, except for hay and cow manure, originate primarily from our own farm and forest. We meticulously layer our compost piles with these diverse ingredients and turn them regularly to aerate the piles and encourage aerobic decomposition.
In addition to composting, we plant cover crops annually every fall in order to maintain soil stability, contribute organic matter to the soil, protect nutrients from leaching, and prevent soil erosion throughout the winter. During the growing season, we mulch the aisles between garden rows and at the base of select crops in order to maintain soil moisture, suppress weeds, contribute organic matter and nutrients to the soil, and help prevent disease and pest outbreaks. We also attempt to rotate our crops according to established rotation methods, and we regularly employ companion planting techniques to increase small-scale diversity in our garden and promote positive ecological interactions among our crops.
We start all of our own seeds for our gardens in our small plant nursery, taking meticulous care of our seedlings under controlled light, humidity, and temperature regimes, before hardening them off and transplanting them outdoors once the short Maine growing season arrives. We also plant many heirloom varieties and save many of our own seeds in order to contribute to the conservation of genetic diversity in agriculture.
Laying Hens
Our mixed flock of free-range chickens spends their days roaming a spacious yard, feeding on wild insects, seeds, and vegetation in addition to their organic grain mix. We regularly supplement their diet with weeds from the yard and garden and brew mash from Sea Dog Brewery. The diverse breeds in our flock - Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, Ameraucana, Silver-laced Wyandottes, and Red Sex Links - provide a myriad of unique personalities and interactions among the girls and their rooster. Their eggs range in color from off-white with a blue tinge, to deep green, to brown, some solid and some speckled. Due to their diverse, free-range diet, their eggs tend to have bright orange yolks with a firm texture and rich flavor.
Dairy Goats
Our small herd of Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats is hand-milked twice daily. The milk of Nigerian Dwarf goats is the richest and creamiest of any commercial dairy animal, even exceeding Jersey cows and Nubian goats in butterfat content. As a consequence, our yogurt has a texture that rivals whip cream in smoothness and creaminess, and a mild but notably sweet taste, producing a delicious and unique yogurt experience.
To make our yogurt, we pasteurize the milk at 180 degrees Fahrenheit in a hot water bath and then cool it to 120 degrees before inoculating the milk with a diverse culture of active yogurt bacteria and sweetening it with organic sugar. We then incubate the cultured milk in a warm water bath, within a closely controlled temperature range of 110-120 degrees, for approximately eight hours. Throughout this period, the bacteria digest the lactose (milk sugars) within the milk and convert them to lactic acid, acidifying the milk and creating chemical bonds that produce the thick, almost solid texture that is characteristic of yogurt.
Our Nigerian Dwarf goats are fed a diet of all-you-can-eat second cut hay, grown in the fields just next door by Smith Dairy Farms (“The best hay in the State of Maine!”). Although the hay is not organic, it is certainly as local as one can get. At each milking our goats are treated to organic grains with molasses, flaxseed, and alfalfa, and always have access to free choice mineral licks including kelp meal from our own Maine coasts.
We purchased our goats from a disease-free herd and have bred them only to disease-free sires, maintain careful and up-to-date disease testing and vaccination records, and closely monitor their milk quality and overall health. As a result, our herd has enjoyed a solid health record and no major illnesses or injuries to date.
Firewood
We sustainably harvest our own firewood from our 20-acre forest through selective thinning of both hardwoods (angiosperms – broadleaf or deciduous trees) and softwoods (gymnosperms – conifers and evergreens). We are currently working to promote greater plant and habitat diversity within our forest by protecting large hardwood seed trees, maintaining downed woody debris and dead snags, while reducing the density of pine in some of our younger tree stands.
Maple syrup
We tap approximately 20 maple trees throughout our forest, collecting the sap by foot and boiling it down to a thick syrup using our outdoor, wood-fired, cement-block evaporator.
We tap approximately 20 maple trees throughout our forest, collecting the sap by foot and boiling it down to a thick syrup using our outdoor, wood-fired, cement-block evaporator.
Apple orchard
We are currently rehabilitating an overgrown and disheveled apple orchard of 16 trees, from which we harvest all the apples for our hand-pressed apple cider and homemade applesauce. Although we have not yet identified the apple varieties in our orchard, there are three distinct types: a soft and sweet yellow apple that makes delicious cider; a tart, green apple that we use for cider and applesauce; and a crunchy, red and green table apple that is great straight off the tree.
We are currently rehabilitating an overgrown and disheveled apple orchard of 16 trees, from which we harvest all the apples for our hand-pressed apple cider and homemade applesauce. Although we have not yet identified the apple varieties in our orchard, there are three distinct types: a soft and sweet yellow apple that makes delicious cider; a tart, green apple that we use for cider and applesauce; and a crunchy, red and green table apple that is great straight off the tree.
Berry patch
We planted an approximately 1000 square foot berry patch of mixed strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. We also planted a diversity of flower bulbs around the perimeter of the berry patch to attract beneficial insects and add some vibrant colors to our yard during the spring. We mulch our berry patch with leaves, pine needles, and wood chips from our forest to suppress weeds, and to restore nutrients, organic matter, and minerals to the soil. The strawberries are covered with a thick layer of leaf or hay mulch during the winter to protect them against frost damage. We harvest our berries daily during the growing season to minimize lost to pests and store them for winter consumption by freezing, drying and canning (i.e., making preserves and jellies).
We planted an approximately 1000 square foot berry patch of mixed strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. We also planted a diversity of flower bulbs around the perimeter of the berry patch to attract beneficial insects and add some vibrant colors to our yard during the spring. We mulch our berry patch with leaves, pine needles, and wood chips from our forest to suppress weeds, and to restore nutrients, organic matter, and minerals to the soil. The strawberries are covered with a thick layer of leaf or hay mulch during the winter to protect them against frost damage. We harvest our berries daily during the growing season to minimize lost to pests and store them for winter consumption by freezing, drying and canning (i.e., making preserves and jellies).
Pig
Our pig makes good use of local food wastes that would otherwise end up in a landfill by consuming expired produce and baked goods from local grocery stores, in addition to used brew mash from a local brewery. We are raising our pig as our main source of meat and will slaughter and butcher him ourselves on our farm in order to ensure his quality of life and humane treatment.
Our pig makes good use of local food wastes that would otherwise end up in a landfill by consuming expired produce and baked goods from local grocery stores, in addition to used brew mash from a local brewery. We are raising our pig as our main source of meat and will slaughter and butcher him ourselves on our farm in order to ensure his quality of life and humane treatment.
Future Projects
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Indoor Winter Greens
Due to the long, cold winters of Maine, it is exceedingly difficult to produce a locally-grown crop of green vegetables year-round. However, our plant nursery stays at a seasonable 40-50 degrees even during the coldest period of the year due largely to passive solar heating. We plan to construct some large growing boxes inside this room and maintain rotational plantings of salad greens, lettuce, spinach, chard, and kale to provide year-round nourishment for ourselves and our customers.
Due to the long, cold winters of Maine, it is exceedingly difficult to produce a locally-grown crop of green vegetables year-round. However, our plant nursery stays at a seasonable 40-50 degrees even during the coldest period of the year due largely to passive solar heating. We plan to construct some large growing boxes inside this room and maintain rotational plantings of salad greens, lettuce, spinach, chard, and kale to provide year-round nourishment for ourselves and our customers.
Heirloom Seed Bank
We are hoping to eventually create a formally catalogued seed bank of heirloom seeds in order to contribute to global efforts to restore and preserve plant diversity in agriculture.
We are hoping to eventually create a formally catalogued seed bank of heirloom seeds in order to contribute to global efforts to restore and preserve plant diversity in agriculture.
Composting Humanure Toilet
Maize, Beans, and Squash (The Three Sisters)
Organic Wild Blueberries
