Welcome to the 2021 Daytripping list, an annual feature in The MOF&G. At this year’s farm and garden tours, learn about seed saving, granite splitting, organic vegetable gardening, chicken breeding, growing fruit trees organically, sourdough bread baking and much more.
For more farms to visit this summer, please check the event calendar on MOFGA’s website, where you’ll find MOFGA’s weekly Farm Training Project Workshops, Farmer to Farmer in the Field events, Gather & Grow Homestead Tours and more.
Note: Due to COVID-19, we urge readers to contact the farmers and gardeners listed below before visiting them. Please leave pets at home when you visit these farms.
Dates Farm or Garden
July 5 3 Streams Farm, Belfast
July 10 Farr Homestead, Troy
July 25 Khadighar, Industry – general farm tour
Aug. 1 Khadighar, Industry – Scatterseed Project tour
Aug. 7-8 Trotochaud/McDowell Gardens and Everyday Pottery Studio, Belmont
Various Dates
- Beau Chemin Preservation Farm, Waldoboro
- Crystal Lake Farm and Nursery, Washington
- The Good Life Center, Harborside
- Rabbit Hill Farm, Stonington
- Winterberry Farm, Belgrade
Franklin County
Khadighar in Industry, Maine, is a unique example of veganic gardening – maintaining soil fertility sustainably without animal manures. Will Bonsall and friends focus on self-sufficiency, growing a wide range of vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes. Special features include extensive terraces, solar-powered irrigation, intensive (not raised) beds and the use of ramial chips (chipped branches of deciduous trees).
Dates: July 25, 2 p.m., rain or shine: general farm tour. Visitors’ interests usually draw this tour out to 2 1/2 to 3 hours, so plan accordingly.
Aug. 1, 2 p.m., rain or shine: Scatterseed Project. Tour seed propagation plots, including discussion of pollination control strategies. Many varieties of crops are grown. The discussion includes exploring plant genetic diversity in order to identify varieties suited to specific local conditions and uses.
Directions: From Farmington, follow Rt. 43 east to Allens Mills (about 4 miles). Continue on Rt. 43 for another 1 1/2 miles, past Junction 148. Continue on Rt. 43 another 1,000 feet to the first road on the right. Follow signs.
Contact: Khadighar, 39 Bailey Road, Industry, ME 04938; 207-778-2410
Hancock County
The Good Life Center at Forest Farm is the historic final homestead of Helen and Scott Nearing, who were prominent proponents of simple and sustainable living, leaders of the back-to-the-land movement and powerful social activists. Resident stewards, Jack Ott and Jesse Dritz, will be available to lead tours of the organic gardens, hand-built structures and homestead grounds, and to demonstrate the simple and sustainable living skills of Helen and Scott.
Visitors are welcome from Memorial Day through Indigenous Peoples Day. The Sunday afternoon speaker series runs from July 11 through Aug. 9. Dates: July 11 – Ruth Ryan, universal healthcare; July 18 – Dr. Mimi Sheller, links between African/Caribbean and Wabanaki spiritual traditions as ways of addressing our environmental crisis; July 25 – Rachael Rollson, the importance of European metaphysics and American thinkers from Thoreau to Emerson to the Nearings; Aug. 1 – Greg Joly, the relevance of Scott Nearing’s writings to today’s politics; Aug. 8 – Larry Dansinger, redefining work in our lives and in the future; Aug. 15 – Aran Shetterly, a hopeful look at our nation’s future with respect to the prevalence of institutional racism and bias; Aug. 22 – Deb Soule, herbal remedies for resilience; Aug. 29 – Zoe Weil, envisioning a world where people, animals and nature thrive together. Donations welcome.
Directions: A half-hour drive from Blue Hill. From Blue Hill village, take Rt. 176, Rt. 15, and Rt. 175 through South Brooksville; turn left onto Cape Rosier and follow the signs for the Good Life Center.
Contact: 372 Harborside Road, Harborside, ME 04642; Warren Berkowitz, farm manager, at 207-374-5386; goodlife.org; facebook.com/nearings. Please check the website for current COVID-19 protocols.
Hop on over to Rabbit Hill Farm on Deer Isle. Located in the coastal town of Stonington on the island of Deer Isle, Rabbit Hill Farm is a certified-organic farm, specialty food company, sparkling cider producer and rabbitry. Visit with baby rabbits, picnic at the shore, tour a certified-organic farm and explore Rabbit Island. Rabbit Hill offers chowder and popover lunches, wine tastings, farm to table suppers, celebration events and educational opportunities for the whole family.
Rabbit Hill Farm Days are July 6, 20 and 25, and Aug. 3 and 17.
Directions: Take Rt. 15 onto the island of Deer Isle and proceed to Deer Isle village. As you pass the red house and go down the hill, turn right off Rt. 15 onto Main Street. The Deer Isle post office and the Pilgrim’s Inn will be on your left. Drive south toward Stonington for 4.2 miles. Turn right onto Barbour Farm Road., a dirt road. Keep left and follow for 1 mile to the end and up the hill. Drop-off passenger area and handicap parking only are available on the hill. This is a private road and parking is limited. Please drive slowly and plan to park and walk.
Contact: 148 Barbour Farm Road, Stonington, ME 04681; 207-367-5003, cherylwixsonskitchen.com
Kennebec County
Winterberry Farm in Belgrade, owned by Mary Perry and her family for the past 20 years, dates back to 1870. This diversified, 40-acre farm extends down to the shores of Great Pond in the Belgrade Lakes area of central Maine. Winterberry Farm is a “Forever Farm”: Perry has donated the development rights so that it will remain a farm forever. The MOFGA-certified organic family farm is horse- and oxen-powered and grows cut flowers and vegetables for its CSA and its farmstand. It offers cut-your-own flowers and farm-to-table dinners, is available for events and weddings, has a full-service farmstand with bake shop, and offers sleigh rides and tours of its maple syrup operation.
Dates: The farm is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from May to September and year round with limited hours. For a tour, please call ahead – but if you find yourself in Belgrade, please stop for a slice of blueberry pie from the farm store and view the flower gardens or take a self-guided tour.
Directions: The farm is located at 538 Augusta Rd./Rt. 27 in Belgrade. Drive north from Augusta for about 15 minutes or west from Waterville for about 20 minutes.
Contact: 207-649-3331; winterberryfarmstand.com
Knox County
Crystal Lake Farm and Nursery in Washington is a mother-and-son operation owned by Sharon Turner and Eli Berry. Their 75-acre property is comprised of a tree, shrub and perennial nursery, managed woodlot, rotational grazing pasture for four head of Dexter cattle, large vegetable and flower gardens, four hoop houses, a small orchard area and a picnic spot by the lake. In season, they offer native and favorite potted and field-dug trees, shrubs and perennials chosen especially for birds, bees, butterflies and other beneficials. Other offerings include herb and vegetable seedlings in spring; garlic, garlic braids and seasonal decorations in fall; cut flowers and foliage for special events and every day; customized steel hoops, floating row cover and greenhouse-grade plastic for all-season plant protection; and tools for the garden, field and woodland.
Open by appointment.
Contact: 246 Young’s Hill Road, Washington, ME 04574; 207-845-2140; crystallake.me
Lincoln County
The 180-acre Beau Chemin Preservation Farm emphasizes conservation of rare livestock, raising you-pick berries and practicing sustainable farming. They sell wool from three endangered breeds of sheep and work with fiber year-round. Organic, you-pick raspberries and grapes, several seldom-grown varieties of berries, and species pelargoniums are available in season. Learn about their farming and felting practices, 210-year-old house and 180-year-old barn, and antique spinning wheels and loom. You’re welcome to walk their trail to Havener Pond, about a mile round trip. A bird list is available.
It’s a working farm, so please contact before your visit.
Directions: Finntown Road goes south off Rt. 1 in Warren. The intersection is 4 miles east of Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro, and 1.7 miles west of the Warren intersection of Rt. 90/Rt 1. Beau Chemin Preservation Farm is 3.2 miles south of Rt. 1.
Contact: 1749 Finntown Road, Waldoboro, ME 04572; Jo Ann Myers: 207-691-8164 or [email protected]; Wayne Myers: 207-596-1161 or [email protected]; beaucheminpreservationfarm.com
Waldo County
At 3 Streams Farm in Belfast, visit the pollarded fodder trees, smell aromatic tree
silages, meet their draft cow and work sow, and be led by browsing goats to sensitive
fern, buckthorn and harvested tree branches. Plus taste leafy cow and goat milk, and sample aged wheels of grass-fed cheese.
Monday, July 5, 10 a.m. Please leave a voicemail if you plan to come: 207-338-3301. Limit of 6 individuals or families. Bring masks.
Directions: Halfway between Jesse Robbins Road and the big power line. Look for a black mailbox #209 on the north side of the road, with wide wooden gate, probably open. Follow the gravel drive.
Contact: 209 Back Belmont Road, Belfast, ME 04915; Shana Hanson at 207-338-3301; 3streamsfarmbelfastme.blogspot.com
At Farr Homestead visitors can learn about chicken breeding using broody hens instead of incubators, mid-scale gardening with minimal equipment and young orchard management. Their homestead kitchen work includes sourdough breadmaking and canning jam, jelly, vegetables and more.
Saturday, July 10, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please RSVP before your visit, so workshops on sourdough baking and canning can be planned accordingly.
Directions: From Unity, take Rt. 220 North/ Rt. 202 East into Troy. Turn left (north) onto Barker Road. The road takes a hard bend to the right, then another bend back to the left, and the homestead is at the second bend, 2.5 miles north of 202, on the left/west side of the road.
Contact: 448 Barker Road, Troy, ME 04987; Steve and Kari Farr at 207-948-6055; farrhomestead.com
The Trotochaud/McDowell Gardens and Everyday Pottery Studio in Belmont will hold its annual pottery sale and garden tour on Aug. 7 and 8. With a goal of creating a sustainable, organic garden, Mary Trotochaud and Rick McDowell have established numerous fruit, vegetable and flower beds that include cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, rhubarb, raspberries, figs, breadseed poppy, and hazelberts, as well as cherry, peach, apple, apricot, pear and plum trees. A romantic but sturdy grape arbor supports five varieties of grapes. See also a fire pit, a pizza oven, a well-designed chicken coop and a reflecting pool with a small fountain. (Trotochaud is a long-time donor to the MOFGA-El Salvador Sistering Committee’s Empty Bowl Supper.)
Saturday, Aug. 7 and Sunday Aug. 8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Open other days by chance or appointment.
Directions: From the intersection of the Rt. 1 bypass and Rt. 52 in Belfast, take Rt. 52 5 miles to Ryan Road. Turn right on Ryan Road (which becomes Northport Road) and go about 2 miles. Signs for Everyday Pottery are on Rt. 52 and at the house.
Contact: 103 Northport Road, Belmont, ME 04952; 207-342-2251; [email protected]; marytrotochaud.com
