Meet MOFGA Volunteer Steph Grant

Summer 2025
By Betsy Garrold

Photo credit: Steph Grant

My mother always said, "If you want something done, ask a busy person." This wisdom certainly holds true when talking about Steph Grant, the volunteer Sheep & Goat Barn coordinator at the Common Ground Country Fair. When we spoke, Grant was in the midst of lambing and kidding season at her Hawthorn and Thistle Farmstead. Eighteen kids had already arrived. "Babies get fed 2 a.m., 8 a.m., 2 p.m., and 8 p.m., and they get pretty mad if I’m late,” she wrote in an email. She was still waiting on 10 expectant ewes most of whom, being of the heritage breed Jacobs, will throw twins. A busy spring indeed.

And as for asking a busy person to do something, the Common Ground Country Fair steering committee was obviously following that philosophy when they called Grant four years ago, out of the blue, asking if she would like to coordinate the barns. Her reply was, "Heck yeah!" Grant says that she had been trying to find a way to participate more in the Fair for years and this was a golden opportunity for her. She had tried vending her fiber but found that being part of running the livestock barns was much more to her taste. The first year she was at the Fair full time, her partner Will dropped everything to help. He assisted all day in the livestock area then drove home to Washington, Maine, every night to do the chores at both their farms.

Common Ground Country Fair Director April Boucher says, "Steph’s dedication and care has filled the Sheep & Goat Barn with amazing farmer educators from a variety of age groups. She also provided vital perspective and numbers when we were working on our livestock premiums to make exhibiting at the Fair more sustainable for our farmers."

Grant feels very strongly that everyone should know where their food and fiber comes from. "What you put on your body is as important as what you put in it." This belief led to her involvement on the board of directors of the Maine Fiber Shed, a two-year-old nonprofit working to promote the fiber producers and artists in Maine. Having been a fiber artist for over 23 years, Grant is dedicated to supporting this branch of Maine farming.

As if her ever-expanding herd of sheep and fiber goats is not enough, Grant is branching out into training some of her goats as pack animals. She already uses her animals for multiple purposes: fiber, dairy, and meat. Her partner had started doing a selective breeding program to develop his own personal breed of hardy goats adapted well to the climate of Maine. They are training these as pack goats and taking them on hiking adventures.

Grant's farmstead also provides some crops. She gave up her off-farm jobs to concentrate on raising enough meat, cheese, and vegetables to support herself and her partner. And, in her spare time, she is experimenting with fiber plants like flax and cotton. Because we all need a little color in our lives, she has also started raising dye plants such as madder, indigo, coreopsis, marigolds, pansies, and Hopi dye sunflower.

As Mom said, ask a busy person. Grant certainly epitomizes that old adage.