By Tim King In 2024, 82% of American households purchased organic produce, according to an impact report issued by the Transition to Organic Partnership Program last year. The report states that the percentage will continue to increase and that demand has “consistently outpaced domestic production capacity” for organic. TOPP was founded by the U.S. Department
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin Farmers Rhiannon Hampson and Gregg Stiner joined the longstanding agricultural tradition of Thomaston, Maine, in 2018 when they closed on their 80-acre farm off coastal Route 1, close to the St. George River. They were told that the site of what is now their Grace Pond Farm has been farmed since the
By Tim King The Kearsarge Food Hub, in Bradford, New Hampshire, will celebrate its 10th year in 2025. Since its founding as Sweet Beet Farm a decade ago it has been transforming the concept of what a food hub is. Many food hubs center their activities on being what the United States Department of Agriculture
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin Possibilities greet customers as they step into Replenova Farm’s store and take-out counter on busy Route 136 in Durham, Maine. And they change with the seasons. In the summer, there are cucumbers to pickle, jars of fresh local strawberry jam ready to be slathered onto a slice of freshly baked bread, and
By Martha Leggat, Growing to Give Education Coordinator If you arrive at Growing to Give early enough on a summer morning, you’ll find a quiet moment to savor the brilliant purple amaranth, the 6-foot-tall sunflowers, and the dahlias of every color and variety. You’ll observe contrasting rows of companion-planted vegetables filling the garden beds and
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin Opening a Bixby Chocolate bar reveals an intricate work of art — an octopus stretching out each of its long undulating arms in search of a book. A replica of Bixby owner Kate McAleer’s great-great-grandparents’ Victorian-era etched book plate, the image is a metaphor for McAleer, who is likewise reaching in all
Frinklepod Farm, known for its commitment to organic farming and community engagement, is thrilled to be sharing their farm in a new partnership, as of 2024, with Stephanie McDonough, founder and director of Farm to Table Kids camp, expanding their already diverse farm offerings. The collaboration aims to provide children with a hands-on experience in
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin “We built a bar right over the manure gutter. It’s still a little mind-blowing. I’m only just now not seeing it as a milking pattern. I still half expect to see cows when I walk in,” says Heide Purinton-Brown of Toddy Pond Farm in the rolling hills of Monroe, Maine. For nearly
By Tim King Among the stone walls, forests and fields on Oak Hill Road in Litchfield, Maine, a herd of 20 Nubian-Alpine goats turn browse and pasture into fresh milk, which Aaron Grim and Briis Wile turn into award-winning organic cheese. As one might expect of a cheesemaker, Grim loves talking about cheese. MOFGA-certified Cosmic
By Jennifer Wilhelm New England is not currently known for its grain production. Due to topography and climate, growing grains — particularly small grains like oat, wheat and rye — has more recently been left to the Midwest, where land is flat and open. The forested and mountainous landscape in New England, including an abundance
