Wow, has time passed us by as we have been busily working away on the farm and missed over two years of progress updates. Well, let us get you up to speed, here goes for a really quick recap of what our last few seasons have brought us…

In 2016 we continued to grow our goat herd and gave guinea hogs a try as well. We bred the goats for 2017, enjoyed a very successful and adorable kidding season and ended the year with the end of our goat husbandry days. The goats were a wonderful addition to our farm while we had them but did not fit into a sustainable system on our farm.

Speaking of wonderful critters on the farm, in 2016 we also added our best farm companion yet, Charcoal. Charcoal works on the farm as primary herder, guardian, chicken catcher and napper!

In 2016 Anna’s parents also moved up to Maine and purchased the old Schartner Farm in Thorndike, now known as Mueller’s Fruit Farm. We market together at our various Mount Desert Island farmers markets to sell our vegetables with their fruit. They also have a farm store in Thorndike, right off of Route 220, open throughout the season.

So, what about the vegetables, the perennials and the rest of the farm?!

The vegetables are as delicious, fresh and unsprayed as ever! We have expanded into 3 acres of production and continue to grow new potatoes, baby carrots, greens, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, alliums and kohl crops. As we have continued to grow these crops we are finding our favorite varieties and limiting ourselves to those as we begin to embark on our new value-added endeavor of seed saving, both for the farm and to sell.

We have continued to plant perennials as we plan for the future including a couple of high-bush blueberry patches, a heritage apple orchard and more to come. We added another adjoining 5 acres to the farm in 2016 of shrubby wooded land, which the pigs worked to clean up a bit. We plan to plant a peach grove on its northern slope and are in the process of planting a cherry orchard as well. The future sounds sweet, fruity and succulent.

Where are we now? We are in another long cold spring, itching to get out into the fields and get going. March certainly did come in like a lion but did not leave like a lamb…as we wait we prep what we can and get our hands dirty wherever possible. We have exciting plans for this season including new product lines, more family hands on the farm and less baaahh-ing distractions!