Commerical Farms (Auburn, Eliot, Madison: sales, houses, high school)

[RHB]

I'm looking for commerical farms in Maine. I know there is Backyard Farms in Madison. I know there are potatoes in the county. I know we have blueberries, but don't know a farmer/company that grows them. What else do we have?

What I'm doing is trying to put together a Maine Farm Tour for work. I just got back from a farm tour in MA. and would like for next years tour to be in Maine.

[maineguy8888]

There are many large growers in the County. I can recommend some good old ones (lots of history) if you'd like.
Also, there are several huge broccoli growers up here as well. I can give you names for those too.
Come when the colors are really impressive here..........fields of forest green, to neon yellow, to white and pink potato blossoms, to rich golden wheat, to bright green, to brilliant red buckwheat, etc. etc. It's a real tapestry.

[Maineah]

Bell Farms in Auburn. They grow tons of potatoes for market right here in Southern Maine. They grow a chef's potato used by a large number of restaurants in the area. The sell a huge amount of potatoes to Walmart, Hannaford, Shaws and always at their farm stand in Auburn just over the Durham line on rte 136. The have the best sweet corn around, beans, squash, beets, and many other vegetables. Plus they're nice people.

[RMoore007]

Moore's Vegetable Farm in Norridgewock on the Madison road. He's my uncle. The farms been there on the Kennebec for a century or more.

[Maine Writer]

Get Real Get Maine. If you're interested in hearing about winter production you can come here. I'll be doing tours for the Farm To School program (I supply two elementary and one high school) about that time too. I have 2.500 sq ft of unheated high tunnels that I'm in the process of filling now and thousands of square feet under low tunnels for fall/winter/spring. I'm not set up for winter in September but I can be in the small high tunnel and can have the low tunnels and cold frames set up. The field looks like it's covered with huge caterpillars. It's not big but I produce a lot of food when most other produce farms are asleep for the winter.

[Nor'Eastah]

Definitely you should check out Four Seasons Farm run by Eliot Coleman and his wife Barbara Damrosch, both of whom are authors of excellent gardening books. They are located on 5 acres in Harborside, Cape Rosier (about 2/3 of the way up the coast). Four Seasons Farm specializes in winter production under greenhouses and tunnels, much like Maine Writer is doing. They use intensive organic methods and Eliot's books are a good read, such as the Winter Harvest Handbook. They supply many restaurants in the greater Boston area, and run their own farm stand, as well.

Good stuff! And excellent inspiration for would-be Maine farmers, like me!

[Maine Writer]

Are you sure Eliot is supplying restaurants in Boston? He has, or had until very recently had, a 30 mile limit on sales because he follows through on his 'buy local' beliefs. He has only 1.5 acres in production. I think he'd have a hard time supplying locally and Boston.

[Nor'Eastah]

I can only go by what he wrote in some of his earlier books, which may be quite dated. Yes, he does supply locally but I know he has many employees and and an extensive packing operation using wooden packing crates with his farm name on them. That stuff is NOT for his farmstand. He may well be supplying only local Maine restaurants now, and local Maine grocers. The info on restaurants in the Boston area may well be dated.

If he is only farming 1-1/2 acres, he is backing that up with field crops such as alfalfa, rye, hairy vetch, and such, perhaps on nearby rented land. He composts the cuttings and adds them to his soils - in and out of the green/hoop houses - along with seaweed and rock dusts.

It's really quite an operation, and I'd love to go up there and check it out for myself. As you can tell, I really get into those books of his! As I said, good stuff!

[RHB]

Thank you all, I forgot about the broccoli up north. I was hoping, MW, that you would volunteer to show us your place.
I'll start putting together a proposal and see where we end up!

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by Nor'Eastah

I can only go by what he wrote in some of his earlier books, which may be quite dated. Yes, he does supply locally but I know he has many employees

He doesn't. He has a couple of seasonal interns but none in the winter now. He doesn't produce in the winter like he used to. I

and and an extensive packing operation using wooden packing crates with his farm name on them.

I took pics when I was there the first time. I think they're probably on the old laptop. I'm outside with my wicked cute new puppy but I'll find them when I go in. I think you're envisioning more than what it really is. He has the boxes, had a branding iron made and....that's it. That's all there is to it. I do the same thing he does - drop off the current delivery and pick up from the last delivery. They're stacked in the slightly heated tunnel where the sink and salad spinner are when they're not in use.

That stuff is NOT for his farmstand.

He doesn't need it for the farmstand since the farmstand is a 20 second walk from the sink.

If he is only farming 1-1/2 acres, he is backing that up with field crops such as alfalfa, rye, hairy vetch, and such, perhaps on nearby rented land. He composts the cuttings and adds them to his soils - in and out of the green/hoop houses - along with seaweed and rock dusts.

Not farming 1.5 acres, that's what he uses for produce. He added a few head of cattle and some ducks in 2008. He does grow greens for his compost pile. The compost "bin" is made of hay bales. When they start to break down they're broken up and turned into the pile.

It's really quite an operation, and I'd love to go up there and check it out for myself. As you can tell, I really get into those books of his! As I said, good stuff!

It's worth the trip. When he invited me out to see the farm he graciously allowed me to invite a friend...from Kentucky. I was sick to my stomach for the first 15-20 minutes because she'd flown in from KY to see this and I kept thinking "that's all there is?" I thought she'd wasted her time at first. After the initial 'oh crap' worry faded it started to really sink in. That is all there is and that's a good thing because it's so very simple that anyone willing to get through the learning curve can do it. The last time I was there he was using low tunnels and had just had the tunnel that's on wheels and a track built. The moving tunnel allows him to cover 6,000 sq ft a year with a 1,000 sq ft tunnel. Very cool. And now I want one...