Wolfe's Neck Farm Blog

Field Production Assistant (Freeport )

Wolfe's Neck Farm is accepting applications for a Field Production Assistant for the 2013 season. The Field Production Assistant's primary responsibility will be to work daily with our Teen Agricultural Crew, a group of local teenagers hired to learn about farming, raising livestock and cultivating vegetables on an acre of preserved farmland. This position will focus on vegetable production and requires an ability to balance productivity and youth education. This person will work closely with a livestock intern and the Teen Ag Crew Coordinator to facilitate an empowering experience for local youth and supply fresh produce to our community.

Wolfe's Neck Farm is looking for a multifaceted employee with previous farming experience, a passion for working with youth and a commitment to community education. Successful applicants will have had previous experience growing crops; from garden planning to harvest and handling. The produce will be grown for food pantries, local markets, and direct sale. Candidates must be willing to work outdoors in unpredictable weather. Qualifications include being organized, a clear communicator, an ability to work independently, and the capacity to effectively organize others.

The Field Production Assistant will be expected to work full time 5 days a week. A valid driver's license is required and independent transportation is helpful. The position will run May 15th through October 1st; however, specific dates are negotiable given the right candidate. In addition to paid compensation there is the opportunity for an independent growing space.

This is an opportunity to plan and implement a productive garden while inspiring teens to work hard, grow and have fun.

Wolfe's Neck Farm is a non-profit on preserved coastal farmland with a tradition of sustainable agriculture, recreation and education. You can learn more about the Teen Agricultural Crew at www.wolfesneckfarm.org and by visiting our facebook page www.facebook.com/TeenAgriculture.

Please send your resume along with a cover letter to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it above or mail to 184 Burnett Rd. Freeport, ME 04032.

Wolfe's Neck Farm
184 Burnett Rd
Freeport, Maine 04032

Wolfe’s Neck Farm depends on the help of capable and reliable volunteers throughout the year to help at events, cover daily chores around the barn, do gardening and landscaping, trail maintenance, site clean-up and special projects. Anyone interested in volunteering at Wolfe’s Neck Farm this year is encouraged to attend a welcome and orientation on Saturday, May 18th from 10:30-noon. Current, past and prospective volunteers are encouraged to take part.

Attendees will have an opportunity to meet members of the Wolfe’s Neck Farm staff, learn about the various opportunities to volunteer throughout the year at the farm and take part in short breakout session where we’ll discuss the specifics including safety considerations, dates, skills and more. Anyone taking part in the session will be treated to a BBQ lunch compliments of the farm. 

If you wish to attend, please fill out our online "Volunteer Interest Form" in advance by clicking here: http://bit.ly/10sKTvm If you have already completed one, please send us a quick email so we can get you on the list. 

Note: Our Plant Sale will be going on the same morning, from 9-1!

TALES OF THE NECK

The first Europeans to visit these waters were probably Scandinavian fishermen, who could make the northern transit of the Atlantic and never be more than a few hundred miles from shore. John and Sebastian Cabot, five years after Columbus, passed through and charted Casco Bay on their way from Nova Scotia to the Carolinas. By 1602, when Bartholomew Gosnold arrived at Cape Neddick, his presence was considered by the Indians to be less than remarkable. John Bereton, the chronicler of the voyage, wrote:

"One who seemed to be their commander wore a coat of black work, a pair of breeches, cloth stockings, shoes, hat and band.... They spoke divers Christian words and seemed to understand more than we, for lack of language, could comprehend...They pronounced our language with great facility; for one of them sitting by me, upon occasion I spake smilingly to him with these words: How now sirha are you so saucy with my tobacco, which words (without any further repetition) he suddenly spake so plaine and distinctly as if he had been a long scholar in the language."

As far back as 1524, Giovanni da Verrazano, arriving to the west of Casco Bay near Ogunquit, got a reception from the Indians that suggested possible previous contact with Europeans. The Indians insisted on standing on a cliff and trading with Verrazano's crew by use of a rope. "We found no courtesy in them," Verrazano complained. Worse they rounded out the transaction by "showing their buttocks and laughing immoderately."

Captain John Smith may have been the first person to put in writing the attraction the Maine coast would have to centuries of later arrivals:

"Here are no hard landlords to racke us with high rents; no tedious pleas in law to consume us with their many years deputations for Justice; no multitudes to occasion such impediments to good order, as in the popuar States. So freely hath God in his Majesty bestowed his blessing on them that will attempt to obtaine them as here every man may be master and owner of his own labor and land; or the greatest part in a small time."

Recent archeological work suggests that the Indians first came to these parts as early as 8,000 years ago. Beginning in 1675 they retrieved much of the land along the western Maine coast from the European usurpers in a series of bloody clashes that were part of King Philip's War. By 1703 there were no European settlers east of York County. Although King Philip's War doesn't get much attention, it was actually the most costly American war based on the percent of male casualties among the colonists. Not until 1715 did Europeans return to these parts and reassert old land claims settled by a committee in Massachusetts.

As late as 1870 Indians summered on Great Chebeague Island. But they were long gone by the time we arrived although for many years you could still find some of their shell heaps. The past was everywhere on the neck, but it was not the musty, stuffy past of ancestors staring down at you in the candlelight, but the past of Indians, of an Italian stone masons' shack paneled in pieces of packing crates, strange rusty iron tools in the barn, and a broken sign in the attic that read, BEWARE THE FIERCE LAMB resting near boxes of stationery and mailing tags from a long forgotten fish company.

Greetings Loyal Gardeners,

Now is the best time to dig up and divide those perennials.  And those plants that you don't keep for another spot in your garden, or don't give to a neighbor, we would LOVE to have for the Farm's Plant sale on Saturday, May 18  from 9 AM to 1 PM.   Digging them a couple of weeks before the sale insures that they won't be showing any " transplant shock "  If you need pots for them,  I've put plenty behind  Tool Thyme Garden Shed.  If you need some compost for them, there's a pile next to the shed.

The day before the Plant Sale - Friday, May 17 -  will be "Pricing Day."  All your donations should be brought to the Farm by then - labeled with name, color of flower, sun or shade, etc.

We are looking for  "helpers" for both days.  Please call Linda at 865-6916

Rain barrels are one of the easiest sustainable living projects to implement.  With about 5 minutes of set up, you've provided yourself a constant supply of free water.  With a bit more investment of time and money, you can even set up a nifty drip irrigation system, feeding water directly to your gardens.  We've seen it done–unfortunately, our garden is uphill from our house so we haven’t made that happen on our own property yet.  Anyway, there are a variety of rain barrels on the market.  We sell only one kind, Jack’s Rain Barrel.

We like this one because it is made out of a reclaimed food barrel, previously filled with olives or pickles or something along those lines.  So, no additional plastic created, and lots of plastic diverted from the landfill.   It’s easy to install–simply lop off your gutter at the appropriate height and set on a cinder block (or other raised item that allows you access to the spigot).  That long black tube hanging off is important–that’s your overflow tube.  Make sure you direct that tube somewhere away from your foundation (that’s what the greenish thing on the ground is for in the picture on the right.)  Rain barrels will collect an astonishing amount of water in very little time.  A half-inch rainfall will easily fill this 55 gallon barrel.  If you want to calculate exactly how much you could collect on your own roof, the general rule of thumb is during a 1 inch rainfall, you can get 1/2 gallon per square foot of roof.  We have never managed to empty our rain barrel, no matter how much we water the garden and the chickens and rinse muddy hands and feet.  Of course, we live in New England, where drought is not often an issue.  In more arid climates, multiple rain barrels would be a wise decision.  Or consider rainwater harvesting, which is a more in depth process that is a phenomenal solution for capturing, diverting, and storing water, especially effective in dry areas or areas with so much water it is impacting your residence.  Brad Lancaster is an inspiring researcher, author and practitioner of rainwater harvesting, and his website has tons of resources as well as his books.  Texas A & M has also done a lot of work on the practice.

Whether you’re on a well or city water, in a dry climate or wet one, a gardener of an acre or just a couple pots, rain barrels make sense.  Fresh water is a renewable resource, but not an infinite one.  If we can capture just a bit of the rain that falls naturally and use it directly where we need it, with no energy or filtering cost, why wouldn't we?

Hey There,

So, you know, the grass is growing. Somehow it all got green again.

Just some quick farm things:

We have three-week-old broilers growing in the barn. This week we’ll be getting 50 more. “Freedom Rangers”, they’re a respectable breed that is much better at foraging and looking like chickens and just generally staying alive.  Soon you’ll see them out on pasture. Eric and I are running a series of ‘grow your own broiler’ classes. Woot.

We’re getting some Aldermere belties this week.

The ground is getting compost spread on it today! And I've begun tilling.

You've all seen the gorgeous greenhouse that Chuck and Matt put up. So so much gratitude to them. There are starts in there that are starting to start… It’s a start. Here we go.

Bunnies moved to their summer home. The two littler ones are handleable… if you want to handle them. They also would love your left over veggies.

Old chickens moved outside and have found ways to find ways all ways over the barn. They'll be going to their new home soon.

New layers are gorgeous and still have a little bit before they lay. But they’ll be getting outside access soon.

Goats are good and kids are milking. Human kids that is.

Sheep are shorn. Some of them are bagging up (e.g. their udders filling) so we may have some lambs sooner rather than later. Anticipated starting may and going throughout. We’ll see. Little lambikins acoming!

We have a great little Plant Sale coming up soon - May 18th.  Great way to get your landscaping tuned up with Maine-hardy perennials.  Looking forward to Spring Fest now as well.  Saturday the first of June - we'll have lots of great activities for "kids" of all ages.

That’s the it of it.

Happy Earth Day.

-Kaitlyn

Today, the CSG girls all participated in helpful tasks around the barn of Wolfe's Neck Farm.  By helping the farm today we, in a sense, helped the community at large by contributing to the progress of sustainable farming. Nothing feels better than lending a helping hand to our neighbors. We took action and left the farm house at around 9:45 this morning, in our muck boots, work gloves, and grubby clothes, ready to go help out with tending the animals and such. When we got there, Kaitlin, a Teen Ag. Coordinator who works at the farm, introduced us to the flow of life in a public farm and what the animals there are used for in the cases of farm business and other purposes. There were numerous jobs that we had planned to accomplish such as cleaning out the chicken coops and empty spaces, transporting hay in wheelbarrows, and moving the bunnies out of the barn out to the designated summer home which required us to move the house they were living in in the barn out and clean out all the excess hay and such.

Within the group, we all split up into teams and groups so that we could distribute the jobs and efficiency of work, occasionally joining other jobs when unoccupied. Overall, we definitely managed to keep ourselves all occupied. Dividing jobs based on volunteering was a good example of community as a cornerstone because we worked together. We shoveled and cleaned out the empty space of the bunnies previous location and wheel-barrowed it out to where the cows were hanging out. Some of us took on other jobs, such as getting the chickens out of the chicken coop and outside, removing the fenced in walls for more work space, mucking out the old hay with pitchforks, shoveling out the hardened excrement and shipping it all out (in multiple trips) by wheelbarrow. Also, we scooped up the loose hay where the horses and cows were and put it in their pins to freshen it up.

One of the challenges we dealt with today was facing messy conditions such as manure and mud. But, keeping a good attitude while facing such conditions made the work light and extremely fun. While at the farm we were able to spend some time with the goats. Holding the baby goats was also definitely a high point for many. Along with holding baby goats we helped milk the mama goat. This was a learning experience for all of use and was enjoyed by all. It helped us all develop a new sense of gratitude to small scale sustainable farmers. We saw today just a little of the large effort they put forth to make our world a better place. These fun activities were a bit smelly and grubby but the experience of being part of such a lively environment was appreciated greatly. Not only did we help the farm with their work ,but they helped us learn what it means to thrive off a sustainable farm.

By: Olivia and Kayla

I was sitting at the breakfast table this morning getting ready to start a new week (and a new month…) and enjoying a typical breakfast of cereal with fruit, OJ and, of course, coffee.  As I read through my online version of today’s Portland Press Herald I was taken back to read about the growing number of Mainers who are straining to put food on the table.  An estimated 200,000 Maine people go hungry each day…..many of them seniors and children.  Then I came to the line about how many seniors have come to consider fresh fruits and vegetables a luxury item.  This one really hurts.  These are not luxury items….these are basic necessities.  Not only are they basic necessities but fresh fruits and vegetables are vital to healthy eating and good nutrition.  Without good nutrition and preventative care our healthcare costs go up, financial challenges ensue and many Mainers are right back where they started: hungry.

It’s days like these that make me proud to work for an organization doing what we can to teach Maine people about where their food comes from AND to help make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible to residents in need.  Last year, our Teen Ag program grew and donated more than 4,000 lbs of fresh produce to Freeport Community Services and to the Brunswick Food Pantry.  Our goal is to double this number in 2013.  You can help us achieve this goal by becoming a member (or renewing your membership) and by attending our upcoming Sustainable Soiree’ (silent and live auction) on April 27^th at Freeport’s Harraseeket Inn.  Another way we are trying to help fight hunger in Maine is by hosting this year’s Taste of the Nation Maine event.  You can learn more about the Taste event here.

Spring is in the air! The snow is melting, streams are running full, birds are singing, and there’s a exhilarating quality to the air that you only find this time of year.  Which means that it is a good time to start staking out all those areas ripe for growing your favorite wild edible foods!

Your backyard can be the first place to check, things like dandelion, evening primrose, plantain , blue violet, and coltsfoot can be found growing in most everyone’s yard.  Keep an eye on wet areas and stream beds for signs of fiddleheads, eye roadsides for patches of the invasive Japanese knotweed (the young shoots can be eaten like asparagus), remember where you see wild apple trees blossoming to come back an check for fruit in the fall, and note areas with oak stands as possible places to find mushrooms later on, when the weather turns warm.  Once you get into wild foraging it is amazing the bounty that is available throughout the growing season and into the fall.  But, it is very important to remember to be careful and only eat things that you are 100% sure you can identify so that you do not make yourself sick.  With wild foraging it is best to learn a few wild edible items very well and just stick with those for a while and then expand your foraging as you become more confident in your ability to identify plants.  Another important thing to remember with wild foraged food it to wash it very well, most likely it has been exposed to a multitude of natural surface bacteria and you want to make sure you aren’t exposed to anything that could lead to illness.  If you would like to learn more about wild foraging we highly recommend Tom Seymour’sWild Plants of Maine, it is a great guide, laid out by season with helpful photos and even some recipes in the back.  We are especially fond of the book because it is specific to Maine, making the entire contents relevant to the interested Maine forager.  Another good book for the wild forager is Foraged Flavor by Tama Matsuoka Wong with Eddy Leroux, this book focuses more attention on preparing and cooking with wild edibles, offering pages and pages of mouth watering recipes.  If you need a little inspiration to get you started on your wild foraging path watch this short Youtube book trailer forForaged Flavor.  We were inspired, we think you will be too!

Click here for more Shift of Maine Blog posts

What would your kids do if they had $100 saved up?  Maybe they’d buy a couple of video games, or some other electronic toy?  Zach (12) and Isaac (8) had about that much money saved up between them, but they came up with a very unique plan for their stashed savings.  After one of their very first trips to Wolfe’s Neck Farm, they learned that individual donations and memberships were very important to helping the farm to grow and operate.  So they decided the farm needed their money more than they did.  The two boys brought their money to their parents and explained that they wanted to donate it to Wolfe’s Neck Farm.  Somewhat surprised, their parents helped them to fill out a donation envelope and send it off.  The boys didn’t seek any recognition for their donation.

This touching story only came to light by chance when the family was randomly picked as winners of one of our Turkey Raffles.  Only after they found out why the family had been entered in the raffle in the first place, (every member is automatically entered) was the story shared by Mrs. Flood.

Isaac is now an active member of our Barns and Pastures 4-H club and Zach enjoys visiting as often as he is able to.  Both boys were here visiting the farm, and were able to watch the birth of our second set of goat twins this past week.  Just yesterday I had a chance to ask them why they wanted to give their money to the farm, Isaac replied “I like to care for the animals and on the farm…I wanted to help the farm get more animals, goats.”  Zach informed me that he wanted to help a “local entity, felt the need to support it, to help the community.”

From all of us at Wolfe’s Neck Farm, Thank you Zach and Isaac! Your generosity and thoughtful selflessness has helped to bring those new goats to the farm for the rest of the community to enjoy. And thank you to all the rest of you who are equally as generous with your contributions, we couldn't meet or mission and our goals to the extent that we do without your support.

Eric Tadlock,
Director of Education

GARDEN RAMBLINGS

by Linda Swanson, Head Gardener

Even though it's FREEZING outside and there is fresh snow on the ground, our thoughts are on colorful flowers and the sweet smell of soil...  Yes, Spring will be here before you know it, so we want to be ready! Where can you work outdoors in a more beautiful setting than the Wolfe's Neck Farm?  The smell of green pastures mixed with ocean breezes, animals all around, beautiful barns, a classic old farmhouse, and surrounded by lots of friends.  You just can't beat it!!!  The following list will remind you of all that we do here at the Farm to keep it looking so beautiful and so well-cared-for.

GARDEN CHAIRMEN for Summer 2013

Coleen's Garden - Julie Nisbet
Farmhouse Landscape - Barbara Caldwell
Flower Barrels - Jeanne Kinney
Center Garden - Kathy Smith
Blueberry Patches - Judy Higbea
2 small Cutting Gardens - Melisa Walker and Erica Skolnekovich
Mr. McGregor's Garden - Eric's AG students
Kindergarden - Eric's campers
Gourd Gardens - Eric's AG students
West Bay Garden - Gang of 3
Animal Names Garden - Gang of 3
All Recompence Gardens - Gang of 3

"Gang of 3" =  Libby Rosquette, Judy Parkhill, Jeanne Kinney

United Day of Caring Workshop in Thursday, May 16th 9-3 - Jane Danielson

Master Gardeners' Workshop May 11th 9-1 - Jane Danielson

WNF Plant Sale in May 18th 9-1 -Tim Lewis (co-chair needed!)

Our Plant Sale each May is lots of fun, we always have a lot of donations from our friends' gardens, we already have volunteers to "work the sale", and it's a very big fundraiser for the Farm.   So would anyone like to help us out and chair this worthwhile event?  Please call me (Linda) if you have any questions about it.   865-6916

It's snowing, gusting 40mph outside, and feels like 3 degrees... the tractor’s warm, the chicks are sleeping and the cats are sprinting between buildings.

Basically, it’s perfect.

Especially now that I’m inside.

This morning I was feeding our gorgeous goats on the stanchion… (trying to get them trained.) Both gals are getting bigger, their bulges especially pronounced on the right side where the babes typically hang out. Eyes closed, I was able to feel the bumping of tiny goats inside both girls.

So…

again,

basically,

it’s perfect.

Salix and Ari  (the goats) are sweet, they are beautiful, and getting used to our routine. During our recent “Members Meet and Greet” they stood calm and let many little kid hands pet their first goat. The goats are due to kid this next month. Being a mix of Alpine Saanaen and Oberhasli, and bred by a Nubian buck, I can’t wait to see what goofy perfect kids they have. If you need an endorphin fix before winter is over, you’ll have to visit the tiny goats when they decide to arrive. I might just start sleeping in the barn. (Haystacks, mangers, in between the sheep, under the heat lamps with the chicks… there are so many good options) I went to the grocery store a few weeks ago, and the woman at the checkout sweetly asked “Were you in a barn today?” (I looked down at my clothes guessing what gave me away…yes…) “You smell like cows.” ( …and sheep?... ) “no. just cows.” I love Maine.

In the world of other exciting tiny warm and fluffy things… we’ve just moved our 50-some chicks into the barn. These gals are set to start laying in June, so we'll be able to provide visitors with a consistent source of delicious eggs. Ken Hagar built beautiful new digs for the baby flock of layers. Seven weeks old now, they actually look like… chickens. Feet, feathers and sass. Come to the farm and you’ll see the Plymouth Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Americaunas and Silver Laced Wyandottes in the barn. We can place bets on who is the second rooster… I’m confident about the Plymouth Rock… but the Americauna rooster is eluding me. Winner gets to… eat either of the roosters if they get too sassy. Just kidding...?

Apparently it’s February. Which means that my fingers are clumsily numb and typing, my eyes are watching clouds of snow devour the barn, my sweater is full of hay, and my head is months ahead. We’re starting onions for spring planting... AND hiring for Teen Ag 2013! Check out the Employment and Internships page for full descriptions and applications. Scope out our facebook page to see how much fun we had last year. Two of last year’s crew members have been coming back, visiting and working on the farm sporadically this winter, selling the hay they harvested and stacked for the winter. So... I think that’s a good sign for the years of Teen Ag to come!

Our flock of sheep are due to lamb beginning in May. Before that, we'll be shearing the whole bunch in preparation. When the grass gets growing i'll be happy to send them out to the fields, where our Teen Ag Crew will manage their pasture rotation.

Cows. Cows. Cows. So I learned something about cows. (Actually all the time… Our farming partners at Green Bounty Farm never leave the farm without teaching me something… or a lot of somethings) We have a herd of their Angus and Belted Galloway yearlings wintering at the farm right now. Unless it’s raining they’re usually posing near the rock wall behind the barn… so on snowy days like today… well… they get snowy. And, as I learned, it’s a good sign when the snow stays atop their backs instead of melting. Pity them not. It means they’re well insulated and gaining weight the way they ought… they’re thick enough that they’re not leaking hard hay-earned body heat. So that’s something.

So...

Basically, you should:

Come into the barn. Read some Annie Dillard to our pregnant sheep. Soak up some animal joy on these cold days.

More soon,

Kaitlyn