Heide
As a vegetarian for the better part of two decades, I have a lot of strong feelings about the meat and dairy industries. Long story short; I'm no longer a vegetarian, we began this farm as a way to produce sustainable, nutritious, humanely raised food that we can feel good about eating and sharing with you. I didn't come from a background in farming, I was an OB nurse, breastfeeding educator, nutritionist and finally a homeschooling mom. I came to farming from a deep seeded need to be a part of the food I ate and fed to my family. I want a relationship with our food that is based on reciprocity and respect. I need to give back to the earth and the animals that produce our food, to be a part of the circle. I love the life that farming offers, there is no place I'd rather be than outside in the fields and woods. We don't come from a long line of farmers, but I hope we'll be the first of many.
When not focused on the farm and restaurant, I enjoy walking on our trails in our woods with our 3 border collies, reading, bike riding and spending quiet time with family and friends.
Greg
In my 20’s, I never chose “easy” jobs to support myself. In college, I worked for a large scale lobstering firm out of Portsmouth, NH. On tough days, I remind myself that no job I’ve ever done since that summer of lobstering off the Grand Banks will ever be as emotionally or physically as hard. Or as dangerous. Or smell as bad….let me tell you, a week at sea with no shower and rotting fish bait as your cologne…ripe.
When Heide and I started our family we made the conscious decision to be a single income household so that one of us could be home with our son Guthrie. It was at this time that I decided to get a “real job” which led to 13 years working for the credit card banks of MBNA and Bank of America in Belfast, ME. I worked hard in the various roles I had, but never achieved great financial success nor felt any personal success. But it was a means to an end, and as our family grew with the arrival of our son Oliver in 2003, my job at the bank allowed us to stay true to our original mission. While not physically challenging, it was emotionally challenging beyond what I could imagine. In an effort to try to stay true to a bit of myself, I didn’t cut off my long hair and went to work every day in a suit and tie with a ponytail. What a rebel.
Fast forward to 2014. We knew it was time to make a change. Without Heide’s encouragement I’d never have left the security of my job to move towards farming. Despite having almost no savings, no safety net, I quit my job. One of the biggest decisions of my adult life.
Our adventure into farming has been a gradual one, neither Heide or I coming from farming family backgrounds. I've discovered as we have started on this journey together that farming provides me with the purpose that I've long been searching for. Being outdoors, working with animals and the land, improving a place and learning to adapt to all that nature has to offer; both challenging and rewarding, are all parts of what make farming enjoyable for me. The sense of place and community that goes along with farming is also very fulfilling. Knowing that our efforts will in turn provide our family and our community with wholesome food is very rewarding. I share Heide's sentiment in the hope that ours will be the first of many future family generations to embrace all the challenges and rewards that farming has to offer.
When not working, I enjoy all things related to cycling, be it on a mountain bike, gravel bike, road bike or fat bike…and when not cycling I enjoy working on our trails here on the farm. I like walks in our woods with Heide too, but she’s a fast walker and I struggle to keep up.
Guthrie & Oliver
Our two sons, ages 23 and 21 have come to the farming life later than we both hoped, and we often wish they had been exposed to all the farm has to offer at younger ages, but both our boys have come to appreciate and participate in the farm. Guthrie works with us in the farm to table restaurant as well as various farm tasks, and Oliver assists with a variety of farm projects in addition to his off farm job. Whenever an extra set of hands are needed, we can count on our boys.