By Lea Camille Smith Nerdy Turnip Farm, a MOFGA-certified organic operation in Rochester, New Hampshire, was born out of finding just the right space. In a difficult post-COVID market, Sam and Caleb Monohon happened upon a turnkey small farm operation in the middle of a residential area. “It was everything we had hoped for,” says
By Tim King Zoë Mason of Luna Moth Herbs cultivates a half-acre of medicinal and culinary herbs, amounting to 65 different species, in South China, Maine. Mason opened ground on a plot of leased land in the spring of 2023 after reading that 3 Level Farm was looking for people to live on the farm
By Jean English Bambi Jones and David “Tracy” Moskovitz have spent half a century improving and enlarging their farm and forest land in Whitefield, Maine. Now they have a plan to use the special place they created to motivate one or more nonprofits to increase their impact. They have invited nonprofits to think creatively about
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin It is 7,000 miles as the crow flies between Aroostook County, Maine, and Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido. Despite the distance, the two regions geographically align on a map; hold a ruler between them, and the line is nearly horizontal along the 45th parallel. Add a dot on the line at Aurora Mills
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin “When you’re at a plant sale, people can literally watch the bumble bees coming to these plants before they’re planted in the ground. It’s instant gratification,” says Molly DellaRoman of 5 Star Nursery and Orchard, a MOFGA-certified native plant nursery in Brooklin, Maine. It’s not just the pollinators DellaRoman loves but everything
By Tim King Lineage is vitally important to Akilah Zuri Campbell of the Zuri Wingi Heritage Harvest Project in Lee, New Hampshire. The object of the project, she says, is to bring the crops and the agricultural wisdom of stories from the African Diaspora and Indigenous population to the region as it is today. “My
By Lea Camille Smith In the Northeast, it’s easy to assume that once the frost hits and the farmers’ markets close, access to local food goes dormant. But Noah and Sophie Courser-Kellerman of Alprilla Farm in Warner, New Hampshire, have turned that notion on its head. While their farm tasks — planting, harvesting, storing, and
By Holli Cederholm Gone are the days when every farmer saved their own seed to replant the following season. Gone, too, are the accompanying practices of selecting seed to meet the needs of a particular farm. Most growers have swapped the annual ritual of harvesting their own seed — and of perhaps pooling that seed
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
Landsmith Farm in Waldoboro, Maine, organically grows a wide variety of high-quality, tasty vegetables, herbs, willow, and cut flowers using practices that prioritize the health of the land and its stewards. Their products are sold wholesale and direct-to-consumer through a variety of channels, including a farm stand, pick-your-own garden, and a future CSA (community supported agriculture) program. Landsmith Farm is owned and operated by Erin Espinosa, whose identities as a queer latina woman farmer ground the farm in values of reciprocity, community, and perseverance.
Visit Ladsmith Farm on Instagram @landsmithfarm and on their Website.
