Maine

[echosrevenge]

Chambertin, have you connected at all with the Maine Farmland Trust? They have a lot of programs and information available, and are really active in working with landowners and land-seekers to find farms that are often cheaper because of agricultural covenants or easements. I know they have 60+ acres RIGHT on Hyw 1 (which is THE main thoroughfare for Midcoast residents and Summer People alike) for sale right now about a mile from my house - apparently, the story goes (as heard from my neighbor, so....telephone game is possible) that Wal-Mart wanted to buy up the parcel from the town of Damariscotta and do what they do, put in a big super-wal-mart or whatever. The Town of Damariscotta promptly sold the land to Maine Farmland Trust with an agricultural rider so it can never, ever be anything other than agricultural land, and it's still for sale. Gorgeous piece, looks like at least half the land is in pasture and hay, the rest woodlots right on the Great Salt Bay. It would make a really great location for a productive veggie farm, too, since it's right on 1 where the speed limit drops to go through Damariscotta you could put a farmstand on the road and get traffic like WHOA - hundreds if not thousands of cars per day.

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) might be another really good resource for you - they have a lot of land-connection programs and stuff, as well as a lot of events where you can meet both other youngish people who are interested in farming and older people in the community who know EVERYONE and can help connect you to that perfect piece of ground. My husband and I have had a couple of older farm couples approach us about moving to their land, working it for them, and inheriting it when they die as their own children have no interest and they want to see the farm passed on to someone they at least KNOW, rather than chunked up and sold by their family.

Maine has a lot of farm-and-agriculture-related tax credits, too, especially if you plan to buy raw land and improve it yourself. My father-in-law pays wicked low taxes on his gorgeous house because he started with raw land and built it himself from driveway to chimney cap - the Homesteading Credit is alive and well in Maine.

If you're interested, PM me and I'll dig out all the Farm Seeker information I got from Maine Farmland Trust at the Common Ground Fair this fall and scan it for you - they were handing out packets full of info on everything from Farm-specific MLS listing websites to decipering ag tax codes to USDA loans and grants for young farmers (and in this country, "young farmer" is starting to mean anyone under 50). Lots of good stuff.

 

[lazy gardener]

this little call duck hatched this morning, my son is right in love!! and the duck follows him everywhere.

How cute is that!!!!

 

[lazy gardener]

How cute is that!!!!

Are there more calls in the near future???

 

[echosrevenge]

Super cute! I miss having ducklings around....

 

[superchemicalgirl]

The VA has some programs where they send vets (usually PTSD or substance abusers plus homeless) to a working farm to learn skills and get away from their life to heal. Perhaps you could set one of those up. I'm pretty sure there's one in the county (Aroostook) and the other is in New Hampshire.

You could probably find some more info about it online.

 

[Keric]

Chambertin, The only thing I can suggest is that you get an apartment and make a few road trips here and there to look at different pieces of land. As far as a region goes, keep in mind that there are climate zones. Northern Maine is zone 3 and southern tip of maine is zone 6. That boils down to the growing season length and the possibility to grow fruit tree and other crops. There are also micro climates but that is harder to figure out. In Northern Maine my Dad has a hard time with apple trees, there are a few that grow there but choice is limited and they are not as good. Not to say his apples taste bad! Over here in central Maine, zone 5 we can grow lots of apples and it's been a few years in a row that we get peaches in our 4 year old tree. We also plant our garden two weeks before he does and the season runs two weeks later.
As far as a particular thing to look for in land is what is on it. Hardwood is a big plus here. Keep in mind that if there are some maple trees you can make maple syrup in the spring. At the same time you also want a piece of land that has open areas for the garden and or hay fields. Our land is all wooded and I always wish that we had some open land for pasture. Every year we cut firewood and plan on making an opening. Very hard to do because you have stumps to deal with after. Machinery is expensive to rent or own so our plan is to cut the large trees down for firewood and saw logs with the soft wood and then fence it in and utilize pigs and goats to do the rest. No goats yet for us but the pigs plow up the land little by little.

 

[echosrevenge]

Some parts of Maine (southern coastal, mostly, and VERY small areas) are as warm as USDA Garden Zone 6b or 7 - our current place is Zone 5/6 on the map, but our microclimate being only 200 yards from Great Salt Bay is more like 6b or 7, based on soil temp and growing records our landlord kept, and my own experience here.

My father-in-law told us that the main thing for winter cold, at least along the southern-eastern coastal stretch of Maine, is not so much how far north you are, but how far inland you are - he's right on the cove in Tenant's Harbor, and at this time of year the temperature will drop almost one degree per mile as you head away from the ocean. That huge, wet heat sink to the east of us makes a big difference in coastal climates! Even now, our place in Damariscotta is totally bare of snow, but my sister's boyfriend 40 minutes away in Appleton has almost 10" of crusty, icy snow on the ground still.

 

[jerseychix]

Hey all again, coming out from lukerdom as spring beckons....

Chambertin (and anyone else), there are some of us who are working to get a Vets to Farmers coalition going here in Maine. MFT, the extension, and some other people are doing it. PM me if you'd like some contact information.

Also, MOFGA has awesome programs for beginning farmers, and check out the extension for the counties that you want to move to. We are just north of Portland (20m to Old Port) and people grow EVERYTHING here. My town used to be very agricultural, and there is still a lot of farm land, and, as a matter of fact, there's a farm down the road from me for sale. The soil is wonderful, and as we seem to be in a warmer micro-climate on our property, I know they exist! Plus, don't forget there is a ton available for crop extension!

Keric, the pigs and goats are exactly our plan. Plus, we are taking all the ash from the wood stoves and dumping it on the stumps. I hear it'll dissolve them in about 18m.

It is a beautiful day here and I am itching to get outside and start work on where our coop is going to be! I've come up with a plan for fencing in and housing our future chickens. Now I just need it to warm up! I miss having them so much.

 

[hoppy]

I actually have both of those in the incubator right now but I had buy them.
check out the 24 hour auction
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/330991/crazy-24hr-auction
you never know what you will find there.

Mustard tiger, this was an instant, drop the video games thing. normally he has to earn time to play video games, but he has not even asked since the duckling hatched. and yes, there are more due to hatch but not for a week and I set more last night.

Hi Hoppy , so cute .
Do you have any BLRW hatching eggs or Blue amercauna hatching eggs ? I have eggs in the incubator going in lock down tomorrow , so I have time before I can start another batch. If you don't have any do you know of anyone ? thanks

 

[buckabucka]

We've always been zone 3 here, in our microclimate at the bottom of a northern slope. Climate change seems to have bumped us to zone 4. We used to hit -40 at least once each winter. I think it's been 10 or more years since that has happened. This winter our lowest temperature has been -18 so far.
Our peach tree is new and has survived last winter.

This was a nice day to get outside and I walked our "snowshoe loop" through the woods. You definitely don't need snowshoes now, and the stream is really high. Some of it is frozen, but it doesn't look safe to walk on it anywhere.

I've had a couple chickens start laying again after taking much of the winter off, but nothing from the Ameraucanas. I keep hoping they will start up just in time to throw some of their eggs in with my shipped eggs that I'll be setting around Valentine's Day, but more likely, I'll be doing a separate hatch later in the spring.