I arrived at the farm in Kennebec County, Maine on Friday afternoon. It must have been just a few minutes past 3pm. Lisa, my sister-in-law and her husband Caleb dropped me off in there pearl-white Subaru Impreza. We had just had a small family reunion with Joshua’s mom and siblings in Salisbury and Star Island.

We drove down rural roads until we arrived at a white farmhouse with an attached red barn. There was a well tended garden with flowers and hostas in the front of the house. We pulled onto the driveway where a young, tan man with a ponytail was weed whacking. He politely asked if they were expecting me. I clumsily responded that I was there to wwoof. He went inside saying “Mom, someone is here.”

To explain, WWOOF is an acronym for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or Willing Workers on Organic Farms. About a year ago, I signed up for the wwoofers website. My goal was to work on an organic farm and understand the work and skill that’s needed to run one. A few days after signing up, these farmers contacted me to ask me for a skype interview. They were the only farm to ever contact me. I had messaged a few other farms, but they either didn’t get back to me, or weren’t a good fit. This place was perfect. It was a small family farm in the northeast, that focused on my favorite vegetables. They seemed nice and serious about their work, and that’s what I was looking for.

As I unloaded my things from the car, a beautiful, silver-haired woman in a green collared shirt came out to greet me. She is the mother on the farm, who runs the farmhouse with her husband and 3 sons. After quick introductions, she kindly takes offers to show me to my room. I watch as Caleb and Lisa zip away. for the next month, I would spend nearly all my time here, on this organic farm. I was both excited and nervous.

I was so surprised to walk into the house to find that the walls to the staircase were bare to the studs. I didn’t picture this at all, looking at the front of the house. I had remembered that they said that their son was a carpenter and had been remodeling the house. I assume that this is one of the projects for the carpenter-son.

At the top of the stairs, is the bathroom and my room (as well as many other rooms.) The mother showed me around the house, and explained simple rules and courtesies as we went along. We got out to a long hallway, and at the end, uneven steps out the back door lead to the wood pile and a small side room (that I would later learn was called the box room.) There resides refrigerators and freezers for the family and retail food, as well as loads of boxes and bags for packing produce.

Right outside and to the west are two large, heated greenhouses with tomatoes inside. These greenhouses have large fans in them for temperature control. Off in a field is a heater, next to the wood splitter and a stack of logs almost as big as the greenhouse. These two greenhouses are used for season extension, allowing the farm to be productive year round. On the east side, there is one more unheated greenhouse with a passive cooling system. The top on the north roof can be lifted to allow some of the heat to escape, which is very economical! 

Beyond the greenhouses are the fields of leafy greens, broccoli, peas, and much more. Off to the east, just a bit are 4 chicken tractors. 3 have laying hens of different ages and one has meat birds. The farm seems to get over 100 eggs a day from these skittish little birds. And in a field beyond sight, off to the west, are two cows. Only one of which I have seen, and only right before she is milked. 

My tour came to a close at the barn attached to the east portion of the house, where they have turkeys in a brooder, and baby pigs in a pen. There is a sneaky hallway between the barn and the house so that a New England Farmer doesn’t have to go outside to tend to the animals in the winter. Even though the day felt young, the farm mother told me I could go up to my room and get settled in.