Welcoming Another Growing Season at Wolfe's Neck Center
Everywhere you look around Wolfe’s Neck Center, growth is evident. The pastures are full of forage for our dairy herd, the new Smith Center for Education and Research is rising out of the ground, and the production plot is laden with vegetables. Some growth is harder to observe but speaks to our evolving impact – more farm fresh, nutritious produce on the tables of families in need, farms from across the country actively engaged in our research initiatives, and new farmers learning to produce food using regenerative practices. With all this growth, there is much to talk about what you can do when you visit and what kind of impact Wolfe’s Neck Center is having here in our local community and across the globe. This Growth Edition of Field Notes gives you a taste of what to expect when you come to camp, hike, eat at the Farm Café or participate in a program or event, and shines a light on some of the most important impacts. We encourage you to dig deeper - visit our website, ask questions, support our work, and engage with this place with a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm. It
is our community - people like you - that is at the heart of our growth and helps Wolfe’s Neck Center to make a real difference in food and farming here in Maine and beyond.
How to Use This Newsletter QR codes are used generously in this newsletter. They allow you to easily access more information about a topic on our website. Learn how to use them below!
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1. Open the camera app on your mobile device and hover over the QR code. 2. Once the camera is focused on the code, a yellow box will appear around the code with a small link under it. 3. Click on the link and the web page will open on your device.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Food Systems Leaders Wolfe's Neck Center is a training ground for those seeking to make a difference.
Catching Up with Aditi, 2021 Fruit and Vegetable Apprentice What path brought you to Wolfe's Neck Center? I was a junior in college and looking to gain more experience and learn about the environment outside of the classroom. After learning about Wolfe’s Neck Center and their efforts toward regenerative agriculture and organic produce, I applied for the opportunity! What was the most important thing you learned here? I learned about the amount of effort that goes into producing a single crop and the importance of a strong team. Farming is
challenging and plans change by the minute because of weather, pests, and other things. But, when we work together, we overcome those challenges and hold each other up.
with environmental justice and advocacy to bring change to our policies to reduce the effects of climate change.
How will you take what you have learned/experienced here forward in life? Farming has been affected by climate change and its consequences like changing weather, more pests, heat waves, and more. Food is the basis of our livelihoods, and it is under threat due to rising temperature. I want to take this on-the-field experience and work
Learning More from Grace, a Second Year Dairy Apprentice to be a Dairy Apprentice here. I worked under him on his dairy farm in Nebraska, which was my first farming experience and I loved it. When I heard he moved up here for a bigger dairy operation, I immediately wanted to go too. Ben is one of the best teachers I have ever learned from. What has been the hardest adjustment to Wolfe’s Neck Center and living in Maine? What brought you to the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship? Ben, Wolfe's Neck Center’s Dairy Manager, is the reason I came
The hardest adjustment is the weather. Back home in Nebraska it is always hot, dry, and windy, and here on the farm it is always the
opposite. I am still getting used to the weather. Since you just completed your first year, do you have any takeaways you want to share? My apprenticeship at Wolfe's Neck is teaching me patience. I am learning increasingly to roll with whatever the girls are going through. Whether it is birth or sending one of my favorites to the sale barn, I am constantly learning how to live in this moment and stay present.
Learn more about our apprenticeship programs:
School to Farm Connection Our Partnership with RSU 5
During the 2020-2021 school year, Wolfe's Neck Center developed a partnership with the RSU 5 (Freeport, Pownal and Durham) school district to help facilitate outdoor education as part of their hybrid learning model. This partnership allowed us to host Kindergarten through 5th grade students on their non-classroom days for hands-on, farm-based learning.
With schools back in-person this year, our partnership evolved. Every 3rd grader from Freeport's Mast Landing School engaged in hands-on learning at “Fridays on the Farm." Our educators provided lessons that the teachers tied to their own curriculum at school, making a meaningful connection between the classroom and the farm. These farm-based outdoor learning opportunities not only expand kids’ understanding of food and farming, but also give them much needed time in nature - smelling the salt air, tasting a fresh raspberry, and feeling the warm soil in their hands.
2022 Business Sponsors
Thank you to our generous business sponsors for supporting Wolfe’s Neck Center this season.
Explore, Discover, and Connect to Trails and Barns
Visit our animals and walk on our trails! Scan to check out our campus map! Barns are open dawn to dusk.
Eat
Enjoy delicious organic produce and pasture-raised meats at our Farm Café. Scan to check Café hours and a sample menu!
The Smith Center
This new building will dramatically increase our ability to convene people who care about the future of food. While we are under construction, please pay attention to directional signage when you visit! Scan to learn more about our transFARMation.
Camp
With 150+ campsites to choose from, our campground allows you to get the most out of your visit. Scan to explore all the camping options.
our Food System and the Outdoors Become a Member! Members get discounts all over the farm. Learn more about the benefits of becoming a member by scanning this code!
Upcoming Events
Have a great time while supporting the farm! Scan below for more info. Beers in the Barn: Saturday, July 9th Harvest Dance: Saturday, September 17th
Community and Visitor Programs Fun, educational programs for the whole family to enjoy!
We are excited to offer a full slate of programming this season! Scan the code to view the summer schedule.
Farming for a Healthier Planet
A quick look at some of the practices, people, and poultry behind our regenerative farming Regenerative agriculture implements more holistic farming principles and practices, which stem from ancestral land management practices stewarded by indigenous groups and many decades of agricultural research and labor. Specifically, regenerative farming practices build fertile soils and nurture a healthy ecosystem by increasing biodiversity, improving watersheds, and building soil health. Some examples of common practices include managed grazing, composting, use of cover crops, and no-till systems. On a large scale, this could reverse the effects of climate change by pulling excess carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it in the soil.
Compost We have a new compost production site at Wolfe’s Neck Center’s Charlie Degrandpre Jr. Operations Center. Compost is key to maintaining the health of our soils, increasing organic matter content, and managing our onfarm nutrients. Farm staff add our carbon- and nitrogen-rich “bedded pack” from the Dairy Barn to maintain the correct temperature. It is aerated weekly to introduce oxygen. Aeration helps keep the microbiome in the compost pile active, which helps breakdown the materials so that the nutrients can easily be used by plants later in the season when it is applied to the fields.
Laying Hens Welcome, Dwight! Wolfe’s Neck Center is pleased to introduce Dwight Hobbs, our new Fruit and Vegetable Manager! Dwight moved to Maine in 2015 to start a Maine Organic Famers and Gardeners Association Apprenticeship at Morning Dew Farm in Newcastle and Damariscotta. After 5 seasons with Morning Dew, Dwight helped manage the vegetable production at Sheepscot General Store and Farm in Whitefield for two seasons. Dwight will be managing all of WNC’s Fruit and Vegetable production, as well as the Fruit and Vegetable apprentices. Be sure to say hello!
In early May we welcomed 200+ laying hens. Our birds, all Rhode Island Reds, are all ‘pastureraised’, meaning they are moved onto fresh pasture grasses multiple times per week. As they pick through the seeds and bugs in the fields, they leave behind nitrogen-rich manure that adds fertility to our soils. You can get to know our laying hens by signing up for Chicken or the Egg this summer! Guests will get up close and personal with our hens on pasture, finishing off our tour by collecting a dozen eggs to take home. This program will be available weekly in July and August. Sign up at wolfesneck.org/calendar.
Farm to Your Neighbor’s Table Our farm apprentices produce thousands of pounds of food every year, from pastureraised meats to fresh, organic vegetables, and they are served at our Farm Café, sold in our Farm Store, and enjoyed by our CSA members. Wolfe’s Neck Center has been contributing some of this food to Freeport Community Services for the past several years as they work to address food insecurity in our community. This year, as more families are struggling to put food on the table, we are committed to expanding our reach to new nonprofit
partners and increasing our impact in the community. In addition to working with Freeport Community Services, WNC has built new relationships with the Bath Area Food Bank and Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program. These partners are doing amazing work on the ground, and we are honored to be supporting their important missions. Our longtime partner Bath Savings has made a generous gift of $10,000 to kick off our Bunch of Carrots campaign, a season-long effort to ensure that we can donate more of the food we grow.
Support This Effort We need your support to make this expansion possible. With your help, we can get more of this food to people who need it most, together creating an impact that improves the health of our planet, our neighbors, and our communities.
Our 2022 Program Partners:
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Field Notes is published by annually by Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. To learn more, visit wolfesneck.org. Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment | 184 Burnett Road, Freeport, ME 04032 | 207.865.4469 | wolfesneck.org
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FIELD NOTES TRANSFORMING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FARMING AND FOOD FOR A HEALTHIER PLANET
2022 | NEWSLETTER | THE GROWTH ISSUE