This blog originates right now. It seems appropriate to explain what this farm is about so let's begin there.
Eden Hill Farm is located on undeveloped land once part of my ancestors' farm, the Walden Farm, which explains how it comes to pass that its location is just west of and on a hillside on the upper side of Walden Farm Road in Greenville, Maine. Bordering the west side of this 18.5 acre plot of land is the Greenville Municipal Airport. The property was taken by the Town of Greenville by eminent domain during World War II but returned to my father in the 1970's when it was determined that its use as airport property for a third runway had been abandoned.
I have an interest in organic farming but so far I haven't encountered the kind of organic farming that I envision anywhere other than on this farm.
Here's my vision:
Back in the 19th Century when rural farming in the Maine Highlands first took hold, mainly in support of the timber harvesting industry, all farming was organic. New soil from recently cleared forest was rich enough to plant. I have a theory that this natural organic richness wore out eventually but farmers had horses and cows and hens enough use their manure to renew the soil's fertility. Eventually with the development of roads and rails and eventually automobiles, farming up here in the highlands became impractical and most of the old farms grew back into forest which was then never again cleared for farming. Land that was kept clear of forest became hay fields that were rarely if ever again enriched. I should point out that the glaciers left farm soil littered with stones. Some fields were cleared of these stones but many never were.
Today it is rare to find working farmland in this mostly forested area. My challenge, and it is in no way small, is to find a practical and affordable way to bring this little farm back to organic productivity using as much organic material as I can from the farm itself to rebuild the soil's fertility. I am not a scientist. It stretches the meaning of the word to call me a farmer but my dad, born in 1888, was a farmer with two years of agricultural education from the University of Maine who still knew many of the old ways during my childhood but passed on only a few to me. This approach is mine and mine alone, however, although it is my hope that some day I will discover that someone somewhere in the world has done this sort of thing before. I have for years attended the Common Ground Fair organized by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) but I have never seen this particular approach demonstrated. I suspect it has something to do with the fire danger of large wood and forest waste compost piles.
Some day I hope to pass a successful farm along to my own sons.
Currently the farm sports wild blueberries and still young forest with one woods waste compost pile now showing signs of becoming a long-term raspberry garden. I don't currently plan on raising farm animals because there is no residence on the land but that could change some day.
So that's the basic theory behind the farm. I enjoy digital photography so some day I'll be showing my audience what progress we have made. I also have a Hero3 so videos are also a possibility.
One last thing, I am operating on a shoestring budget.
Enjoy!
