Long hours dedicated to community agriculture are rewarded with fresh food and loyal customers.
SABATTUS – After morning rain, the farm looks like a postcard, something you’d send city friends to show them rural life in Maine.
The wind carries the smell of rich soil and grass. Jill Agnew kneels in the vegetable gardens, not far from the barn overlooking her 35 acres, the orchards, the sloping green and brown patchwork.
Most of the work at Willow Pond Farm is done by hand, to conserve and strengthen the soil. Agnew tunes into the seasons, without the use of chemical fertilizers or high-technology. And the organic food is sold directly to families, a practice known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Customers buy shares of the harvest before the season, and then pick up fresh produce as it becomes available.
If this all seems simple and romantic, think again.
Agnew worries about paying the bills. The sole tractor broke down, and the compressor on the cooler failed the other day. It can be thankless work, at a time when many Americans are disconnected from the food on their tables. And it’s exhausting, taking an enormous toll from 5:30 a.m., often until 6 or 7 at night.
“I carry a huge physical load every day,” said Agnew, 48. “We’re very small scale, but the labor is intense. There are some days when I think about letting it go.”
No, she won’t do that. As soon as the thoughts come, they’re gone. Agnew loves the land, she believes in it, and has the support of her husband, Charlie, and their two college-age children. Charlie has a woodworking business in Nobleboro, and pitches in when he can. But Willow Pond is essentially Jill Agnew’s enterprise.
Agnew trusts her philosophies about sustainable living, which led her into CSA to begin with: The farm recycles money within the local area, helps preserve the environment and reconnects residents with the methods of food production.
In 1989, Agnew’s became the first CSA farm in Maine, following the lead of Japan and Europe, where small farms were vanishing in the shadow of corporate farming. CSA was a new idea in the United States in the late 1980s. Now there are more than 1,000 CSA programs in the country, according to the Robyn Van En Center for CSA Resources, in Chambersburg, Penn.
Nearly 30 farms in Maine practice CSA, or similar programs, the center reports.
“Being part of that has been very rewarding,” Agnew said. “The concept has spread hugely, which is hopeful for me.”
Russell Libby, executive director of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, has stood behind the movement in Maine.
“Maybe more important than the food is the connection that develops over time,” Libby said. “CSAs are a great way for people who are unable to grow their food to have a deep and lasting connection with a farmer.”
The Willow Pond Farm CSA grew out of necessity. The Agnews moved here in the early 1980s, and Jill worked the farm while Charlie worked as a forester. The farm continually drained the family finances. Agnew wanted to keep the farm and the traditional lifestyle; she just needed a way to make ends meet, with 35 acres of good land.
In 1988 she saw a video about the CSA concept in Japan, and learned about the first such farm in this country, Indian Line Farm in South Egremont, Mass.
“I just went through the ceiling with excitement,” Agnew said. Through word of mouth, she was able to recruit 40 shareholders for the first year.
“We worked until dark every night. It was a rainy spring and we had a hard time getting things going,” she said. “People were happy enough to sign up again.”
For labor, Agnew depends on apprentices, usually three or four each year. They learn the farming lifestyle and the traditional methods, and receive a weekly stipend, along with room and board. They essentially join the family, Agnew said.
Willow Pond sold 60 shares this season, representing about 85 families. They can buy whole or half-shares, depending on their needs. The shareholders come from several surrounding towns, including the Twin Cities, Brunswick, Bath, Freeport and Portland.
Mondays and Thursdays are harvest days. Many families visit the farm, pick flowers and herbs, and take home their produce. In season now are beans, lettuce, zucchini, kale, carrots, beets and snap peas, among others.
“Two days a week there are people coming and going,” Agnew said. “We offer the place up to our community of shareholders.”
Families pay $470 for a full share, which means fresh vegetables, flowers and herbs from May through October. That breaks down to about $21 a week. Organic eggs, meat, cheese, jams and jellies are available for purchase, as well. People can also sign up for winter shares. The prices have only gone up $20 in the past decade, while costs for materials keep rising.
“We’ll have to raise the prices to make this work, but the last thing we want to do is price people out,” Agnew said. “It’s not that much for a week’s worth of produce.”
Agnew has admitted that she needs more help with the work. For the first time, she brought on a full-time employee to join the apprentices. But money is tight, and the family has brainstormed other means of raising revenue. They’ve considered a full-time farm market to sell food and other goods year-round. Maybe more fruit would sell better, they’ve thought.
In any case, Agnew insists on keeping the experience authentic. She will not get into recreational farming – the haunted hayrides, go-karts or corn mazes that other small farmers have turned to to make ends meet.
The pressures surrounding Willow Pond have become more clear to Agnew in recent years. From the farm she can’t see the Interstate, but she can hear the wheels rumbling in the distance. Workers are building the new Sabattus interchange, only a few hundred yards from the farm’s driveway.
“For the first time, it will be no big deal for people to get here from Portland,” Agnew said. “What is that going to mean? I don’t know.
“Right now, things are just right.”
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