Beautiful Bar Harbor Community Farm in all its glory. Bar Harbor, Maine
I arrived with all four farmers sitting in the shade taking a well-deserved break. After some jovial discussion of what needed to happen on the farm and what was going on the each other’s lives outside of farming, and me being told in a tongue-in-cheek way that I could
Different varieties of lettuce in their nice neat rows with irrigation hose in between – getting what they need to grow big and delicious. Bar Harbor Community Farm, Bar Harbor, Maine.
not take any pictures of weeds, we all set off on this beautiful 2-acre parcel of leased field off from Norway Drive in Bar Harbor, Maine. Well there needn’t be any concern for the overgrowth of weeds or the impact of pests on this well cared for MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association) certified organic farm. The fifty CSA members and
Girl Power! There is a wonderful boy named Chris working at the farm too, but coming from the female perspective, it’s really cool to see Glenon Friedmann heading up the girl power and running the tractor and business of Bar Harbor Community Farm, Bar Harbor, Maine.
clientele of area restaurants that receive their food wholesale will be quite pleased with the food they receive. In fact, by the end of my visit, I was ready to throw-in the towel on my home garden and just buy up a CSA from this farm, readily working the four hours at the farm that are required to be a part of the CSA.
Dots on a brown canvas – lettuce in its infancy, soaking up the sun, making a beautiful pattern of life sprouting from the soil.
There’s nothing like the neatly formed rows of plants that look like they have been so carefully placed in just perfect proximity to each other for optimal growth opportunity. I
Purple bush beans – just one of the varieties of bush beans being grown, along with yellow and green, adding to the variety of colors at Bar Harbor Community Farm, Bar Harbor, Maine.
think it is my liking for patterns, symmetry, and color that just makes me feel giddy to see the growing rows of different varieties of lettuce, three different varieties of snap bush
Juicy and ripe – this cantaloupe melon is inviting me to pick it and cut it open and taste its sweetness. Melons can grow in Maine. YUM! Bar Harbor Community Farm, Bar Harbor, Maine.
beans (purple, yellow and green), and melons of all kinds – boy wouldn’t I like to taste one of those fresh juicy watermelons!
This mini-watermelon looks almost amphibian – warm, green patterned-skin and basking in the hot sun, while carrying its water component on the inside.
The light coming into the one greenhouse was nourishing the cherry and beefsteak tomatoes, basil, peppers, eggplant, broccoli seedlings, and zinnias flowers quite well,
I love the look of these cascading cherry tomatoes as they suspend in mid-air with their varying colors of ripeness.
This zinnia flower was growing happily next to the tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse, brightening up the greenhouse with a little more color. I love that the cucumber beetle, a pest to the cucumber plant and other cucurbits, is also in this picture, showing this to be a thriving organic farm, where there are not pesticides being used to rid the farm of this creature. And judging by the abundance of melons, squash and pumpkins I saw, the farmhands are keeping this beetle from being too much of a pest.
along with the straw bedding underfoot and the black plastic for weed suppression and soil warming. It was amazing to me to see so clearly how one tomato plant could produce such plentiful and beautiful tomatoes from such a skinny, but hearty stem. The plants had
The diffused light of the suns rays coming through the greenhouse plastic heat-up the air for the tomatoes to grow big and red. I love the pattern made by the skinny, but hearty trunks of these plants as they all reach to climb the ropes strung to the rafters of the top of the greenhouse.
the suckers trimmed off them nicely so that the plants energy was going into making wonderful ‘ugly’ tomatoes, so they can be called these days, and the arrays of cherry
More cascading cherry tomatoes, ripening to a nice golden orange. Just can’t get enough of these. Mmm… I could just pop one in my mouth right now and taste the bursting sweet juices and flavor.
tomatoes varying in their ripeness. Things were well-placed and organized in the greenhouse, using all the space it provided, but having smaller basil plants by the lower
Profile of the inside of the greenhouse, including the tall tomato plants, medium sized pepper and eggplant plants, a harvested crop with the black plastic and straw left behind and some brassica seedlings started on the outside edge.
roofed edges and the tall tomatoes climbing up the ropes, trying to reach the braces for the top of the structure. The yellow sweet peppers were just fighting for space to grow so
I’ve never seen this many sweet peppers growing so big and plump next to each other. I call them ‘Happy Plants’!
big and lovely on one vine, I took a bunch of pictures try to capture this. To me, this is a great testament that organic farming can produce big, nutrient-dense fruits, a.k.a. ‘Happy Plants’.
A monarch butterfly chrysalis transforming on the farm, thanks to a nice milkweed patch being allowed to flourish in the field. A great testament to the organic nature of the farm and soon to be a helpful pollinator when it grows to become a butterfly.
Also a great testament to organic farming is the milkweed patch on the property, helping to produce a lovely monarch butterfly chrysalis that farmhand, Robyn, was excited to
BEETS! BEETS! BEETS! And their edible, high-in-nutrients greens that taste great steamed-up with a little balsamic vinegar sprinkled on them. Yum!
show me. As I ventured out into the field more, I enjoyed seeing the beets, carrots, and
ROOTS! (As my husband calls them) Carrots vying for space in the dirt to grow deep and round. Lookin’ good!
different varieties of squash – Delicata and Sweet Dumpling, Spaghetti, Hubbard, Kabocha, Buttercup, and Butternut soon ready for Fall harvesting. There were tomatoes on the vine outside, still looking great and turning red, and a plethora of basil, dill
A winter squash – the Delicata – reaching the pinnacle of its growth, ready for Fall harvest time.
and cilantro to give a little added flavor to a meal. There were some Brassicas looking big and green, and I thought I had seen it all. Then I decided to follow the field a little further down and I felt like I hit the jackpot! I saw a small patch of sunflower plants in full bloom
I love a good sunflower… against a blue sky… in full bloom… growing its seeds for animal or human consumption… showing it’s fire-y petals to the sun. My research shows this to be called a Ring of Fire sunflower – appropriately named wouldn’t you say?
opening themselves to the warm sun, and hiding just beyond that, were more squash and pumpkins on the other side of them, and ROWS UPON ROWS OF BRASSICAS. I was just
BRASSICAS!! Hearty green veggies, deemed in society now as ‘Superfoods’ because of their dense vitamins and nutrients and antioxidant powers! Lots of them here!
in awe of the barely blemished Brassicas that were there, including multiple varieties of KALE – Red Russian, Ripbor, and Toscano. It was a beautiful blend of the ‘Superfood’ hues of purple and deep greens that were talking to me with their heartiness and their leaves dense in nutrients, a great addition to my morning smoothies for much of the cold
Couldn’t get enough of the Brassicas. Love their purple and deep green hues. Bar Harbor Community Farm, Bar Harbor, Maine.
season to come. Not to mention also the yummy kale salads, sautés, broccoli dishes, and cole slaw and kraut from the cabbages too. As I looked closer I saw the slim metal hoops
Some Ripbor Kale – the kind look that most people think of when they see kale. The ruffled leaves give you so much goodness in just one leaf.
that were placed sparingly along the rows that indicated that the plants had had some kind of cover to keep the lovely cabbageworm (which creates a lovely white butterfly) out –
A Toscano kale leaf, looking beautiful and unblemished from pests. Another great thing about Brassicas is that they are super-hearty and grow really well in cold temperatures, so these plants will be still edible after a frost.
the pest-y green worms that I am constantly cleaning off from my kale and broccoli at home.
Below this part of the field is a farm pond that has been utilized, along with drip tape and irrigation system to keep the plants happy. And off to the side in an undeveloped part of the field also sat the ever-so-important beehives for pollinating the plants. Often farms will
Beehives – so important to the pollination and therefore the creation of many of the vegetables we eat.
lease a hive or two for the pollination of their plants, but in this case, the hives belonged to a beekeeping CSA member – a great partnership.
Speaking of partnership, the Bar Harbor Community Farm of the past four years on Norway Drive has a future that involves the recent purchase of the old Gilbert Farm on the Gilbert Farm Road in Town Hill. Through a collaboration with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, the support of many friends and professionals, the farm will add 15-acres of tillable
The one, lone head of lettuce that was able to grow in very shallow soil on top of this large boulder that is being removed from the growing field. It just goes to show that not all plants need deep soil to grow in, so don’t be afraid to give it a try, even if you have a garden full of rocks. There are just multiple analogies I can come up with for this. How about you?
soils to its 2-acre leased parcel. The entire 50-acres of Gilbert Farm has been put into agricultural and nature easements as farmland forever, with the agricultural piece being deemed as ‘agricultural soils of statewide significance’. This means that there will be more
Glenon Friedmann, the owner, equipment operator, and mastermind behind it all, with a great sense of humor, fearlessly running the Kubota tractor at Bar Harbor Community Farm, Bar Harbor, Maine.
opportunities for a greater number of folks from MDI – either visiting, summer residents, or year-round, to enjoy the hearty and beautiful produce being grown by Glenon and her crew at the Bar Harbor Community Farm.
Rainbow swiss chard – I just love how the sunlight illuminates the leaves of this plant. It reminds me of the light through a church stained glass window. Maybe these lovely greens ground us in the religion of Mother Earth and all that can bless our spirits from the garden. Deep. I know.
If you are interested in a checking out some produce while the season continues, call Glenon at 207-479-2181 for a possible Fall CSA or to get on-board next spring. And check out their website that includes a wonderful blog from farmhand, Johannah,
Sepia tone mixed with the vibrancy of the tractor and green plants, is my artistic way of giving the timelessness of the human touch to the work of farming. Farming will always remain important to our existence.
including some thoughtful reflections, great photos, and recipes to try with the farm produce. For a small operation, they are getting it right. I look forward to the future contributions to the sustainability of the MDI food system from Bar Harbor Community Farm.
A day at the farm. Green and busy and demanding the sweat and toil of us that give to it. In return, we get more than just sustenance, we connect our soul to the Earth and all that is.
Link to Bar Harbor Community Farm website: http://www.barharborfarm.com/
Link to Maine Coast Heritage Trust: http://www.mcht.org/
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