When we bought this place next to Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick Maine we had a lot of work building up the hard packed clay soil in an old neglected horse paddock to make it into productive gardens. We used everything we could get our hands on (for free!) to hand-build the soil, from grass clippings to composted leaves and sea weed, to the waste from our cider pressings. A visiting Girl Scout le
ader asked about our recycling practices and how we never let anything go to waste. She exclaimed “You’re sort of a waste-not, want-not farm”. Our first “garden” was a five gallon bucket on an apartment porch in the city back in the 70’s – we got a few cherished potatoes out of it! Our gardening efforts grew and grew even in the city, where we devoted ourselves to “Square Foot” gardening – intensively planted and tended little urban plots (even container gardens) that produced a lot in a small space. When we moved to the country we still treated every square foot of our soil as a precious commodity, and by keeping our soil rich and healthy produced bountifully from even modest garden spaces. It’s almost whimsical to call our few acres a farm, but we provide garden fresh vegetables, eggs, honey and home made goods to our neighbors and visitors year round, all from our own little gardens and other local farms. We still treat every square foot as a precious gift to be tended with great care, knowing that by putting back into the soil more than we take out we will pass on a wholesome legacy to future generations.
