Our Farm and Family
From the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust Newsletter,
Spring 2009:
The Dunning Farmers
The Dunning Farm has been leased to farmers Joe and Laura Grady. The Gradys with their 3 children, 8-year old Yvette, 5-year old Muriel, and 2-year old Little Joe, and their herding dog, Johnny, moved in late April. Already, they have some beef cattle grazing, a few chickens to provide them with eggs, and a flock of guinea hens to reduce the tick population in their fields.
Joe and Laura are planning to create an organic community supported agri- cultural (CSA) business to supply grass fed beef and lamb, chickens, turkeys, and eggs. They have named their opera- tion Two Coves Farm and hope to see their first sales this coming fall, including fresh turkeys for next Thanksgiving.
For the moment, the Gradys will be concen- trating on their livestock and growing hay to feed their animals next winter. Their longer range plans include growing storage crops such as potatoes, onions, winter squash, carrots, and beets to supply their sup- porters year round with high quality food.
Though young, Joe and Laura are experienced farmers. They moved to the larger Dunning Farm from a small farm they operated in Hiram, Maine. Before that, they managed a community farm in Rindge, New Hampshire. To make ends meet, Joe also teaches at Casco Bay High School in Portland while Laura keeps an eye on things at the farm and home schools their kids.
Download the entire Newsletter.
From the Harpswell Anchor:
Family Farming Revived in Harpswell
WRITTEN BY TOM ALLEN | 14 AUGUST 2009
The demise of the family farm, both locally and nationally, is taken for granted. In Harpswell homesteads were carved into pieces decades ago, to be handed down to the next generation or sold off as land values soared. Few of us can even summon a regretful sigh anymore when a property-with its white farmhouse, attached shed and slightly leaning barn-is sold, often to someone with no connection to the town. When houses spring up in the former hay field we may shake our heads, mostly because the new structure spoils our view.
So it's refreshing, and pleasantly surprising, to see a small farm in Harpswell resurrected.
That's what's happening on Neil's Point Road. Joe and Laura Grady have leased the former Clem Dunning farm. Joe is a broad-shouldered six-footer who looks like he came from a long line of farm boys. Laura is slim and lean with sun-browned skin and calluses on her hands. They have three children, two girls and a boy, all under eight years old. The family moved in last spring, from a little town near Fryeburg called Hiram where they owned a small cape and began farming by raising a few chickens and planting a vegetable garden.
"But it didn't have the pasture we needed if we were going to do any sort of larger operation," says Joe.
The 88 acres of the Dunning farm, about half of which are pasture, are nestled between Widgeon Cove and Mill Cove, thus the new name: Two Coves Farm. The Gradys gained their farming experience at The Meeting School, a small Quaker boarding school in ... [ continue ]
