3 Level Farm

We arrived at this farm located in Phippsburg Maine, it rest at the end of a very long peninsula. The ocean is not quite in site but you can feel the sea breeze. Christopher, the owner, is running the goat cheese and four seasons vegetable supply to local restaurants on his own.

He tries to consistently have at least one apprentice all the time, but his last one just ended their agreed time a month or two ago. We were interested in being his new apprentices, he was obviously extremely knowledgeable and reasonable about everything, but we could not stay the amount needed.

Trust me, Zoe and I were really bummed out we could not work here. He was going to teach us how to milk goats!

There were 3-4 "kids" (baby goats) there, only a few weeks old.

There were also about a dozen hens. An easy way to tell if the farmer is friendly, is if the chickens are friendly. These birds walked right up to me, Christopher, a very caring farmer, spent a few minutes pulling up fresh grass and pushing it in through one of the doors.

The birds live in a sort of "tunnel cage" which is pretty ingenius. The hens fertilize one row, and then they are moved to the next. The farm is about 2 acres with many greenhouses, animals, vegetables, and compost.

Christopher follows the practices of Elliot Coleman. He provides greens year round to restaurants without heating oil. Christophers greenhouse is a little behind, and I was itching so bad to pull some weeds and get it going again.

One of Elliot's practices to keep plants warmer is to apply "row covers" which protect the plants from wind and keep them slight warmer, which boost production. Christopher explained under those covers is more greens than  can sell. Next to it you can see a huge garlic production.

The apprentices get to live in a 8 by 10 foot red house. There is a loft to sleep on, below is a couch and light perfect for reading and a dresser.