Twin Villages Foodbank Farm crew and volunteers tend new crops every week at the Salt Bay Farm in Damariscotta. (Courtesy photo)
Following three weeks of dry conditions in July, Twin Villages Foodbank Farm welcomed 1.5 inches of rain last week. The well-timed rain was enough to saturate soil and roots, adding thousands of additional pounds to harvest as crops continue to produce robust growth.
The much-needed precipitation has put the farm on track to surpass 500,000 total pounds of produce grown and donated to Lincoln County residents this fall. After just two months of growing, harvesting, and collecting food from other farms, the Foodbank Farm has already donated over 12,000 pounds in Lincoln County this season.
“Growing the highest quality food means growing the highest quality soil, and that is what we focus on everyday, building up the soil so we can build up our neighbors who need fresh food the most,” says Sara Cawthon, farm director.
The farm utilizes an efficient growing system, including two Kubota tractors, a hydraulic compost spreader, and over 100 yards of organic compost, to maximize production for the greatest impact on local communities.
The farm also relies on a dedicated summer crew consisting of college farmers Skyler Houghton and Lindsay Damon, veteran farm assistant manager Jamie McGhee, and a group of experienced volunteers. Despite the heat and rain, volunteers have shown up, consistently, to tend and harvest crops, allowing the farm crew to pack and distribute produce to numerous food pantries throughout the county.
Lindsay Damon (left) and Skyler Houghton wash and pack organic produce for donation at Twin Villages Foodbank Farm in Damariscotta. (Courtesy photo)
This season from Healthy Lincoln County, Michaela Stone and Leifa Gordon, two of the farm’s newest volunteers, have been arriving before the heat to tend to thousands of pounds of food that they then help pack and distribute to over a dozen share tables around the county.
Volunteers Ken Levine and Tam Green put in countless hours watering and weeding in the evening and on weekends to keep farm operations running smoothly.
Throughout the growing season, the farm has hosted many field trips and tours with over 200 visiting students and campers and there are many more planned visits to come. With the planting season nearing its end, the farm continues to plant thousands of seedlings weekly for successive harvests. Fall plantings include beets, lettuce, kohlrabi, fennel, carrots and broccolini. New crops coming out of the field are sweet onions and tendersweet cabbage.
While food insecurity remains significantly high in Maine, Twin Villages Foodbank Farm provides a solution by efficiently growing and distributing fresh produce to those in need throughout Lincoln County. The farm also operates a shared community food storage hub, collecting and sharing up to 50,000 pounds each year from grocery stores and farmers and donated to numerous community partners.
Twin Villages Foodbank Farm serves pantries in Newcastle, Jefferson, Boothbay, Wiscasset, Waldoboro, Whitefield, and New Harbor, as well as share tables and youth food programs like FARMS at the Y. It operates in partnership with Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, which donates the use of prime farmland at Salt Bay Farm, 110 Belvedere Road in Damariscotta and provides administrative, fundraising, and communications support.
To learn more about the farm or to make a secure online donation, go to twinvillagesfarm.org.
College farmers Skyler Houghton (left) and Lindsay Damon stand next to totes containing the 200 heads of lettuce they harvested in under an hour for Twin Villages Foodbank Farm in Damariscotta. (Courtesy photo)
