Nezinscot Farm Store
284 Turner Center Rd
Turner, Maine 04282
Tel: (207) 225-3231
Fax: (207) 225-3220
Email: gloria@nezinscotfarm.com
Store Hours
Open Year Round!
Tuesday - Friday
6am to 6pm
Saturday: 7am - 2pm
Sunday: 8am - 2pm
Closed Monday
Open Farm Day - July 25th!
Join us this Sunday for a day full of fun and learning. Besides the tours of the farm animals and gardens, demos, and wonderful food samples. We are fortunate to have several guest performers and educators to help with some of the demonstrations.
Open Farm Days will start at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. for Nezinscot.
The following is how the day is planned out.
Farm tours on demand: Roy, Everet, and Mackenzie will gladly give tours of our farm and answer questions to the best of their ability. Prepare yourself for some conversation; what ends up happening is story telling of their life, their family, what all goes on according to them, etc....
Spinning Demonstrations using our own wool and some angora bunny hair will be taking place on the front porch throughout the day.
10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Fresh mozzarella making. Learn how easy it is to make some fresh mozzarella using two ingredients and minimal equipment.
11a.m. to 1 p.m.: See a Top Bar Bee Hive up close. Top Bar Bee Keeper Christy Hemenway of Gold Star Honey Bees (www.goldstarhoneybees) will be joining us at Nezinscot. Come learn basic bee management practices, philosophy, and rationale behind the growing movement toward natural and green bee keeping- natural wax, and why that matters. No prior bee keeping experience required for this fun and informative presentation; just bring your inquisitive mind. Bee keeping supplies and kits for your own top bar bee hive will be available to purchase should you be interested.
1 p.m to 2 p.m.:Kids musical show in the haymow of our new barn. The Fofers have touched down again at Nezinscot Farm. They have been helping with the Garlic Harvest and are gearing up to put on a show for kids of all ages for Open Farm Days. The multi-colored furry Fofers live on the special secret island of Fof off the coast of Maine. The Fofers like to ride bikes, climb trees, eat berries and do all sorts of other Foferific things. Shana Barry (fofer developer and designer) will share stories and songs from Fof on guitar and ukulele and introduces the three-foot tall furry Fofers. Visit Fofers.com for music and animations.
2 p.m.: Making ice cream on the front porch. Join us as we make ice cream using a hand cranked ice-cream maker. Be prepared to assist and earn your free sample.
Tastings on the porch: There will be all sorts of foods and condiments to sample throughout the day.
2:30 a guided tour of Nezinscot through the eyes of Gloria Varney (owner of Nezinscot) Where they started, where they are, and where they want to go with Nezinscot.
HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL HERE ON SUNDAY
Join us this Sunday for a day full of fun and learning. Besides the tours of the farm animals and gardens, demos, and wonderful food samples. We are fortunate to have several guest performers and educators to help with some of the demonstrations.
Open Farm Days will start at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. for Nezinscot.
The following is how the day is planned out.
Farm tours on demand: Roy, Everet, and Mackenzie will gladly give tours of our farm and answer questions to the best of their ability. Prepare yourself for some conversation; what ends up happening is story telling of their life, their family, what all goes on according to them, etc....
Spinning Demonstrations using our own wool and some angora bunny hair will be taking place on the front porch throughout the day.
10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Fresh mozzarella making. Learn how easy it is to make some fresh mozzarella using two ingredients and minimal equipment.
11a.m. to 1 p.m.: See a Top Bar Bee Hive up close. Top Bar Bee Keeper Christy Hemenway of Gold Star Honey Bees (www.goldstarhoneybees) will be joining us at Nezinscot. Come learn basic bee management practices, philosophy, and rationale behind the growing movement toward natural and green bee keeping- natural wax, and why that matters. No prior bee keeping experience required for this fun and informative presentation; just bring your inquisitive mind. Bee keeping supplies and kits for your own top bar bee hive will be available to purchase should you be interested.
1 p.m to 2 p.m.:Kids musical show in the haymow of our new barn. The Fofers have touched down again at Nezinscot Farm. They have been helping with the Garlic Harvest and are gearing up to put on a show for kids of all ages for Open Farm Days. The multi-colored furry Fofers live on the special secret island of Fof off the coast of Maine. The Fofers like to ride bikes, climb trees, eat berries and do all sorts of other Foferific things. Shana Barry (fofer developer and designer) will share stories and songs from Fof on guitar and ukulele and introduces the three-foot tall furry Fofers. Visit Fofers.com for music and animations.
2 p.m.: Making ice cream on the front porch. Join us as we make ice cream using a hand cranked ice-cream maker. Be prepared to assist and earn your free sample.
Tastings on the porch: There will be all sorts of foods and condiments to sample throughout the day.
2:30 a guided tour of Nezinscot through the eyes of Gloria Varney (owner of Nezinscot) Where they started, where they are, and where they want to go with Nezinscot.
HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL HERE ON SUNDAY
Early Summer Update
This time of year if always busy at the farm and 2010 is no different! For starters, we have new life at the farm: Willamena (our Devon cow) gave birth to a beautiful bull calf, Ike. At the moment, mother and son are being housed in the new barn behind the store along with some of the baby goats and lambs. Not to be outdone, Willamena's sister, Ms. Bendy is also due to give birth soon, which we are anxiously awaiting. Our goal with the Devon cows is to utilize their milk together with some of our goats milk in the creation of a unique cheese.
We have also been hosts to two Bates students, Judson and Gwenyth, during the college short-term. In addition to helping prep gardens and prepare pastures for the animals, both students have come to learn a bit about sustainable organic and biodynamic farming. This week the two of them were exposed to Biodynamic preparations and their applications. Two afternoons in a row we sprayed barrel compost and BD 500. Both preps play an important role in preparing the Earth for its upcoming job of providing us with food for the upcoming growing season. Once the gardens are planted, three more preps will be added in the early morning to prepare plants for growth and the consumption of nutrients made available to them for production.
BEES HAVE ARRIVED! Saturday, May 15th was Bee Pick-Up day. This past winter I participated in a Top Bar Bee Keeping Course through the Freeport Adult Education. The most intriguing element of this endeavor is the top-bar-style bee hives. Visitors to the farm recently may have noticed three yellow and black-roofed little houses sitting around the back and front yard, which is where the bees are housed. In this system, the bees create their own comb from individual bars that lay directly under the roof. This becomes where the honey is then produced and harvested one bar at a time rather than moving a 40-lb super. This arrangement also integrates a viewing window from the rear to allow the beekeeper to have a better handle of what is going on inside. These innovations all contribute to creating a more relaxing experience for both bee and keeper in addition to promoting a more natural environment within which the bees may live and produce honey.
One of the most important lessons I have learned is that one should seriously consider harvesting honey in the spring so as to allow adequate food for the bees through the winter. Many beekeepers guess as to how much honey to leave based on past history of winter storage needs. However, winter oftentimes warrants supplementation via a sugar-based syrup that is fed to the bees to see them through the rest of the winter or spring. This alone is enough to potentially cause stress for the bees which may result in shortened lifespan or raise havoc in a hive. We know what sugar does to the human body; what makes us think that bees are immune to that? Yet another reason to care about where your food is coming from and to ask questions.
THE COWS ARE OUT! Usually this kind of statement has us jumping out of our seats and running for the front door. However, not this time. The cows are out for their annual pasturage. The grass is growing and forage is plentiful. People often ask why aren't the cows out during certain times of the day. All animals, like humans, have schedules that they like to keep. For the cows, sheep and goats, that schedule is set in stone during grazing season: out first thing in the morning when it is cool, then back inside around 11 a.m. to rest and seek relief from the heat, then back out around 1p.m. until milking time around 4. We keep them in during the evening so as to avoid any midnight rendezvous that certain animals like to have; waking us up to the sound of someone saying “The cows are out!" We need our sleep, after all.
This time of year if always busy at the farm and 2010 is no different! For starters, we have new life at the farm: Willamena (our Devon cow) gave birth to a beautiful bull calf, Ike. At the moment, mother and son are being housed in the new barn behind the store along with some of the baby goats and lambs. Not to be outdone, Willamena's sister, Ms. Bendy is also due to give birth soon, which we are anxiously awaiting. Our goal with the Devon cows is to utilize their milk together with some of our goats milk in the creation of a unique cheese.
We have also been hosts to two Bates students, Judson and Gwenyth, during the college short-term. In addition to helping prep gardens and prepare pastures for the animals, both students have come to learn a bit about sustainable organic and biodynamic farming. This week the two of them were exposed to Biodynamic preparations and their applications. Two afternoons in a row we sprayed barrel compost and BD 500. Both preps play an important role in preparing the Earth for its upcoming job of providing us with food for the upcoming growing season. Once the gardens are planted, three more preps will be added in the early morning to prepare plants for growth and the consumption of nutrients made available to them for production.
BEES HAVE ARRIVED! Saturday, May 15th was Bee Pick-Up day. This past winter I participated in a Top Bar Bee Keeping Course through the Freeport Adult Education. The most intriguing element of this endeavor is the top-bar-style bee hives. Visitors to the farm recently may have noticed three yellow and black-roofed little houses sitting around the back and front yard, which is where the bees are housed. In this system, the bees create their own comb from individual bars that lay directly under the roof. This becomes where the honey is then produced and harvested one bar at a time rather than moving a 40-lb super. This arrangement also integrates a viewing window from the rear to allow the beekeeper to have a better handle of what is going on inside. These innovations all contribute to creating a more relaxing experience for both bee and keeper in addition to promoting a more natural environment within which the bees may live and produce honey.
One of the most important lessons I have learned is that one should seriously consider harvesting honey in the spring so as to allow adequate food for the bees through the winter. Many beekeepers guess as to how much honey to leave based on past history of winter storage needs. However, winter oftentimes warrants supplementation via a sugar-based syrup that is fed to the bees to see them through the rest of the winter or spring. This alone is enough to potentially cause stress for the bees which may result in shortened lifespan or raise havoc in a hive. We know what sugar does to the human body; what makes us think that bees are immune to that? Yet another reason to care about where your food is coming from and to ask questions.
THE COWS ARE OUT! Usually this kind of statement has us jumping out of our seats and running for the front door. However, not this time. The cows are out for their annual pasturage. The grass is growing and forage is plentiful. People often ask why aren't the cows out during certain times of the day. All animals, like humans, have schedules that they like to keep. For the cows, sheep and goats, that schedule is set in stone during grazing season: out first thing in the morning when it is cool, then back inside around 11 a.m. to rest and seek relief from the heat, then back out around 1p.m. until milking time around 4. We keep them in during the evening so as to avoid any midnight rendezvous that certain animals like to have; waking us up to the sound of someone saying “The cows are out!" We need our sleep, after all.
Earth Day Celebration
On April 22nd we held our annual Earth Day celebration. We appreciate all who attended the farm tours and potluck!
Earth Day was also the occasion of our inaugural barn dance in our new building! The event turned out to be of some import not only to the humans present, but also our two-and-four-legged residents downstairs, who each seemed to have a different opinion of the festivities: the horses immediately headed for the woods and the goats their kids took the extra activity as a sign that it was time to play. The sheep, however, did not appear impressed at all and made several entrances into the barn as a flock, proceeding to bleat in unison....seemingly in an attempt to outplay the music coming down from above. Ultimately their efforts proved futile and they, too, retreated to the back woods until things quieted down around 9pm. Nonetheless, fun was had by (almost) all!
On April 22nd we held our annual Earth Day celebration. We appreciate all who attended the farm tours and potluck!
Earth Day was also the occasion of our inaugural barn dance in our new building! The event turned out to be of some import not only to the humans present, but also our two-and-four-legged residents downstairs, who each seemed to have a different opinion of the festivities: the horses immediately headed for the woods and the goats their kids took the extra activity as a sign that it was time to play. The sheep, however, did not appear impressed at all and made several entrances into the barn as a flock, proceeding to bleat in unison....seemingly in an attempt to outplay the music coming down from above. Ultimately their efforts proved futile and they, too, retreated to the back woods until things quieted down around 9pm. Nonetheless, fun was had by (almost) all!
Nezinscot Farm CSA
The month of April is a great time to become involved with local agriculture and your food sources. Here at Nezinscot, your upfront money gives you credit towards anything we sell here at the farm, including vegetables, meats, cheeses, breads and other baked goods, yarns, woolens, canned goods and cafe items. Based upon the share size purchased, you will automatically receive an additional bonus of 2%-%5.
Unlike many CSAs which require a weekly pickup, we allow our members to shop at their own convenience; you shop whenever and however you want to.
CSAs help us plan for upcoming projects and improvements such as a wood-fired oven in the existing bakery, a new stamped-concrete porch floor and a new greenhouse to facilitate year-round growing.