A Blaze of Glory

The low-lying swamps along Route 16 through Lexington Township are blazing red this week, with vibrant oranges and yellows along the roadside as I make my way to town for a few groceries. When I crest the hill above Kingfield, the whole valley opens up along the Carrabassett River: a patchwork of fire spread across the Bigelow Range. Every hill is showing us how beautiful it can be to let that shit go, and my heart is fit to burst.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I LOVE where I live.

I was smitten the first time I laid eyes on these mountains, and I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else. That love is the driving force behind everything I’ve become: writer, farmer, a literal tree-hugging conservationist. But it hasn’t been easy. I left behind childhood trauma and an abusive marriage, spent years longing for a home and security as a landless farmer, found purpose in feeding my community, and have struggled to make it all work as a single mom. I couldn’t have chosen a rougher path if I’d tried.

In spite of all that, I wrapped up Runamuk’s 2026 CSA last week, carrying baskets and crates of squash, carrots, and potatoes to customers’ cars. I helped load their free pumpkins, chatted about the excellent season we’d had, and wished my neighbors a safe winter. I couldn’t help feeling that maybe—just maybe—I’m on the other side of it now.

For the last few years I worked part-time off the farm doing gardening for locals, then took the lunch-lady job that very nearly ended Runamuk in 2025. That experience provided me with firsthand knowledge of food in the school system, which now comes in handy in my outreach work and discussions. But trying to farm and work off the farm at the same time was limiting, stressful, and exhausting.

This season I finally got to farm full-time. Thanks to BraeTek working and contributing to the household. Thanks to my fairy godmother, and thanks to all of you who read and subscribe. Yes, I had to give up the sheep, but really it’s allowed me to do so much more.

And more looked like six households served by the CSA, a farmstand locals knew they could rely upon, and a return to community service that’s opened the door to new opportunities for Runamuk—and for me.

What’s Been Happening at Runamuk

WRITING HIATUS
I’d been pushing hard with my writing since January, and with the end of the CSA upon me, I decided to take a break from my usual publishing routine. So if you noticed I’d been a little quiet recently, it’s because I have been, lol. I still showed up to the office every day at 4am and used the time to make much-needed updates to the farm’s website, as well as finishing the Stop Tilling guide I’ve been pecking away at all summer.

BraeTek and I went to see the Coyote vs. Acme movie in the theater. You know how I like my retro films—anything that reminds me of growing up in the 80s and 90s. How many of you also grew up watching the Looney Tunes on Saturday mornings? For myself, I have fond memories of watching these cartoons with my dad, and September 26th marked twelve years since he passed, so it was very timely to go and see this film. Daddy would have loved sharing that experience with his grandson, and when I laughed, I could hear his laugh too, echoing in my heart, and I know he was there with us in spirit.

The movie was great, and it stayed true to the Looney Tunes legacy.

I’m so glad I got to share that with my son, but both of us came home with a cold, and I am still getting over it two weeks later.

LEAF-PEEPING IN WESTERN MAINE
During the hiatus, I actually took a day off the farm! I was playing tourist taking in the fall foliage, making the Rangeley loop to explore some of our region’s hidden gems. I’ll be writing about this in a separate upcoming piece, but I visited Reed Brook Falls, Quill Hill, and Hunter Cove Wildlife Sanctuary, had lunch at Sarge’s in Rangeley, then stopped by Cascade Stream Gorge in the Sandy River Plantation before heading home.

I picked these destinations because they’re off the beaten path. Height of Land in Rangeley is well-known throughout the state—it’s right along the road, an easy-access stop for everyone and their brother. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great view, but if you’re able-bodied it’s worth a short walk to see some of these lesser-known marvels of nature and wilderness. I’ve been here my whole life and had never seen some of the sights I saw that day. Beautiful and breathtaking. How anyone can want to pillage these natural wonders for something as trivial as money is something I will never understand.

COVER CROP CROPPING!
During the hiatus, I finally managed to spread out the rest of that manure I brought back a little while ago with the truck. It’s late in the season, but even a little growth is better than none at all, so I scattered a mix of oats, field peas and buckwheat across those beds. I can’t wait to plant into them next spring.

THE OVERWINTERING PROJECT
Thanks to the support of generous readers, I was able to purchase the remaining materials needed to overwinter a crop of carrots and onions here at Runamuk. I made the one-hour trek to Home Depot for 24 lengths of half-inch EMT conduit for the tunnel hoops and ordered the seeds from Johnny’s. Last weekend I got the carrots and onions in the ground just ahead of the forecasted nor’easter, and they’ve had a week of rains and overcast conditions to aid in germination. Ideally I’d have planted them in early September, so I’m not sure how well they will establish before we hit our Persephone period—but we’re going to find out.

FSA BULLSH*T
If you recall, I was all up in arms over a sneaky shared appreciation recapture the FSA sprang on me recently. Apparently, the government attached it to the debt write-down that came from my 2020 conservation contract. Through this “Shared Appreciation Agreement” (SAA) the FSA gets back a share of the property’s increase in value when the agreement matures. Initially I was afraid it was going to be a sizable chunk—like fifty thousand—because that’s where your mind goes when you don’t have enough information, lol. And it was a terrifying prospect for this bootstrap farmer. What would happen if I couldn’t pay? Would they take my farm? Is it all over for me? For Runamuk?

To me it seems like just another way to bleed the working people. Entrapment, even—to lure in desperate farmers with these programs, offer them salvation, and then come back six years later to claw back the money.

I’d always believed I had a good working relationship with the representatives at my county USDA office, so this unexpected SAA felt like a betrayal. That, combined with the lack of communication about the whole thing, really blew my mind.

Come to find out, the SAA matured last November, but I heard not one word about it from the FSA until the real estate appraiser was emailing me to schedule an appointment to re-assess the value of my property. I had to contact the FSA in a panic to find out what the hell was going on, and even then they tried to pass off the lack of communication as an “extension” resulting from the government shutdown. I was pissed and called BS. “I don’t think a government shutdown is the same as a ‘10-month extension,’” I told the rep, “especially when I’m left with three weeks to come up with three grand.” I was ready to take legal action to save my farm if necessary.

When the figure came back at just under $3k, initially I wanted to fight the FSA on it, but after considering all I’ve gained from that original deal, I decided it’s not worth it. Though I’m still cheesed that the mechanism exists at all, and thoroughly disappointed in the FSA, I’ve been given the option to amortize and spread the payments out and I took it. It required me to fill out yet another stack of forms providing the farm’s financial information three different ways, send along copies of my 2025 tax documents, and—rubbing more salt in the wound—I had to include a $16 check for a credit check.

I told my loan officer I’d comply, but I’m going to complain about it every step of the way. And on the memo line of the check where you can write in what it’s for, I wrote “asinine fees”. Because not only is the government taking me for three grand, they also expect me to cover a credit check that THEY want to run. I don’t need a credit check to tell you that my credit fkg sucks lol. That’s the whole reason for stooping so low as to work with the government in the first place.

But whatever. They can have their three grand and I’ll keep my farm, thank you very much!

A Blaze of Glory

The mountains of western Maine let go of everything they can’t carry through winter, and they do it in a blaze of glory. It’s taken me years, relationships and jobs that have nearly ended the farm, and a flock of sheep to learn that same trick.

I’ve opted out of the corporations, the hustle, and every opinion about what a woman alone can and can’t build. What’s left is a farm that fed six households this season in addition to my own, and a view that I’ll never tire of.

The color will be gone within a week or two, and then it’s bare branches, snow on Bigelow, and a long winter to plan for next season. I don’t know how long this stretch will last, and I’m still a little scared to believe it’s finally come. I hope to high heaven I’m not jinxing it, but Imma run with it for as long as it lasts.

Until next week, farm friends.

Sending love and light to you and yours.

Your friendly neighborhood farmer,

—Sam

PS – If you’re not subscribed to my Substack, you’re missing out! I’m doing live videos at Substack, podcasting and essays about opting-out of the corporate consumer-world in favor of independence and self-reliance. Subscribe for free, or become a paid member to access the Grower’s Vault and other paid-member perks!

🫶Ways to Support Runamuk

1. Upgrade to a paid subscription at Substack. It’s what makes this work possible—and it gets you the full Grower’s Vault, monthly Office Hours, and a live workshop every month.

2. Make a one-time contribution toward the farm and our wildlife conservation work through PayPal or Venmo.

3. Send us something off Runamuk’s Amazon Wish List! OR send me a gift for my birthday! I’ll be 46 on September 5th!