Runamuk Acres Conservation Farm
Soil-first farming, building health from the ground up!
This was Runamuk’s first-ever lambing season, and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to sheep-breeding. I’ve more than doubled the size of my flock this spring, going from 4 sheep to 10, my ideal flock-size. This means that next year Runamuk will be able to offer our grass-fed lamb-meat to local patrons. I…
I have to admit that deliveries on the back roads of Maine have long been a favored pastime for this farmer. Countless little roads thread their way across the landscape, beckoning the traveler off the 2-lane highways and deeper into the heart of the state. Here are the places where Maine’s legacy still exists─a hold-over…
Over the course of the winter months, this farmer has been hyper-focused on growing food and community here at Runamuk. I spent the winter just doing the work─getting my affairs in order so that Runamuk can have a successful 2020 growing season. As a result, things on the blog-front have been fairly quiet. I wouldn’t presume…
Earn bonus bucks with Runamuk’s early bird sale on CSA farm-shares! It’s been 10 years since my first CSA program, back when Runamuk was brand new and I was farming on a one-acre corner lot in-town Anson. I did the more common style of CSA then─where members received a weekly share of whatever was in…
In a surprising new twist, Runamuk is now offering a weekly Farm Delivery Program for locals! Fresh breads, muffins, cookies, leafy-green pea shoots─and whatever other farm-products I have available─delivered directly to the home of participating local customers. Whaaaaaat!? Originally I’d intended this program to begin in the spring of 2020 with the availability of vegetables….
After spending the last 10 years fixated on bees, I am finally shifting focus! From this day forward, Runamuk will no longer be all about bees and pollinator conservation! Gasp! Bee-Fever I became enthralled with bees quite unexpectedly. Though I’d been the proverbial tomboy as a child, I’d never been much of a “bug-person”. It…
An unusual October Nor’easter tore through New England last week, breaking records and causing power outages for over a million households. Here at Runamuk, the fierce winds sent the sheep-tractor flying to land toppled upside-down a good 10 yards down the field. I don’t know how long my poor sheep were exposed to the elements,…
And just like that September is here; summer is winding down, the kids are back in school, and all focus is shifting to winter preparations. Runamuk’s first growing season upon our forever-farm home has certainly had it’s share of ups and downs. Yet, even though finances are stupid-tight and I’m facing another winter here without…
Lilian’s angry temper tantrum on Sunday morning was almost comical to watch, as I worked to shuffle the sheep fencing across the pasture. If you’ve never seen a sheep in a temper-tantrum, you should, “these things are fun, and fun is good…” Personally, I might have found more humor in the ewe’s dramatics if I…
It’s both exhilarating and terrifying to say that I am now farming full-time─with no off-farm income. No safety net. Nothing. It’s sink or swim; do or die trying. For better or worse, my income is now generated exclusively by this property. My life (and my finances) are in my own hands. Parting Ways With Johnny’s…