Transformations on The Farm
Hello Dandelion Spring Community,
This was first published in our Feb. 7, 2024 newsletter. For the most up to date farm information please subscribe below!
As we begin on our 22nd season, Dandelion Spring is embracing significant changes that reflect a renewed focus on our roots and a fresh perspective on our passion.
Winter, without the pressure of rapid summer growth, provides us the opportunity to set intentions, and move through the woods while ideas become more expansive. It’s a season of decision-making, where foundations are laid for the approaching year through crop plans, seed selections, and team building.
Our farm journey began on leased land in Appleton and Union, delivering CSA shares door-to-door from St. George to Camden during our inaugural season. The Rockland market became a cornerstone for us in 2003, defining the Midcoast as our home. However, after two decades of Thursdays in Harbor Park, we’ve made the heartfelt decision to step back from the Rockland market this season.
The move to Bowdoinham in 2018 highlighted the challenge of spanning both the Midcoast and Southern Maine. Amidst life changes, maintaining familiarity provided stability, but it also prompted us to reevaluate our direction and style.
A pivotal moment with slow growth happened for me at a conference in the early 2000s. I was inspired by a speaker discussing a minimal-tillage permanent bed farming model. During the past two decades, I followed my peers toward a more multi-disciplinary approach with increased scale, while the allure of the permanent bed model lingered. Meanwhile, I’ve sat with the idea that growing at a smaller scale, without compromising overall farm sustainability, was a better match for my personality as a farm leader and how I want to engage with the land.
In 2024, Dandelion Spring will see a significant reduction in production field size, focusing almost exclusively on no-till permanent beds. Sales will be refocused within a 45-minute radius of the farm. Paradoxically, this change in style and market focus enables us to reintroduce more crop diversity, reviving our role as small-scale specialty crop grower. There will be more fancy sprouting broccoli and less lettuce mix.
Saying goodbye to the familiar faces we’ve shared the proverbial kitchen table with in Rockland over the years is bittersweet. Stepping away from a financially meaningful market is daunting, and redirecting energy towards a competitive market saturated with farms carries inherent risks. Yet, we’re reaching for the gifts of Covid setting the ground for a cultural permission to pivot, and business maturity supporting us as we take risks and embrace change.
To our Midcoast friends, there are numerous ways to stay connected with Dandelion Spring (details below!). We hope to see you at the farm, a farm-to-table event, or during an educational gathering, quiet picnic, or stroll in the near future. We are very grateful for the ways our paths have crossed and your consistent relationship with Dandelion Spring.
To growth and ground,
Beth
