“A thing is right only when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the community, and the community includes the soil, water, fauna and flora, as well as the people.”
~Aldo Leopold
Welcome to the Runamuk Acres Conservation Farm!
Here you will find the recantings of one lady-farmer and tree-hugging activist from the mountains of Western Maine. I write about self-reliance and sustainability, agriculture and the local food movement, sharing solutions for other homesteaders and farmers.
Throughout my writings, you’ll find anecdotes from my life as a farmer and conservationist, essays on nature and nature-connectedness. In an effort to share my knowledge and experience, all of my how-to articles, guides and more—are all open access to subscribers in general. Paid subscribers, however, also receive exclusive access to The Harvest Hub and the opportunity for a 1-hour Shop-Talk with Farmer Sam.
Sam I Am
My Farm-Journey
When I was 16, I could not have imagined that my life’s journey would take me to the place I am today. Yet, somehow, I have been farming in one form or another for 28 of my 44 years. Nature was a healing and inspiring force, always beckoning, and I was (and still am) powerless to resist Her. That affinity for nature combined with a mother’s desire to feed her family quality, nutritious foods, led me down the proverbial rabbit hole into scratch cooking, gardening, homesteading, homeschooling, community activism and farming.
Education
Along my journey into an agrarian lifestyle, I studied with the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension as a Master Gardener. Serving 6 years as the president of the Somerset Beekeepers’ group, I taught beekeeping classes locally and gave many presentations throughout the region. For my hometowns’ Madison Farmers’ Market, I gave 6 years to the community as market manager.
Career
For years I operated as a landless farmer, working full or part-time and growing my income from agriculture on the side. After apprenticing at Medicine Hill, an organic farm in Starks, Maine, I went on to spend 5 years at Johnny’s Selected Seeds. In 2018, I was finally able to buy my own farm as a beginning farmer through the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Since then I’ve worked doggedly to establish the Runamuk Acres Conservation Farm in New Portland, Maine.
➡️Check out my farm-website to learn more about Runamuk’s mission!
Conservation Efforts
Together with my 18 year-old son, I am raising chickens, sheep and vegetables. While we maintain a farmstand providing farm-fresh food to our local community, the real work I am doing is in conservation.
Utilizing methods of conservation agriculture, it is my mission to promote the health and well-being of beneficial insects and soil microbial life on this farm. I believe that by focusing my conservation efforts on these keystone organisms, it will have a ripple effect on the habitat as a whole.
Through the Runamuk Acres Conservation Farm, I strive to expose people to farm-life, real food, and to connect them with nature. That connection fosters understanding, compassion and tolerance for wildlife, which inspires people to make earth-friendly choices.
It is my hope that this Substack does the same.
Your Support
When you subscribe to the Runamuk blog, you’re not just supporting a single-mom and solo-farmer. You’re supporting local agriculture and helping to increase access to locally produced food in the western region of Maine. Most importantly—you’re directly supporting conservation efforts at Runamuk Acres.
➡️Funds generated go to things like:
Materials to build: trail signage, birdhouses, bat houses, and a native bee “hotels”.
Fencing to improve our rotational grazing regimen.
Feed and care of our organic lawnmowers (our super-friendly sheep!).
Learn more about the benefits of Becoming a Member or Join Now!
Send a Gift!
Want to support this small farm but don’t need another subscription? Now you can send us a gift from Runamuk’s Amazon Wish List to show us how much you appreciate our work!
Thank you for reading and following along with the story of this lady-farmer!
