March in Maine is NO Picnic

Mud season is raw and messy and not the least bit sexy

Perching on the stool at the card table in the Propagation Room, I positioned myself toward the patch of sunlight streaming through the window 🪟 and got to work seeding onions. The musty scent of the germination mix hit me as I settled in, and I felt my mood lift immediately. It’s that particular alchemy of soil, seed and winter sunlight working its quiet magic.

At this stage of winter, Mainers are fed up. The novelty of snow has long worn off and we’ve had our fill of gray days. We’re past the romance of dark evenings by the fire and well into that peculiar exhale of early March—where the snow pulls back a little more each day and sap is beginning to move through the maples as the land comes alive once more... 🌱

HI. I’m Sam from Maine Homestead Life, a newsletter that teaches the skills our grandparents knew: how to grow, raise, and make REAL food and live independently from corporate food systems.

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In This Post:

How I Do Onions🧅
Vet Visits and an Update on Murphy
BraeTek’s First Job!
2026 Farm Investments
March in Maine is No Picnic
Community Updates

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How I Do Onions🧅

🪴Much preferring the 72-cell trays for most seedlings, I sowed a mixed variety of onions and scallions (I like to have both white and purple varieties) into the pre-moistened germination mix that filled the cells. Using the butt-end of a pencil, I’d indented one hole into the center of each cell, and now I filled each hole with a pinch of onion seed.

That’s how I do my onion crops.

It’s a method I’ve adapted from Eliot Coleman’s book The Four Season Harvest, in which he shares a Dutch idea called “multiplants.” I sow 5 seeds together, planning for 4 to germinate, with no intention of thinning them. This allows you to grow transplants in groups rather than as singles. Spacing your clumps 10–12 inches apart makes planting onions a breeze compared to planting them individually. The onions gently push each other aside as they grow, and the yield is the same as it would be planted in rows 3 inches apart.

🤏Having used this method for years, I’ve found that a scant pinch is usually about five or six seeds. Since I was working with 2024 seed, I was a little more generous to ensure at least 4 onion plants per cell.

Vet Visits and an Update on Murphy

🐕Meanwhile—when we last left off, I was still awaiting my Federal refund for financial relief. Murphy needed to visit the local veterinarian, we needed heating fuel, and the mortgage payment was due. Since then, those funds have come in and provided a little breathing room.

JAMES MURPHY
🐶I’m not sure what’s wrong with my old black lab, James Murphy (Murphy or Murph for short) but his hind legs have become very weak over these last few months and he seems to tremble and ache all over. At his age it’s not uncommon for this farm dog to overdo it on occasion and then spend a couple of days obviously sore, laying about more than usual. But it had gone from the occasional bad day to weeks of this progressively worsening condition.

💉So I took Murphy to see kindly old Doc Benson at Carrabassett Veterinary Services. Blood work led to collecting additional “samples” for further investigation, and Murphy cast suspicious glances over his shoulder as I held the leash in one hand and a shallow Tupperware dish in the other.

The urine sample took him by surprise—but Murph absolutely refused to poop with someone watching. I had to wait inside and spy through the window to see where he did his business, then sneak out after him to retrieve the fecal sample.

The things we do for our fur-babies…

🤔After reviewing the results, Doc Benson believes Murphy is suffering from a rare form of inflammatory muscle disease and has prescribed a steroid, with a follow-up in a week to check for improvement. In the meantime, Murphy is taking his medication and eating well, going regularly, and seems happy enough for an old guy living his best life on a farm in Maine.

BEEBE THE BRAVE
🐾Beebe has also been to the vet for her annual well-puppy visit. After her week-long hospital stay last year, the staff recognized her on sight, and welcomed her back warmly. She still prefers the ladies over the gentlemen, however, and we had to muzzle her so Doc Benson could perform his physical inspection without risk.

Livestock breeds are naturally distrustful of strangers and strange situations, and at 123 pounds of muscle, Beebe could do serious damage if she took the notion.

Now going on 6, she’s well-accustomed to being muzzled at the vet—just for the physical exam or when bloodwork or shots are involved. We use a soft muzzle, loosely strapped, and that’s enough to protect the staff and allow them to do their jobs. Ultimately it makes everyone feel safe and calm, which really only benefits Beebe—she can sense their ease and confidence, and that in turn reassures her that she’s among friends.

The exam room felt a little cramped with one extra-large dog, a dog-parent, a vet, and a vet tech all squeezed in together. Beebe gave a low warning growl as Doc Benson came into her space—but by the end of the visit she’d rolled over for a tummy rub.

That’s so Beebe!😆

BraeTek’s First Job!

👦Since December, BraeTek has been on the hunt for his first real job. A couple of weeks back we thought he’d secured a position at the local Dollar General, but time passed and they never called him in. So when I mentioned that Longfellows Restaurant in Kingfield was hiring a dishwasher/prep-cook, he decided to apply. The owner promptly hired him, and BraeTek works his very first shift this Friday night. As a bonus, the job pays $4 more per hour than the Dollar General and offers more hours too.

Longfellows is a well-respected establishment in our area, and I believe it will offer my son more opportunity for advancement should he choose to pursue a career in cooking or the restaurant industry. I’ve taught him a thing or two in the kitchen, and he has a real inclination toward good food—so the foundation is already laid. I can’t wait to see where his journey takes him.

2026 Farm Investments

🚗Whether or not to use the tax refund to purchase a replacement vehicle was an agonizing decision. Ultimately it came down to the fact that we needed heating fuel, and Murphy’s vet visit couldn’t wait. After those expenses it wouldn’t have left enough to buy any vehicle worthwhile, so I committed to using Dan’s loaner car for the time being and to squirreling funds away by hook or by crook to buy something for BraeTek later this year. My own wheels will have to wait.

💶Every year I set aside a chunk of my tax refund for farm investments—it's become something of an annual ritual, the moment when winter planning finally becomes spring action. Despite the financial pressures of this year, I decided I’d better make the purchases to a) maintain what I’ve built so far, and b) ensure we have what we need should I decide that growing and selling food are the answer to my current financial problems. I won’t get rich, but when combined with BraeTek’s new income, it might just keep us afloat.

This year we put about $1,800 toward essential purchases for the coming season.

Here's how it breaks down:

• $800 — new net fences and materials to repair the old ones

• $350 — seeds🫘

• $150 — grain, corn, and supplements for the sheep

• $120 — trail cam 2-pack (therapy shopping / early Mother’s Day present)

• $100 — two new fruit trees and raspberry plants for the orchard🌳

• $100 — soil amendments for new and established fruit trees

• $100 — long-range wifi extender

• $60 — new muck boots for BraeTek

• $50 — lambing supplies🐑

➡️Check out our Amazon wish list to see how you can help!

March in Maine is NO Picnic

Noting the light onion fragrance as I poured seeds into the palm of my hand, I thought about what’s waiting for me outside that window.🪟

March in Maine is NO picnic.

The snow is pulling back to reveal everything it buried since November: yard debris, forgotten tools, dog poop, and—on a farm—there’s also the accumulated evidence of a winter’s worth of livestock activity rising up from the mud in ways that are—let’s say—“fragrant”.

Mud season is raw and messy and not the least bit sexy.

⏰️But here’s the thing about all that muck—underneath it the land is waking up. The sap is running💧, the days are getting longer, and somewhere under that sludge the first green things are already stirring.

Finances may be tight and 2026 has definitely been kicking my butt, but the wheel of the year turns whether we’re ready or not—and with it comes the promise that every muddy, messy, hard-won spring eventually becomes summer. New opportunities are out there, waiting just around the corner and it’s up to you and me to embrace them.🙏

Sending love and good juju to you and yours.

Your friendly neighborhood farmer,

—Sam

Thank you for following along with this farmish journey! If these stories resonate with you, consider buying me a coffee or making a one-time donation through PayPal or Venmo.

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Community Updates

➡️In case you missed it, here is a link for last week’s how-to article:

➡️Membership tiers now include personalized garden and homestead consultations!

📅Annual paid members—at just $70 for the full year—now have access to a 30-minute one-on-one session with me where we dig into your specific situation, your land, your goals.

☝️Founding members receive a 60-minute 1-on-1 strategy session with me from which I will create a customized planting or homestead plan built around your land, your goals, and your climate. Includes a 30-minute mid-season follow-up session scheduled to discuss your progress.

❗If you’ve been wanting real guidance without the guesswork, this is the most affordable way I’ve ever offered it. For more information see: How to Work With Me.

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