History of Snakeroot Organic Farm

by Tom Roberts
Also see our 2004 article From a Run Out Hayfield to a Prosperous Organic Farm in Ten Easy Years.

1995   1996   1997   1998   1999   2000   2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2006   2007

In the beginning . . .

Lois & Tom met in the winter of 1990, and in the spring Lois moved to Peacemeal Farm in Dixmont where Tom had been working since 1980. In 1990, Tom's mother Dorothy moved there, too. In the spring of 1995 we decided to buy our own place. We found our new place in Pittsfield, a run-out 8 acre hayfield in the midst of 74 acres of partly cut over woods on the Snakeroot Road. In the fall of 1995, we moved our mobile homes onto the land and started to farm.

• We purchased land in May, began moving our stuff to the land.
• We continued going to farmers' markets with produce from Peacemeal, but now as "Snakeroot Organic Farm".
• Purchased Kubota L2900 tractor with bucket, rototiller, wood chipper, grader blade, tool bar with disks, and bush hog from Dorr's Equipment in Bangor.
• Had Irving's Spreader Service from Clinton spread lime on the fields.
• Began Upper Perennial Garden, Upper Veg Garden & Lower Veg Garden.

• Built Back Shed to store GH & veg packing supplies, lumber &ct. David & Susan help.
• Red brought over shed roof and placed it next to Garage to make Garage Shed. David helps build walls.
• Eric Souther & Malika Osborn moved bus into woods and build shitter & attached woodshed while they stayed the winter.

• Began Middle Veg Garden & Lower Perennial Garden.
• We begin selling in Pittsfield, and decide to start the Pittfield Farmers' Market.

• Had Dick Webber pour slab for Addition and slab under Garage Shed.
• Built Greenhouse Shed to hold GH & veg packing supplies.
• Built addition onto Back Shed almost doubling it's size.

• Erect Greenhouse with help from Jim Richmond, Jim Freeman & son Rory, Jim Stockwell and Ray Gorman. Jim Freeman's scaffolding comes in very handy.
• First Pittsfield Farmers' Market, made $10 the first day.

• Pittsfield delivers several loads of municipal chips. Built root cellar covered with Chips, but it doesn't work.

• Built addition onto GH shed.
• Built Addition roof, using local cedar poles and lumber from shed disassembled at Peacemeal.
• Built lumber shed addition onto Back Shed. Covered with GH plastic roofing.
• Pittsfield delivers several loads of leaves, bagged & loose.

• Asplundh begins delivering chips, perhaps a dozen loads. Used mostly for fill and apple tree, Lower Perennail Garden, and teardrop garden mulch. LPG mulch is over newspapers.
• Began Middle Perennial Garden & Well Garden.
• Lois began attending Unity Farmers' Market its first year.

• Leaf rakers begin deliveries. We advertise for leaves in The Community Newspaper.
• Built Sunroom around South & West walls of Addition. Brought up cement mixer from Wilmington after Thanksgiving and began pouring Flagg form wall as base. Finished placing last of Hyzod after first snow in early January with David's help.

• Carrots, scallions, lettuce and beet greens harvested during May from our first winter GH plantings.
• Attended first MOFGA Spring Thing. Made over $400 on plants & early GH veg in 2 days.

• Asplundh delivers dozens of loads of chips. Used for mulch in apple trees, cukes & ssq, garlic, spread on hay fields (extra heavy on field access roads), spread on Middle Perennial Garden with rye cover, and part of Lower Veg Garden with rye cover. Also used to level woods trails, which turns out to be a waste.
• Began Squash Garden next to Lower Veg Garden.
• Dick Treadwell pounds well for GH & fields. Cost $2800; depth 130 ft.; yield 5 gpm.
• Amy Pawelczyk and Jim Buckle work the summer.
• Jenny Mugrace, Molly O'Neill and Wendy Miller begin work picking beans and keep coming back to help with cordwood wall in winter.

• Rebuilt Sunroom with vertical walls on south side.
• Built 8' x 8' Cooler in Washing Area.
• Built & filled woodshed behind house. GH plastic roof.
• Almost finished filling in field ruts at start of Ruts Trail.
• Sold first Echinacea roots.
• Pittsfield delivers 4 loads of leaves. Three leaf rakers deliver a dozen or so loads of leaves. Leaves delivered in 1997 and piled to rot were added to GH beds.
• Lois begins work at Sebasticook Health Care Facility for the winter.

• Built first Sap House at junction of Malika's & Big Stump Trails. Used old GH plastic for roof.
• Bought Waterloo-Small sap evaporator, $925.
• Added new GH Plastic layer to lumber shed.
• Finished north cordwood wall of Addition. Includes 3' x 6' window and fan vent, cold larder and door to Woodshed.
• Sold first winter storage carrots to Nagle Local Produce Co.
• Ordered drip irrigation system enough to water 7500 linear ft. Our 5gpm well can water 1000 ft at a time.
• Began work on Farmers Retirement Plan.

• We join the startup Fairfield Farmers' Market.

• Suzanne Charles set up a tent on the Bus trail and worked for several weeks.

• Lois works at Sanfield for the winter.
• Alex DeLuca helps build beginning of apprentice house with cedar logs. Also helps gather firewood.

• We build cedar pole greenhouse and cover with old greenhouse plastic.

• We mix grass clippings with wood chips to make our first "vegetarian" compost.
• Wage workers include: Alesio Canu, Breanna Norris, Jacobi Ballard, Lori Labbe, Rose Roy, Bruce Ferguson, Lynn Pussic and John Brewster, and several young bean pickers.
• Irvin and Bruce build us an octagonal picnic table.

• Began filling in wet spot in Hobbit Trail with rocks to better access back woodlot.
• Purchased a 14' x 60' greenhouse and erected it in the Upper Perennial Garden.
• Built an addition onto outdoor woodshed.
• Four leaf rakers are now regularly delivering. One comes all summer with grass clippings.
• Pittsfield delivers 2 loads of bagged leaves.
• Purchased Troy-Bilt 5 hp Bronco tiller from Huff's for use in the greenhouses.

• Lois worked at Sanfield for the winter.
• Finished entrance wall to addition. Insulated more of the Addition ceiling. Insulated Cold Larder door and back door. Worked on brick walls between Addition and Sunroom.
• Worked on completing the Orchard Trail as a woods road loop.
• Began thinning new sugarbush area behind bus hill.
• Ran maple line to 17 more taps next to bus hill.
• Brushed out maple main line route to new sap house site.

• Lois worked at Sanfield for the Winter.
• Built new Sugarhouse 300 feet further downhill from the original one. (Dec '02)

• Began opening up another field, the Southwest Garden.
• Lindsay Clark lived here as an apprentice for June, July and August.
• Tracey Hezelton worked here from spring to fall.

• Lois worked at Sanfield for the winter.
• Ran the West Line from the new Sugarhouse and cut several cords of fire wood clearing that new section of the sugarbush.

• Added a wood and rolled roofing roof to half the sugarhouse.
• Planted raspberries and grapes (on trellises) in the new Grape Garden.
• Lois puts up 100 quarts of syrup.
• Tom builds large addition to back shed.
• Two humdred foot asparagus bed planted in Upper Garden.
• We buy, disassemble and move here a 27' x 50' greenhouse from Dixmont with help from Bruce Ferguson and Megan, Jeffrey and Zach.

• Tracey Hezelton worked harvesting washing, prepping veggies, and into the fall helping with the firewood.
• Tom's brother Jim brings up a metal carport.
• Reeve Moreau and Dena Foster worked for most of the summer.
• A replacement stove added to the Big Greenhouse.

• Tom's mother Dorothy moves back to Massachusetts.

• Lois worked at Sanfield for the winter.
• Added another 30 maple taps on the East Line. Clearing ashes and maples from this area below and beside the Lower Perennial Garden provided us with several cords of excellent firewood.
• Cut many shading popples from next to the Middle Garden.
• Cut 90 six-foot cedar fence posts for Hanne Tierney.

• Cut many shading popples and birches from beside the Upper Garden.
• Moved the burdock pile and smoothed out an area for a new greenhouse. The same project saw several young apple trees moved to the Apple Garden.
• Gail Shields worked in the greenhouse for several days planting seedlings.
• Lois puts up 108 quarts of maple syrup.
• Lois plants more raspberies and some highbush blueberries.
• Lois and Tom each get new market vans.
• Spring leaf deliveries amount to nearly half the previous fall's deliveries.

• Tom was asked to be mentor to Mitch Miller, the MOFGA Journeyperson at the Garcelon House project in Troy.
• Sarah Leavitt worked two days a week most of the summer picking and washing veggies and weeding. She was Tom's helper at Orono Market a few times.
• Amy Avelar and Webi Bingham work for the summer mulching and weeding and bean picking; Webi continued into the fall picking.
• Emily, Kate and Jill Wrin worked here mulching, weeding and bean picking.
• Lori Labbe worked washing and prepping veggies and picking. Debbi, Jeff and Zach Ferguson picked beans, weeded, planted and other odd jobs.

• Mitch helps at the Orono Farmers' market.
• Jack Cozart begins working at the farm.
• Jack, Mitch, and Dorothy Pappadakis help erect the 27' x 48' frame for our fourth greenhouse.
• Jack, Mitch and Dorothy ask to become apprentices for the 2006 season.

• Lois works only a few days a month at Sanfield.
• Mitch and Jack join the farm as apprentices. Dorothy leaves.
• Tom & Jack rebuilt part of house woodshed roof.
• Tom brushes out a path for the new South Maple Line.
• Firewood cut from the sugarbush from the Middle Trail to Malika's Trail, and at the top of the hill on the Bus Trail, freeing up more maples to grow unimpeded.
• Tom & Jack built firewood shed/shelf greenhouse for GH1 wood.
• Built Mitch's shed along Bus Trail.
• Built Jack's woodshed and composting outhouse at old bus site.
• Cleared Spruces from orchard, using poles for GH5 & GH6.

• Covered GH4, and built end walls.
• Built GH5 and GH6 from cedar and spruce poles with Mitch and Jack.
• Extended Upper Garden Asparagus patch to full length of garden.
• Mitch begins growing mushrooms.
• Mitch begins attending new Waterville Farmers' Market on Thursdays.
• GH1 gets upgraded electrical service by Joe Almeda.
• Mitch attends Skowhegan garden club plant sale.
• Cooler gets a cooling unit, installed by Rob Hall.
• Expanded Squash Piece two beds to the east; and Lower Perennial Garden one bed to the West.
• Grafted Redfields onto Apple Garden trees; grafted trees along Upper Garden, behind trailer and in orchard.
• Built whole set of "aisle tables" for GH1 seedlings.
• Upgraded Grape trellis.

• Upgraded Bus Trail out to Apprentice Cabin site with $700 worth of crushed rock and gravel, plus stones from around the farm.
• Jack, Coco and Tom built apprentice cabin.
• Added seven more taps at top of bus maple line behind cabin.
• Lois planted GH3, GH4 and GH6 with greens in November to see how they overwinter.
• Lois planted GH1 with all beet greens in December, the earliest ever.

• Work on apprentice cabin continues.
• Built shed around apprentice cabin.
• Tom built second woodshed at apprentice cabin.