News

Aldermere Achievers 4H Club Looking for Steer Customers

The following is a letter written by Cailand Sweeting, a member of the Aldermere Achievers 4H Club.

To Whom It May Concern,

My name is Cailand Sweeting, I am a 4-Her at Aldermere Farm and I am working with a fellow 4-Her, Alice Flint. Currently we are both involved with steer projects. Our projects entail that we buy a steer from Aldermere Farm, raise it, then sell it at an auction at Windsor Fair. In this process we are learning valuable marketing skills and also learning how to work together towards one unified goal. We are hoping to raise two-thousand to three-thousand dollars per animal. Currently we have had our animals since October of last year and they weigh about seven-hundred pounds. We would like their weight to reach one-thousand pounds before the auction. Part of our challenge is to find companies or individuals to sponsor us and bid on our animals at the auction. If you would be interested in supporting us please contact at us at: csweeting114@gmail.com, 236-3257, oreocookie333@gmail.com , or 236-2738. Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Cailand Sweeting and Alice Flint

Aldermere Farm Visitor's Center Open for Season; Farm Tours Offered Fridays

Summer is here, and the black-and-white Belted Galloways are grazing the pastures at Aldermere Farm in Rockport. For those passersby who would like to learn about the Farm, the Aldermere visitor’s center near 20 Russell Avenue will be open during the summer months.

The visitor’s center is staffed by knowledgeable and friendly volunteers who can answer questions about the Farm, and orient visitors to its trails and cattle viewing sites. There are also Beltie retail items for sale. Sales of these items support Aldermere Farm and its mission to protect a working landscape in Rockport and conduct farm-based educational programming.

Because it is volunteer-staffed, open hours may vary at the visitor’s center. Currently, it is open Mondays from 2-4, Tuesdays from 2-4 starting July 12th, Wednesdays from 10-4, Thursdays from 10-5, Fridays from 10-2, and Saturdays from 10-2. If you are traveling a long distance, please call the Aldermere office at 236-2739 to confirm the center will be open.

For those that would like an even more in-depth experience at Aldermere Farm, there will be guided farm tours happening every Friday starting at 10 AM. These tours will meet at the farm barn at 20 Russell Avenue. The Aldermere Achievers 4H Club will be on hand showing their cattle haltering and grooming skills during these tours

If you are interested in volunteering at the visitor’s center, please contact Jed Beach, Program Assistant, at 236-2739. Aldermere Farm is a program of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, a statewide land trust.

Moo. . . A Call to Artists for Aldermere Farm's Art Show and Sale

Artists are invited to submit original paintings and drawings for the upcoming Aldermere Art Show and Sale that will take place on Saturday August 14th from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the historic farm in Rockport. The Aldermere Art Show and Sale represents a very important fundraiser to support the Farm’s programs, the continued preservation of this wonderful community landmark, the cattle operations, and the local artists themselves. All artwork should depict the Belted Galloway cattle, Aldermere Farm scenery, or Maine coastal scenes.

Artists are invited to submit for sale framed or matted originals in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pencil, and pastel, or prints of paintings. Artists have two different options for participating: Exhibiting and selling artwork with 30% of the sales price being donated to Aldermere Farm or donating artwork with 100% of the sales price benefiting Aldermere Farm.

There is no limit to the number of originals each artist can submit but prints are limited to 15 per artist. Prints should also be placed in a box or container that could be used for display purposes. Artwork will be on display at the main farm barn gallery on Friday evening August 13th for a Member Appreciation Night event and then all day Saturday for the Art Show and Sale. Artwork can be brought to the Farm office at 70 Russell Ave. during business hours (Monday - Friday 8 am-3:30 pm) with the last day for submission being Tuesday August 10th at 3:30 pm. Please call 236-2739 or email spost@mcht.org for registration information.

Aldermere Farm, a program of Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT), is a working farm and educational center, helping visitors deepen their appreciation for land conservation and sustainable agriculture. Visit www.aldermere.org for more information about Aldermere and MCHT.

Beef Basics at Aldermere Farm July 31st & August 1st

Aldermere Farm’s Annual Beef Basics Weekend promises to yet again be a great success. Here are a few of the great events happening this year; Fitting and Showmanship clinic ran by Matt Thurston owner of Pine Creek Show Cattle, 2 Day hands-on Artificial Insemination Course, and a two day clinic focused on the basics of raising beef cattle with emphasis on meeting the needs of today’s consumer.

For more information, or to receive a registration form, please contact Heidi Baker at hhoward712@msn.com or contact the Aldermere office directly 207-236-2739.

Your Help Needed at the Visitor's Center This Summer

Summer is a busy time at Aldermere Farm. Soon, many passersby will be admiring our herd of Belted Galloways from the roadside - and we want to ensure that they have the opportunity to learn more about the Farm and support it if they want to. We’re asking for you help in volunteering at our visitor’s center this summer. We’re looking for personable folks who would be willing to meet and greet the general public as they amble by to look at the cows, sell them a few retail items or some beef, and most importantly, talk to them about Aldermere Farm and its mission.

We’re looking for volunteers to take one two hour shift per week. Most of our openings are currently on Monday and Saturday, and in the afternoons Tuesday or Friday.

If you’re interested in volunteering at the visitor’s center this summer, consider attending our visitor’s center volunteer orientation on Wednesday, June 16th, from 6-7:30 PM. Please contact Jed Beach at 207-236-2739 or jbeach@mcht.org to let us know you’ll be coming. We hope to see you there!

Study Finds Aldermere's Beltie Beef May Be Healthier for You

For those of you who buy our Belted Galloway beef, you already know that it’s more tender, juicy, and flavorful than a standard grocery store offering. And you know that buying our beef supports our farm and the other local farms that supply us with calves, which helps us to conserve and protect some of Maine’s productive farmlands. You might even know that our cattle graze to their heart’s content on pasture, and that most of the grains we finish them with are grown right here in Maine. And you know that, when you buy beef by the whole quarter and eighth, that you won’t find a better value for such high quality meat than our bulk prices.

Now we’re learning that Beltie beef may be healthier too. New research being conducted by the Belted Galloway Society on our own beef is confirming what we’ve always suspected – that our Beltie beef is leaner and more nutrient dense than average beef. Ribeye steaks from our cattle were found to have less calories and saturated fat compared to the USDA standard for ribeyes, but more protein, calcium, and iron. Moreover, our Beltie beef had much higher levels of “conjugated linoleic acid” than the USDA standards – and CLA is gaining reputation in the medical community as one of the premier “good fatty acids.”

How can Beltie beef be so much leaner, yet still so tender? The secret, it turns out, may be in the enzymes. If you recall from you high school organic chemistry, enzymes are the proteins (mostly) that catalyze activity in living things. They’re the “change agents” of organisms. Beltie beef may have higher concentrations of a calpain, an enzyme implicated in the breakdown of proteins as it’s cooked – turning tough muscle fiber into something so juicy and mouthwatering, it led a New York Times food writer Heidi Julavits, upon biting into a Beltie burger, to proclaim it one of, “…the most sublime hamburgers we’ve ever consumed. We have to eat leaning over our plates to keep the maximally beefy drippings from running down our wrists.”

For more information about purchasing Beltie beef from Aldermere, click here.

Love For Land Resulted In A Gift To Our Community

In 1899 Albert Chatfield Sr. purchased the Aldermere Farm property as a summer destination where his family could enjoy the healthy conditions they realized upon visiting our Maine coast. The next year their son Albert H. Chatfield Jr. was born and thus began a lifelong connection to what has become one of the most beautiful farms in Maine. A studious and thoughtful individual, Albert Jr. was a successful business man who at the age of 50 inherited the farm and made it a focal point for the rest of his long life. First, he reclaimed the fields using pioneering land management practices touted by Louis Bromfield. A few years later he brought the rare but perfectly suited Belted Galloways to the coast of Maine. Soils were tested and amendments applied and rotational grazing of the cattle was implemented to carefully steward his land. His love for the “Belties” led him to develop a world renowned herd respected across several continents and Aldermere Farm began to become not just a treasured oasis for locals but a destination for travelers and even a positive force for our local economy. Not content to rest on his achievements of creating what we now love as Aldermere Farm, in 1976 he sought the assistance of Maine Coast Heritage Trust to begin placing a series of what at the time were also groundbreaking land protection tools called conservation easements. Restricting development on most of the land, while allowing for modest expansion to support sustainable agricultural activities, these easements began to guarantee that his remarkable creation would continue as he planned. Finally in 1999, A.H. Chatfield Jr. culminated nearly a century of love for and protection of Aldermere Farm by bequeathing it to Maine Coast Heritage Trust. It was a gift ten years ago to MCHT but more importantly, a gift to our communities and everyone who visits and enjoys Aldermere whether by enjoying the stunning pastoral vistas or participating in the many MCHT public programs. Like the most special of gifts, it was one that will not only never be forgotten but one that has grown in its significance over the last ten years, and we know it will continue to do so for a long, long time. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us all!

International Group Learns about Maple Sugaring

On March 8th Aldermere was pleased to host and guide a truly international audience through one of Maine’s oldest traditions. Students from around the world who are attending Harvard’s Kennedy school brought their families to Aldermere to take part in the farm’s Sap to Syrup program. Families from Senegal, Columbia, Japan, China, Israel and the United States brought their curiosity and enthusiasm for learning to the Farm. Led by General Manager Ron Howard, the group learned the history of “sugaring”, tree identification and then each of the youth accompanying the group participated in the tapping of the trees. Being a warm day followed by a cold night all the children and many of the adults were able to indulge themselves with a sip of pure maple sap dripping directly from the trees. With just a hint of sugar in the clear sap their curiosity was peaked and will forever remind them of what we already know and that is that Maine is a pretty sweet place!

Knox County Farmer’s Alliance

Once a month at the Union Town Office, farmers from all over Knox County are joining together to participate in a new collective called the Knox County Farmer’s Alliance. The group had its first meeting in February and was initiated by Aldermere Farm staff. The project has taken off and has sparked new interest in the farming community about working together and generating new ideas. “The goal in starting this group was to have a place where farmers in the area could come together, discuss their ideas, share information and talk about the future of agriculture, especially how it pertains to their own businesses and livelihood,” stated Ron Howard of Aldermere Farm. Since the first meeting, the Knox County Farmer’s Alliance have accomplished quite a bit! The group is working with the Union Fair committee to help start a new farmer’s market at the Fair this summer. Also, the Herald Gazette newspaper has agreed to feature regular articles about local farmers. Most importantly, the Alliance has accomplished the simple act of coming together, allowing needs to be voiced, and sometimes met. Whether it is collaborating to transport livestock, or seeking out labor, this group has really come together!

Apple Tree Pruning Workshop Draws a Crowd

On Saturday April 4th, Brien Davis of Hope Orchards presented apple tree pruning techniques to over 30 people on the Aldermere Farm property. The Farm and The Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District collaborated to make this presentation available for the many people in the community who want to care for their own trees. Davis spoke on lots of different topics like when to prune and what are some of the different problems one can have with the trees and fruit from year to year. Davis recommends keeping apple trees pruned in order to get air and light to the tree. He also advises keeping trees from getting too tall because the trees actually grow more fruit if they are more horizontal versus vertical. He also stressed the safety factor of not needing to use a ladder when your tree is shorter. After a brief discussion, attendees were treated to a live pruning demonstration at two apple trees on site. Many different tools were used and discussed and people were able to try their hand at pruning. Davis’ enthusiasm for what he does was infectious and people really learned from his time at the Farm. Visit Hope Orchards in Hope, Maine for your all-natural apples in the fall.