Regular Programs at Aldermere Farm

Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s Aldermere Farm Preserve is a working cattle farm offering youth agricultural programming, ongoing education opportunities for professional farmers, and events and community gatherings.

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Nestled on the western shore of Penobscot Bay in Rockport, Aldermere Farm and its Belted Galloway cattle have been area landmarks for generations. Learn more about the Aldermere Farm preserve here.

• Call Joelle Albury at 207-236-2739 or  for more details or to register. 

Upcoming Events

Community Groups

Community Group Activity Request Form

This form is intended for school groups, youth programs, community service groups, and non-profits to schedule recreational, educational, and community service activities at Aldermere Farm.

Regular Programs at Aldermere Farm

The following programs are offered regularly at Aldermere Farm. See our Upcoming Events list for dates and times.

Aldermere Achievers

The 4-H Club at Aldermere Farm meets year-round to engage in exploratory and experiential learning activities. This club meets monthly to plan community service projects, attend field trips, and build skills. All members additionally complete a project to show at the annual Union Fair. Project options range widely from raising an Aldermere Belted Galloway heifer to presenting a science experiment. Members can join at any time and must be between the ages of 12-18.

• Aldermere Achievers brochure 2026

 

Beltie Holiday

The Beltie Holiday event takes place at Aldermere Farm annually as part of Christmas by the Sea in Camden and Rockport.

The public is invited to don their most festive (or ugliest) holiday sweaters and bring a camera to have their photos taken with a Belted Galloway calf.

Visitors enjoy hot cocoa while decorating their own Beltie ornaments. Baked goods from Aldermere Achievers 4-H Club, Aldermere Farm beef and Beltie-themed stocking stuffers are for sale. Admission is free.

Donations collected at the event support supplying Aldermere beef to area food pantries.

Calf Unveiling Day

Each spring the Farm presents the new calves. Visitors are invited to see the newborns and learn more about the farm, land conservation, and agriculture.

Farm Hands

Photo credit: Devin Altobello

Farm Hands After-school Program (ages 10-18): Register Here

Farm Hands is the premier program for youth ages 10-18 at Aldermere Farm where participants work with the young Belted Galloway calves learning to halter train, groom, and lead them.

This provides a community service to the Farm because it allows the calves to get use to being around people, and to be well tempered and manageable.

Participants also learn about important agricultural, conservation, and environmental issues as well as skills such as teamwork, trust, and patience.

Farm Hands is held year-round at the Farm. All the programs are co-led by the Farm’s herd manager and 4-H members, with the summer sessions having apprentices who provide a great amount of assistance and expertise. Farm Hands is a wonderful learning experience which is more hands-on rather than classroom type of learning.

• Farm Hands Brochure

Farm Tours

Go beyond the tree lined avenue and get a behind the scenes tour of the Farm and learn about the history and upcoming events. Offered once a week from late June to late August.

Knox County Food Council

Maine Coast Heritage Trust is a founding member of the Knox County Food Council, a community-based coalition that formed in 2019 to promote a more resilient food system in Knox County, Maine.

Food councils across the state of Maine and across the county collaborate to improve health, food access, natural resource protection, economic development, and production agriculture for all their communities’ citizens. Using this cross-sector approach, food councils solve broad food system issues and give communities more control over the food they consume.

 

Master Gardeners

Aldermere Farm is part of the Knox-Lincoln Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program in which interested gardeners learn techniques on gardening, and then volunteer hours throughout the year at a specific site.

Aldermere Farm is one such site in Rockport where the Master Gardeners plant the gardens every year and host events such as container garden contests and instructional programs for the community.

Master Gardeners earn certificates and gain great experience.

 

Sap-to-Syrup

Register here

In March the Farm welcomes youths and adults to learn about and assist the farm in the tapping of trees, gathering of sap, and production of maple syrup.