NEW SHARON — Last spring, Sarah Ingalls and Darren Brann started a flower, vegetable and herb farm on his family’s generations-old beef farm.
“I think the draw is, for me especially, it’s being in the outdoors,” said Ingalls, 26. “Working with the environment to feed myself and others. I think that’s probably a big thing, working with our environment and not against it.”
The couple had worked on farms before and decided last December to make theirs happen. One plot had formerly been a garden and one had been conveniently fertilized by the cows.
They sold fresh-cut gladiolas, snap dragons and blooming kale, and fresh-picked greens, peppers and tomatoes at two Augusta farmers markets as Cape Cod Hill Farm.
“It was a busy summer,” she said. “We both are still working other jobs to make it financially viable, at least to start, with all these investments to be made.”
There were first-year new farmer challenges, such as not having a walk-in cooler. They improvised by using a neighbor’s or rigging up an air conditioner and tarp. Sales also had a slow start.
“We haven’t crunched all the numbers quite yet, but pretty much everyone I know says you don’t make a profit your first year,” Ingalls said. “I’d say highlights came in waves. It was small things like harvesting our first beautiful onions, to our first craspedia flower. A couple women want us to do the flowers for their weddings next year. Those were some of the biggest compliments we got.”
Plans are afoot for year two: They’ll grow on more land, add a small greenhouse, expand into vegetables, including cucumbers and squash, and increase their outreach, potentially approaching florists and restaurants with their Maine-grown bouquets.
This winter, Ingalls and Brann, 33, are taking a beginning farmers course through the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. They’d like to eventually focus solely on the farm, at least in the summer.
“There’s still a lot of things to learn, especially business-wise,” she said.
kskelton@sunjournal.com
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- Sarah Ingalls of Cape Cod Hill Farm in New Sharon holds the first sweet onions of the season this past summer.
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- Darren Brann of Cape Cod Hill Farm in New Sharon sells flowers at the Viles Arboretum Farmers Market in Augusta this past summer.
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