This webinar will focus on soil health and engineering practices that can help farmers mitigate the negative effects of too much water. Participants will learn an overview of techniques, and important considerations for implementing these practices and will see how a Maine farm has employed some of these methods to fit the scale and goal of their farm.
Presenters: Ian Jerolmack (Stonecipher Farm) and Candi Gilpatric (NRCS)
Ian Jerolmack is the co-owner of Stonecipher Farm. Started in 2009, Stonecipher Farm is a certified organic mixed vegetable farm, dabbling in livestock and fruit, while focusing on storage vegetables, and tropicals such as ginger and turmeric. Year-round, and dedicated to their customers; Ian Jerolmack and Emily Goodchild serve many health food stores, but have made a real name for themselves serving all the best restaurants of Portland, as well as mid-coast Maine. Due to the coronavirus, the farmers were forced to pivot, launched a CSA, and now sell a lot to other farms. With 5 kids in tow, they farm full-time, and employ 5 full-time folks in summer, and 2 in winter. They have an acre of greenhouse space and are hoping to work more in there, really maximize the shoulder seasons, and maybe one day, take it easier in the summer. They started the farm on blank land, and the longer they are there, the more the entire project pleases them, as trees grow, the land improves, buildings are finished and employees come back. Ian and Emily feel this place is growing a legacy, and hope to help that carry on to their kids, for the perpetual benefit of the community.