Ossipee Hill Farm & Observatory

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Ossipee Hill Farm & Observatory

Ossipee Hill Farm is a forage yourself and pay what you want farm in Southern Maine.
(13)

07/21/2024

There is an update of what's happening on the website! If you want email updates let me know. https://www.ossipeehillfarm.com/

07/19/2024

Sourdough Croissant dough has begun it's 48 hour ferment before being baked for Ferment club on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. All are welcome! Bring your favorite home made or store bought fermented food/drink. Also bring a chair, bowl, cup, and cuttlery. We may get to do some Astronomy after 9:00 if the sky is clear enough.
Hope you can make it!

07/18/2024

"Do you ever look up at the sky at night at the stars? We live in Maine, away from the city and light pollution, and are able to see a lot in the night sky. Do you ever wonder what exactly you are looking at? There are sky maps available for free at www.skymaps.com, but they are in black and white. Maybe you’d like to see real pictures of what the sky, constellations, etc look like. Gwendolyn Rench from Ossipee Hill Farm & Observatory in Waterboro can show you!"

https://www.waterbororeporter.com/IMAGES_reporter/REP_7-18-24.pdf

07/13/2024

Page follower Donn Miller processed some of the data we recorded back in February of the Andromeda Galaxy and it looks absolutely amazing! This is our goal for the Observatory - record the data so the public (specifically students) can process and interpret the data!

With the upgrades we have planned for this fall; these pictures are going to be out of this world!

07/11/2024

Managed to pull up almost half the garlic. Unfortunately the heads aren’t huge, thinking lack of water. Still tasty I’m sure!! What you don’t buy this year will just be planted back in October. Please let me know if I can reserve some for you!!

07/07/2024

The calendar has been updated. Volunteer hours Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
Tea time every Thursday at 2:30. Reading a story about Gregor Mendel and learning about plant heredity.
Garlic will be ready to harvest soon. Reach out if you want any or want to be apart of the harvest.
Astronomy Club is at Parson’s Memorial this week on Tuesday at 2:30.
Lastly, Portland Ferments is hosting their meet up at the farm on 7/21 at 6:00 p.m. Start thinking about the ferments you will bring to share!

07/07/2024

I think it is safe to say Strawberry season has come to a close (for real this time). Thank-you again for foraging at our Food Forest this year!

Over the next few months we are doing some large upgrades to the farm and Observation deck to prepare it as an event rental space for the early fall.

Finally in September we will be offering free Observation Events again with our larger telescope, we are just waiting for the Planets to be visible at dusk.

Stay tuned!

Gwendolyn & Phillip

07/03/2024

Last night we Observed the Pelican Nebula (IC5070) which is located approximately 1800 light years away from us. That means the photons we collected last night with our telescope were created right around the time the Mayan Civilization first emerged around 250 AD and have been traveling through space towards Earth since!

$set up the Redcat 51 apochromatic refractor telescope to capture the North American Nebula , NGC7000 this evening. Wha...$

07/01/2024

set up the Redcat 51 apochromatic refractor telescope to capture the North American Nebula , NGC7000 this evening. What do you see when you look at it?
Thank you to all the foragers this weekend! The farm stand is open all week Sunrise to Sunset for foraging check out. Still seeing strawberries! Peas are starting to come in, both field and sugar. The flowers, tendrils, and tips are great for salads. I spied a few more scapes as well. Come forage! Every dollar you spend on foraged food assists in helping our observatory dreams.
I’ll be tomorrow 7/01 at 4:00 p.m. hosting Astronomy Club. Our topic is Galaxies.
Tea Time here at the farm Thursday 2:30-3:30 p.m. I’ll be reading, Gregor
Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas. Followed by activities and a discussion about plant heredity. I’ll have tea and bread or crackers. Feel free to bring a snack to share, no pressure.
Hope you get to stop in!
Gwendolyn

06/29/2024

The self serve stand is open! I saw the potential of a few pounds of strawberries. There is lettuce/scapes in the stand and a few in the greenhouse still. Come take a peak. This cloudy day is perfect.

06/29/2024

I’ll be harvesting the last few heads of lettuce tomorrow to make room for corn in the green house. It will be in the farm stand along with the scapes. I am starting to find peas to forage! Feel free to drop in Sunrise to Sunset to browse for a few strawbs and get some salad stuff.
All self serve. Check in and out at the stand.

06/28/2024

Northern Lights 6/27/24 @ 11:45 P.M. + the Milky Way Backbone

06/27/2024

I’ll be reading this on our houses porch tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. (story time will be on the deck once we get shade.) I’ll have raspberry tea and crackers for a snack. Will be making a rain gauge after. Bring an upcycled jar and a piece of wood to attach it too.

06/26/2024

We’ve decided to call it on strawberry season. Though, if you are into scouring for little very ripe sweet berries you are still welcome. Let me know if you are coming so I can have the stand ready.
There may not be strawberrie, there are still opportunities to come visit the farm. Check the calendar for Volunteer time, yoga, and Story Tea time.

06/25/2024

We had such a great turnout today! Thank you so much for taking time to come and forage!
Continue to be open Sunrise to sunset tomorrow!

06/23/2024

To those that braved the wet
weather today, THANK YOU!! You guys rock
harvesting so many strawberries!
No matter the weather, we are open sunrise to sunset
all week. Head to the parking lot past the house and
check the Kiosk for info and payment. Feel free to bring
a chair and a picnic to enjoy on the deck.
I decided I want to try a story tea time again. Updating
the website calendar. Plan for Thursdays at 2:30 p.m.
on the deck. ALL are welcome. Books will be geared
towards a 2nd-5th grade age range. They are stories about people from around the world that have changed their community by planting plants. We'll do a STEAM activity that corrisponds to the story. It will be a bring your own supllies event, to keep it free and easy for me :) Check in first before coming to know the details.
Hope you can make it out this week!

06/22/2024

Thank you to everyone that came out today! Seems things aren’t as bad as I thought. Looks like everyone left with a few pounds There are still berries everywhere that are worth picking. Continue to be open sunrise to sunset. Planning for Yoga on the deck at 6:00 a.m. unless it’s pouring rain. Then we can do it in the greenhouse.
Hope you can make it out!

06/22/2024

Update on the Website https://www.ossipeehillfarm.com/

06/21/2024

It’s Birthday today!!!
He’s the hard working guy that keeps this place moving at a rapid fire pace. We are so thankful for him!!

06/20/2024

The last two days temperatures reached 100 degrees here at the farm. Unfortunately, we are mourning the loss of a lot of berries. They ripened very quickly and no one was here to forage them. There are still quite a few viable ones and the season isn’t completely over.
We are open through Sunday, Sunrise to Sunset. We encourage you to come anyway and check out the farm. I’m sure you can find at least a quart to take home.
Growing food with natural methods is very hard. We are excepting the set backs. Will take this as a lesson and start making things better for next year. We appreciate your support and understanding.
-Gwendolyn

06/20/2024

Open until sunset for strawberry foraging!

06/19/2024

The Frogs of Ossipee Hill Farm. There is still plenty of strawberries to forage tomorrow!

06/19/2024

Open today, 6/19, until sunset for You Forage Strawberries!

06/19/2024

HELP! There are thousands of medium size berries that need to be picked!

06/18/2024

We are open today from sunrise to sunset! Check the website Updates for more details on this map. https://www.ossipeehillfarm.com/

06/17/2024

Another great day of foraging!! Thank you so much to all who came out! Being only two people managing the farm, it is such a help to have you forage. So again, THANK YOU!!!
Open sunrise to sunset tomorrow, 6/18. Come forage some berries!!

06/17/2024

We are open for strawberry foraging until sunset! Going to be a beautiful day!

06/16/2024

Open until sunset! Don’t let these pesticide/herbicide free strawberries go to waste!

06/15/2024

Thank you to everyone that came out today!
Open tomorrow sunrise to sunset!
I’ll be doing Yoga on the deck at 6:00am if any wants to join.

06/15/2024

We are open until sunset for strawberry foraging today, 6/15!
$3 a pound, all profit goes to the build of the astronomical observatory.
We are PESTICIDE FREE!!
Bring your own container please, quart boxes available. Check in at the Kiosk in parking lot.
Looking forward to your visit!

Address

913 WEST Road
Waterboro, ME
04087

Website

http://OssipeeHillFarm.com/

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Join me for Yoga on Sundays at 6:00 a.m. I'm no Yoga instructor, will be using an app for instruction. Unless someone feels led to teach! I spied quite a few little ripe berries and ones that will be ripe in the next day or two. Feel free to pop in whenever and see if you can find a few pounds. They are great for making jam! The Shed in the parking lot will continue to have boxes and ways to pay. Also, welcome to come enjoy the observation deck!

Strawberry

To those that braved the wet weather today, THANK YOU!! You guys rock harvesting so many strawberries! No matter the weather, we are open sunrise to sunset all week. Head to the parking lot past the house and check the Kiosk for info and payment. Feel free to bring a chair and a picnic to enjoy on the deck. I decided I want to try a story tea time again. Updating the website calendar. Plan for Thursdays at 2:30 p.m. on the deck. ALL are welcome. Books will be geared towards a 2nd-5th grade age range. They are stories about people from around the world that have changed their community by planting plants. We'll do a STEAM activity that corrisponds to the story. It will be a bring your own supllies event, to keep it free and easy for me :) Check in first before coming to know the details. Hope you can make it out this week!

The Wendy Strawberries are coming in strong! We also need to install Turkey crossing signs on the farm.

T-30 Days until You Forage Strawberries @OssipeeHillFarm

1 Minute time lapse!

Happy Winter Solstice Friends, from the kids and I. -Gwendolyn

I saw a tip last year suggesting to freeze your garden tomatoes and can them once the cold days come. It also helps remove the tomato skins. I dehydrated the skins in the oven to make a tomato powder for seasoning. My sauce yield is about a quarter what it was last year. Still sad about the lack of tomatoes this year. Hopefully a more sunny summer in 2024.

The hardest part of this growing season was doing it solo for about half or more of it. Phillip works hard at his “day job” to fund our farm. His job sends him away a lot or requires long hours. It’s quite the juggle with home schooling our small children and not having my own family anywhere near by. I’ve struggled to find someone to hire and help. Or, when help is available, something comes up. I’m optimistic about having more support this next year! Taking a much needed break to visit my dearly missed Florida Family for Thanksgiving. I’m picking up where I left off with the mulching palooza after December 2nd, if you’re interested in joining!

@mainah_314 got inspired by Andy’s Agway Pumpkin Chunkin. He says, “Pumpkin Heavy coming 2024. Here is a little sample.” @spacex

Andy’s Agway Pumpkin Chunkin did not disappoint!

The afterglow of a full moon pizza party. The deck was full of laughing children. Made my heart lighter during this heart breaking time in Maine. Thanks friends that came, we needed that.

Tractor content!

@mainah_314 mulched all the new cherry rows and blueberry rows that don’t have strawberries. I helped a little. We are planning to mulch the rest of the farm the week following December 2nd once the temps are steadily below 45.

Tea Time Will be a little more exciting this week. @mainah_314 will be here to help us launch rockets! Friday, 10:30. Will have some bread baked and tea made. Feel free to add any snacks if you’d like. Also, we just picked up a fleet of wheelbarrows. Mulching parties will begin now! If you want to help us in our big job of mulching let me know. We can organize times based on your availability.

Yam harvest Saturday, October 14th at 4:00pm. May not be a magnificent harvest, yet we can still enjoy the fall evening. Will build a fire after on the deck. Maybe we will have the small telescope set up. Feel free to bring food and beverages. I’ll try to have something whipped up to snack on too.