Strawberry Moon Update


Greetings,

I hope you have enjoyed Maine strawberries over the last month. Fresh Maine produce is a ray of light. We are so grateful to those who took the time to come and forage. We hope you found joy in the experience.  




Though the season didn't yield the many pounds we dreamed of, we still view this year as growth. We have a load of organic compost from Benson Farm that Phillip has started to apply to the plants. Plus we are putting down more peas and oat seeds for extra nitrogen and weed suppression. Hopefully, this will get the plants more up to par for next year. 

Closed to You Forage for the season. A couple of pounds of strawberries remain and our raspberry patch is starting to produce. We are plugging in the fridges at the farm stand and will stock them with what we can pick. I will try to keep the website updated with our availability. Feel free to stop by sunrise to sunset. $3 a pint for strawberries. $4 a pint for raspberries. 

Also, I wanted to remind you that our observation deck is available for rent. Hosted a beautiful wedding earlier this month. It made us wish more people would use the space. We are searching for caterers and vendors to add to our list. Find more details here. 

I have so many more things I'd love to share with you but there is a lot of work to do. 

-Gwendolyn

 




Open June 21st!

You Forage (You Pick Strawberries) opens on Sunday, June 21st! Sunrise to sunset, all self-serve. Come to the farm and drive down to the small shed. Instructions will be found there.

It is only the beginning of the season. The berries are smaller and more spread out. In the coming weeks they will become more abundant and larger in size. I will try to update our website and social media pages every day or two.

I plan to just stay open every day for a couple weeks. I will only close if I can’t find a single berry.

It’s a short season, likely over the second week of July. Don’t miss your chance!

The fridge will hopefully remain full of pre picks if I can keep up with foraging. $5 a pound

-Gwendolyn

Blue Moon Update

Greetings! 

        We have been working hard to get the Food Forest ready for strawberry foraging. It looks so good! I hope you get to make it out to see all the birds nesting and the growth of all the plants. YouForage strawberries is tentatively opening on June 21st, possibly a little sooner. It will be entirely self-serve from sunrise to sunset. Keep an eye out for my email with the exact day! 

       

        Our greenhouse was planted with crowns last year and they are already giving us pounds of berries. I'll put whatever I pick in the farm stand fridge, including a little lettuce and herbs. It will be minimal for the next week or two. 

        

       Jen will still host yoga for us this summer. Her first class is tomorrow, 6/07/2026. It is a FREE class for all levels at 8:30 a.m. We will follow the class with a potluck breakfast. She is also hosting a ticketed class later this month. You can find out more here.

    I have more I'd love to share with you but I need to return to the forest to get this place top notch for you! 

    -Gwendolyn

Flower Moon Update

      Hello!

     The flowers are starting to bloom throughout the food forest. All the little ground cover plants are breaking through the surface of the soil. It's all coming alive. You Forage Strawberries in just over a month!

      We've been working hard weeding and planting our 7,500 strawberry crowns. I've finished sprucing up the Flavorfest section and working up the hill. We've decided to start planting Honeoye there instead. Flavorfest just didn't produce well. 

       

     Phillip worked through the entire Wendy section and added more plants there. We are meeting in the middle next to plant the 2,500 Darselct variety. This is the section where we planted Charlotte in 2021, we won't plant any more of it. They were not prolific producers and were also somewhat difficult to source from Canada. 

    

      He also spent the weekend working on our fence. It's an expense and job we've been trying to avoid, but we decided it really needed to be done. Hopefully we don't catch too many deer. 

      Keep an eye on the calendar if you'd like to come visit the farm. If you plan to attend one of our Tuesday events please RSVP. Things change quickly with the weather and juggling family commitments. 

   Lastly, Phillip captured Caldwell 11, also known as the Bubble Nebula. He used the 8" Celestron reflecting telescope with a long focal length (i.e. very high magnification) along with our monochrome camera setup. Due to the high magnification, new techniques were necessary to correctly capture this Nebula. Most notably, the camera has a setting called "binning". Normally when you photograph, you use bin 1x1, meaning 1 pixel of the camera sensor = 1 piece of data on your image. In this instance, I used 2x2 binning which combines 4 pixels into one SUPER pixel. Doing so greatly increases the signal-to-noise ratio, allowing faint objects to be better shown.




I could tell you all the facts but NASA Science has a great description.

Hope your Spring is abundant, and you are able to plant lots of plants. Excited that my next update will let you know about foraging fruit!

-Gwendolyn

Pink Moon Update

Greetings!

       March marks the six-year anniversary of when we signed for the land that is now our farm and home. It has been a busy six years, and we are excited for the ones ahead.

               We took a brief trip to Florida to visit family before the spring rush. While there, we were able to watch the launch of Artemis II. This was a special moment for us, as Phillip worked on the design of the crew access arm for NASA.

          

As spring arrives, the farm is beginning to wake up. Our first project of the year is building our third Rimol greenhouse, which will be dedicated to growing warm-weather annuals. Other upcoming projects include planting 8,000 strawberry crowns, building new fencing, and leveling the ground in the event greenhouse. We are keeping the strawberries covered for a couple more weeks until the overnight deep freezes pass.

          I have updated the calendar on our website with all planned events through October. Notable updates include:

- Community Yoga: Jen is returning to host free yoga on the observatory deck on the first Saturday morning of each month. She will also offer more in-depth Yin and Nidra classes.

- Space Exploration Club: I will be hosting this club on Tuesdays near the New Moon. We will discuss the night sky and current events in the space industry, with telescope viewing if weather permits.

- Recipe Club: On Tuesdays closest to the Full Moon, I will host a gathering inspired by a fermentation club I previously attended. Please bring your favorite homemade food or beverages to share along with your recipes.

Please check the calendar on our website for more details.

Looking forward to seeing you at the farm.

-Gwendolyn







Worm Moon Eclipse

Hope you got a glimpse of the Lunar Eclipse. It was not visible at the farm, but I saw it on my way to work at Pachanga. Caught about three quarters of it before it set behind Costco. ​

​The snow has been deep around the observatory deck for most of the winter. Phillip has trudged through the negative temperatures a few times in the last couple of months to get images. Here is a link to all his latest processed photos. Astrophotography​

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 He plans to spend some time tonight finding Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS). The comet is suppose to grow further in visibility through April. If he succeeds in finding it and the ice retreats, we will host a public pop up viewing event soon.  More community observation opportunities are on the horizon. We plan to host a monthly Astronomy club around the New Moon. If you're interested in a club, what day of the week is best?

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​   Another public event I'd like to start soon is a fermenting/cooking club. This will be an opportunity to bring your favorite home made or store bought fermented foods and beverages. We can exchange recipes and cooking ideas. I'm planning to host this during the week of the full moon. Astronomy might be included. What day works best for you if you'd like to join? ​

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  We are growing restless and ready for the growing season. The food forest greenhouse has given us a little taste of what next month holds. We uncovered all the strawberry crowns and trees. They all look like they are ready to start bushing out.

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​   A new Rimol greenhouse has also been ordered, it arrives next week! It will go up and act as a growing space for vegetables. Phillip has cleared the area. Hopefully, it doesn't snow again so we can easily get the poles in the ground. Peas and oats will go into the soil as soon as the plastic is on.  ​

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   We've ordered 8,000 strawberry crowns to fill in the gaps around the food forest. They will be ready to plant at the end of April. Imagine foraging strawberries in almost 3 months! I think it is going to be a really fruitful season. 

  All of our energy wants to focus on Ossipee Hill Farm and Observatory. In these tumultuous times, this is the place where we can have a positive impact. Thank you for being along for the ride. We are really looking forward to this growing season and sharing it with you. 

-Gwendolyn








First Quarter to Full Beaver Moon

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​There are a lot of things that unite us, at least they should. I’m finding how important it is to focus on the unifying factors of life rather than the divisive ones. Food is a part of life that should unite us ALL. I had an overwhelming number of experiences over the harvest season that highlighted this for me.The full moon update needed extra time to process.  

The Common Ground Fair is the first highlight of my season. I took this year to go alone and volunteer in the Common Kitchen, knowing almost nothing about it. It seemed like the best place, as I love cooking.This is where thousands of fair volunteers come.They have scratch made meals made with donated organic, mostly local ingredients. I checked into my shift. Was instantly given the freedom to make a dish for 600 people.​

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Honestly, I’ve struggled to find a place within MOFGA. Being in that kitchen opened a door for me. I felt welcomed and useful. It brought me so much joy serving people food made with so much love and thought, for free. You can learn more about it here, Meet MOFGA Volunteer Devon Salisbury | Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners.  

Another highlight has been taking up shifts at Tortillería Pachanga. She makes beautiful masa and corn tortillas that can be found all over the state of Maine. I met Lynne at The Kneading Conference | Maine Grain Alliance. I was so smitten by her process that I asked if I could come be a part of it. It’s a true farm to kitchen experience. She also delivers a few other Maine-made products. I get the pleasure of meeting so many great people who make delicious things with Maine grown food. True community.  ​

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The last food unifying experience that moved me the most was my attendance to Maine Farm and Sea to Institution Summit. It was beautiful to see a group of people gather to talk about healthy farm to table meals becoming a part of ALL people’s lives. From our children’s schools to prisoners' plates. My time with Nauti Sisters Sea Farm has shown me the importance of food from the sea and making that food accessible.

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Oysterfest » Newburyport Fish​

As humans, we deserve healthy, thoughtful meals. No matter who you are. I am so grateful for these experiences and all the others I did not share. I’m so grateful to be a Mainer.  

-Gwendolyn

Corn Moon

Slow progress sometimes feels as though you’re amounting to nothing. Especially when others achieve apparent success faster than you. Moving in a slow well-deliberated way takes patience and forward thinking, ignoring the noise around.    

The farm and observatory have felt slightly idle lately. We want so much for it. This summer has been all about working hard outside the farm to make the dreams come true. As the summer comes to an end, I’m looking forward to the next. I think all that we’ve done this year with financial earnings and human connections, the farm and observatory are going to be able to make bigger steps forward.  

Excitingly making progress this week! Tomorrow the Apex contractors are coming to extend the deck. There’s a new addition to our telescope collection, a William Optics Fluorostar FLT 156 apochromatic refractor telescope. We will now have two telescopes for observations on the deck. Pop up astronomy events soon! We have one event planned from October 4th to observe the moon rise.

Sturgeon Moon

Hello, 

The air is dry, intermittently filled with smoke. The tightening of my chest isn't from the poor air quality alone. It comes from the possibility of more summers like this. When I can’t sow seeds. Where the world swirls with hate. Thankfully, I have a lot of hope as well that keeps me breathing. I was so grateful this month to have gotten to venture all over the beautiful state of Maine. I was reinvigorated and reminded of what we want to be a part of.

Interning with The Maine Career Catalyst allowed me to not just work on NAUTI Sister’s Sea Farm. I also got to meet so many other young professionals and see that Maine offers more opportunities than I realized. If you are looking for a career path, check them out! 

Baby Oysters! They are already triple this size after a month.

Another passion of mine was enhanced this month. I last minute applied for The Maine Grain Alliance’s Kneading Conference and Bread Fair in Skowhegan, ME. I was accepted! It was such a fulfilling few days being surrounded by people of like mind. I’ll be returning.  

Maine is truly heaven on earth to me. I needed this last month to be around people who care about growing and eating good food while maintaining healthy communities. I promise to hold on to this hope and grow it here at Ossipee Hill Farm.  

Only a couple updates. The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks predawn 8/12/2025 to predawn 8/13/2025. The full moon will be a little obstructive. Feel free to come use the deck and set up a tent if you like. Please give me a heads up if you do.  

Lastly, planning one more rocket launching event on Friday, September 5th at 5:30 p.m. We can enjoy a potluck dinner together and watch the full moon rise. If you plan to come, let me know so we can coordinate food.  

Here is a photo Phillip took a couple weeks ago of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Photographed for over 10 hours using our monochrome camera & refracting telescope setup. This is the first time he attempted to photograph a galaxy in monochrome, but the level of detail exposed is evident over color. 

-Gwendolyn




Update 5

Greetings!

I don't have much to say in this update. Too much to do, not much time for computers. 

We are open until further notice for You Forage Strawberries. Sunrise to Sunset. 5:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.  All the information and payment methods are self-serve in the kiosk. 

The 100+ degrees made a little bit of a negative impact, yet there are still a lot of berries to find. I'll have pre-picked berries in the stand by 8:00 a.m. today through the weekend. Sparkle is peaking and Sunset is starting to come into season. 

I'll have a better email update in the next week or two sharing photos and details of our latest event and future ones. For now, I've got to get back to foraging! 

P.S. Come visit me at The Maine Oyster Fest this Saturday at the Nauti Sister's Booth!

-Gwendolyn

Update 2

We still have a lot of red berries for foraging!

OPEN tomorrow 6/14 sunrise to sunset. We may be a little busier. Early Bird gets the worm.

Also, Jen is Hosting Yoga at 8:30 a.m.!