megan phillips

With the fall semester over and the elementary students on break, it’s been a particularly quiet time on this farm. In fact, there have been a few days when the total population of people on the Neck is one or two or three, meaning that the quantity of cows on the farm definitely outnumbers the …

Late December on the Farm Read More »

This week we used meat from our old laying hens to make cat food for our two barn cats, Ailsa Craig (named after an onion variety that we grow on the farm) and Ruby Moon (named after a hyacinth bean flower variety). Ailsa Craig and Ruby Moon became part of the farm crew in summer …

Making Cat Food Read More »

Moments after 9:30 am on Saturday morning, the 45 students in Semester 59 gathered in a circle on the quad before heading off in small groups in seven distinct directions. They carried loppers and hand pruners, shovels and maps. All donned work gloves on their hands – their most critical tool in the next two …

Invasive Plants at Chewonki: A Thorny Issue Read More »

Indigo blues, that is.   This summer and fall, participants in programs across Chewonki – from Boys Camp to the Elementary School to the Maine Coast Semester – have been dyeing cotton fabric and farm wool with Japanese indigo.  This plant, carefully cultivated on the farm since we seeded it indoors in early April and …

Chewonki’s Got the Blues Read More »

We harvested the farm’s garlic this past week with boys campers, a fun and fragrant experience.  Once harvested, the farm crew divided the garlic into three groups: The largest bulbs (roughly one-quarter of the harvest, or 600 bulbs) are hanging in the barn to cure.  This fall, we’ll break the garlic heads down into their …

Garlic Harvest! Read More »

On the heels of writing about the first two days of our three-day “From Moo to You” activity block, I can’t help but revisit with an update.  Day three of this cow-themed activity was farm-classy meets eleven-year-old boy, in all the best ways.   As the boys gathered in a circle at the start of …

From Moo to You, Day Three Read More »

Camp has begun, so young boys are everywhere on the farm, at all hours of the day and evening.   This morning we started a three-day activity block focused on the cows and our dairy production.  Tomorrow we’ll make fromage blanc and churn farm ice cream, but today we spent much of our time together setting the …

From Moo to You Acrostics Read More »

What to do on a blisteringly hot day like this one?  Here’s a few snapshots from our day on the farm:   Cut hay.   Every year about this time – give or take a week or maybe two – we cut our first hay of the season.  Sitting on the horsedrawn mower behind the …

It’s 90 degrees outside. What’s happening on the farm? Read More »

This is a week of transitions on the farm (truth be told, I could say that about any week, given that a farm is a living system and change is the only constant).  But, whoa, this is a week of transitions on the farm. On Sunday morning, we sadly and sweetly said goodbye to Semester …

Transitions Read More »