Mission Statement
Spear Spring Farm's mission is to grow high quality, nutrient dense food in harmony with the land and all of its inhabitants. We believe that soil health is the key to nutrient density and strive to create the best conditions for plants, animals, and people. It is our goal to provide the healthiest food possible while stewarding the land for future generations.
HISTORY
Robert Spear, the youngest son of John and Katrin Spear, was born in Londonderry, Ireland in 1714. His family came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony after the Siege of Derry and settled in Woburn. Robert lived with his parents in Woburn until 1736, when he joined a company of Scotch Presbyterians that had decided to form a settlement along the St. George River in what was to eventually become the town of Warren, Maine (Incorporated Nov. 7th, 1776).
Robert and Margaret (McLean) Spear acquired the land that is now Spear Spring Farm in 1736, as part of the grant of 42 parcels (his was 21), from the English Crown to encourage European settlement in an area with great promise for commerce and trade. All of the land grant parcels abutted the St. George River, since it was the principal means of reliable transportation and potential commerce. At the time Robert gained his land grant, his wife's father, John McLean was one of the first settlers along the river in Warren in 1735. Robert's eldest son, Captain John Spear who served in the Revolutionary War, and his family settled the original plot given to his father by building the brick house in 1763 using bricks made from the clay along the riverbank and it was owned continuously by members of the Spear family until we acquired it 2016.
More recently, Dr. Ivan Spear, an orthopedic surgeon in Worcester, Massachusetts, acquired the farm in 1983 from a family member, in order to keep it in the Spear family. Ivan had spent time on the farm with family as a boy and wanted it to remain a working farm. He remained in Worcester and leased the farm to Jeff and Laurie Bellmore, who, with their family, ran a successful farm and a beloved pick-your-own strawberry operation for many years. Ivan died in 2014 at the age of 92 and we acquired the farm in November 2106 from Ivan’s son, Brian Spear.
Through the many long years (and generations of the Spear family that lived here), the farm was always a center for industry and community. A blacksmith shop operated on the farm for some time. Many different types of livestock were raised here. Various members of the Spear family were involved in local shipbuilding operations and ran trade routes along the Atlantic coast. Much time, care, and investment was made by this important family to the surrounding communities in the form of building and supporting schools, churches, and town/state government.
Now, after a long period of neglect, we hope to make Spear Spring Farm a center of our community once again through our stewardship of this beautiful land.
ABOUT US TODAY
Bruce Bickford & Kirsten Anderson
Bruce Bickford grew up in the New Hampshire seacoast area and developed a passion for growing vegetables at a young age. Every year, his family would tend a large garden and he loved browsing the Burpee's seed catalog and helping his mother decide what they would grow each spring. He managed Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts for 12 years before moving to Walpole, NH and starting his own farm, Abenaki Springs Farm, which he ran for over 20 years while raising his four older children. He is passionate about Organic food production, soil health and the natural world.
Kirsten Anderson grew up in southern New Hampshire and found her passion for organic agriculture while WWOOFing in California after college. She ran her own small CSA in New Hampshire before meeting Bruce at a farmers market they both vended at, and together they farmed at Abenaki Springs Farm for six years. Together they have two children, Emmett and Lillian, who can be found running around barefoot and grazing the crops in the fields. It has been a dream of theirs to farm together in Maine and they are excited to be part of the midcoast Maine community and continuing the vision here at Spear Spring Farm!
Danny & Grace Evans
Danny and Grace live in Cohasset, MA, and have a house on the Saint George River in Tenants Harbor, Maine. Danny's journey to the local, healthy food movement began in earnest in 2006 when he read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, and came to full fruition when he and Grace acquired the Spear Spring Farm property in fall 2016.
Danny and Grace are fully committed to local farmers making a living growing food for their community, and to being part of that movement. Lacking experience in actually growing things, they support in strategy, planning, and manual labor when they can.
