Mainebiz

V O L . X X I X N O. X I I M AY 2 9 , 2 0 2 3 12 L O C A L LY G ROW N Speaking to Mainebiz from Washington, D.C., Pingree said that while she has turned over owner- ship of Turner Farm on North Haven Island to the American Farmland Trust she still has a house on the 200-acre property. e 68-year-old Minnesota native got her first farm in the 1970s, "when I would go somewhere and buy a cow and they would look at me like I came from a different planet," Pingree recalls. Today, she finds there are a lot more market oppor- tunities for young farmers, particularly women, from farmers markets to restaurants buying local ingredients. "Maine is in the right place at the right time," says Pingree, who recommends apprenticeships and business classes for today's young women interested in farming. Offering encouragement to young girls, Jenni Tilton- Flood, a Clinton-based dairy farmer and rural advocate, recently spoke to sixth graders at a career aspirations day. She was touched by a note afterwards from one girl who said she had learned that farmers are made, not born. "at really hit home for me," Tilton-Flood says. Look for the Union label In the Knox County town of Union, Kathi Langelier grows medicinal plants that she uses to make products including elixirs, tonics and teas like Goodnight Moon. Made with soothing chamomile, catnip and lemon balm, it got a recent mention in Prevention magazine. Langelier, who has published a recipe book and pamphlets on individual herbs, launched her farm and apothecary business in 2010 after teaching outdoor education. Her production site is down the street from her 21-acre farm, where she has around three to four acres in cultivation. While her parents never farmed, growing up in Turner surrounded by farms sparked her interest. "We had a little garden," she says, "and at age 10, I was growing pumpkins and selling them out of my dad's truck at the side of the road." Today at Herbal Revolution, Langelier leads a team of 10 employees. She's built up the business through a mix of bank financing and a $50,000 grant from the Maine Farmland Trust she used to make a down pay- ment for her manufacturing facility and processing kitchen. She has also benefited from free advice from volunteer SCORE mentor Nancy Strojny, the organi- zation's Maine assistant district director. "Kathi has enormous perseverance and determina- tion and refuses to give up as challenges arise," Strojny says. "Her goal has never wavered — national distribu- tion for Herbal Revolution." at goal will come to fruition this July, when Herbal Revolution products will be available in more than 500 Sprouts Farmers Markets stores. As she prepares for that next chapter, Langelier advises today's aspiring farmers to have a market plan. "Passion is a huge part of it, but you also need to be viable," she says. Raising livestock, mowing hay Relatively new to farming, Brenda White worked in advertising and communications for 25 years before starting the Lil Bit Organic Farm in the Penobscot County town of LaGrange with her husband, Troy, in 2015. ree seasonal part-time employees help with chores and haying. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Herbal Revolution founder and CEO Kathi Langelier grows medicinal plants in Union that she uses to make tonics, elixirs and other products. Her brand will go national in July. P H O T O / F R E D F I E L D F O C U S Passion is a huge part of it, but you also need to be viable. — Kathi Langelier Herbal Revolution

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