Farmer/Producer Profiles: Hackmatack Farm

Nicolas Lindholm, his wife, Ruth Fiske, and their sons, Everett and Julian, grow vegetables and harvest wild blueberries on their 50 hilltop acres in Penobscot.  With one acre in vegetable production, they do everything with careful planning and intention.  This befits their main field crop–a mesclun mix of twenty or so different types of greens.  They also are known locally for their organic blueberries, which they rake from their six acres of fields and from other leased organic fields in the area.

The couple came here in the mid 1990’s, and quickly became certified organic farmers.  Soon, they began selling at farmers’ markets in the area.  They can be found in season four days a week at area markets: Tuesdays in Brooksville from 9:30–12; Wednesdays in Blue Hill from 3-5; Thursdays in Castine from 9-11:30; and Fridays in Stonington from 10–12.

Nicolas stresses that his farm produces field-grown, in-season vegetables which are grown in harmony with the sometimes punishing climate of the area.  He is proud to harvest blueberries-–the “only native agricultural crop in the area”–for this reason as well.  In late summer when the blueberries are available, Nicolas and Ruth sell them in pints, quarts, and ten pound freezer boxes.  The couple is also developing a business plan to expand their blueberry production.  By expanding production to fields owned by others, farmers benefit the local landowners by keeping their fields in agricultural production; and we can all benefit from the delicious berries these fields will produce.