First Light Farm
In 2008, with 15 years of organic farming experience, Mike Raymond found an opportunity to establish First Light Farm through a relationship with Brick Ends Farm. Brick Ends Farm is located on 10 acres of land in South Hamilton where they produce thousands of tons of compost from yard and grocery store waste, horse manure, leaves and moisture. First Light and Brick Ends Farm established a mutually beneficial relationship, with First Light supplying food and boosting marketing of the compost, and Brick Ends contributing compost and acres of land for growing.
Mike had a dream: fishing by the first light of day, followed by farming, so he named his farm First Light Farm. Mike and the farm manager, Caitlin Kenney, have a mission: to grow the highest quality produce. First Light Farm is at the Salem Farmers' Market every Thursday, and they are also successfully engaged in Community Supported Agriculture.
Because they currently have only 5 acres to farm, they practice a labor intensive, high-density form of farming. They use a tractor only in the pre-planting stage, which enables them to space their plants and rows much more closely where hand tools can fit, but tractors cannot. The use of hand tools also allows them to plan their acres more creatively, using diagonal rows that fit the land for greater yield. Their land is sloped, and the First Light team (Mike, Caitlin, and five dedicated farm workers) has made the hilly land for them: walking down a hill with heavy equipment, rolling rocks downhill and cultivating while walking backwards down a slope all ease the hard work of farming.
Their farm and its setting are astonishingly beautiful. In addition to their land, they have a large greenhouse filled with seedlings, thriving young plants and more vulnerable vegetables and melons. The goal is to continue to maximize yield, while keeping quality very high and maintaining a strictly organic farm.
And what of his dream of fishing in the first light of day? Mike responded, with a smile, "It has not actually happened".
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