Farmers throw open doors to customers

BLANCHARD- The Hobart family’s home on the range in the remote unorganized territory of Blanchard is a unique farm where the deer and buffalo roam.

To keep it going, Diana and Stephen Hobart have undertaken a number of agritourism ventures to diversify their farm and its products.

The latest effort for the owners of Breakneck Ridge Farm, who raise fallow deer and buffalo on a commercial basis for meat, are public barbecues of venison kabobs, buffalo burgers and chicken that will be served on three weekends this summer starting July 17.

“It’s all about helping to keep the farm going … sustainability,” Diana Hobart said Monday. The complete meals are but one of the many agritourism ventures the Hobarts have embraced over the years to diversify their farm and products.

The barbecue theme actually was conceived during a discussion between the Hobarts and Maine agricultural specialists, who were helping the couple through a Department of Agriculture grant. The grant was to help farmers such as the Hobarts recognize the different assets their farms had and how they could tap into those assets for agritourism.

Many Maine farmers have expanded beyond their traditional one or two crops. They have found that special events such as tours, pick-your-own-produce, corn mazes, barbecues and Open Farm Day on July 25 provide an opportunity to educate the public while selling their products, Mary Ellen Johnston, Department of Agriculture director of marketing and product development, said Tuesday.

“What we’re seeing is this is a trend. It’s a good trend because diversification is what most small New England farmers are discovering is the key to be able to make a living,” the state official said. “It’s an opportunity to get a fresh product and an opportunity to be on a farm. We’re excited to see that happening.”

In fact, the Department of Agriculture has been collaborating with the Maine Office of Tourism to promote such ventures.

“Farmers have to sell their product and get as much added value as they can by bringing people onto the farm where the product is actually the farm itself, and the experience of being there, seeing, smelling, feeling and understanding how food is produced,” Johnston said. “It’s an experience.”

It’s an experience that the Hobarts hope will add to an already diversified farm offering. That includes two-hour guided tours of their 950-acre homestead in July and August, a small gift shop and the sale of buffalo and venison to local markets and restaurants and to a cooperative out of state.

In addition, the couple has purchased a food wagon to be used at fairs and special events, where they will prepare and sell buffalo burgers and venison sausage.

“Together we’re willing to try different ideas,” Diana Hobart said. “Change can be a real positive thing.”

Hobart noted that the couple changed the focus of their farm in the late 1980s from raising cattle to raising a herd of 200 deer. The 14 buffalo, including four babies, were added to the farm in recent years.

Those animals will be on view when the farmers host their barbecues and musical entertainment at 6 p.m. July 17, Aug 21 and Sept. 18 on their expansive front lawn overlooking the Piscataquis River Valley, Russell Mountain and Breakneck Ridge.

“We want people to see a way of life that respects the land, soils and the animals,” Diana Hobart said.

For more information, call 997-3922 or e-mail fallow@kynd.net.