Homestead Voices

Living on the United States-Canadian border is a truly international life. | Photo by Julia Bayly After living in far northern Maine for close to four decades, it’s easy for me to forget that life in a border town is a very novel…
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When the fresh tomatoes from our garden started to pile up in the kitchen recently — brilliant reds and lemony yellows — I set out to make marinara sauce with fresh onions and garlic from the farmers market. I’d freeze some and use the…
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Photo by Julia Bayly Hello. My husband and I have been looking for land in Maine to retire and live off the land on. I wanted to ask you about the land management plan. Is that something everyone has to do or only certain areas/type of…
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I love mozzarella. I love it melted over hot pizza, doused with olive oil in caprese salad and sprinkled with breadcrumbs in eggplant parmesan. I could eat a hunk of mozzarella like an apple if I weren’t worried about the gastrointestinal…
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There is not much that brings me peace of mind more than being here on Rusty Metal Farm. | Photo by Julia Bayly Hard as it is for me to believe, at some point in my life there may come a time when Rusty Metal Farm is not my home.…
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Photo by Gabor Degre It was a small rectangular plot, cut from my lawn and sort-of tilled by hand — if you can consider a little light digging tilling. In there, I planted my first garden, surrounding it with cheap metal garden…
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I am a curious person. My curiosity has taken me all over the country and the world, from New York City to the Mojave Desert, from Australia to Vietnam and beyond. No matter where I am, I want to try something new. I have cultivated…
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Hiking and cycling opportunities with views like this in rural Maine is one of the reasons living in rural Maine is a choice for some people. | Photo by Julia Bayly Even after living close to four decades on Rusty Metal Farm, my high…
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One of the first things people from out of state say to me when I tell them about my life in northern Maine is, “You are so lucky to have all that fresh lobster.” This inevitably leads to a bit of a geography lesson which often begins…
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You know how some people can talk for hours about their kids or grandkids? All the while showing photos or videos of them taken with their smartphones? That’s not me. I don’t have children or grandchildren. What I do have, however,…
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Sarita Harbour and her family near their off-grid homestead in the Northwest Territories in Canada. | Photo by Blake Culver Life off-grid can be challenging. Nobody knows that more than a mother with two kids. When Sarita Harbour and…
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If I had to sum up Rusty Metal Farm in one succinct sentence, it would be this: It’s never dull. I kind of wish it was dull some days. Rusty Metal Farm has been my home along the northern Maine-Canadian border for close to four…
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