Foster-Home Farm

• Purchase a small unused or under utilised farm with a house and barn.

• Re-establish the farm as a diversified sustainable permaculture operation.

• Use farmhouse to provide a safe home to sibling groups in foster care.

• Eventually adopt a sibling group to give them a forever home and family.

• Offer organic produce to the local area via a farm-stand and farmers markets.

• Provide classes and educational materials in sustainable farming and gardening.

• Arrange the future of the farm to operate this way in perpetuity.

The Foster-Home Farm project has the goal of purchasing and restoring a small unused farm, which we will use to provide a home to children who are in foster care with a special focus on sibling groups who may otherwise be divided between different homes. A long-term goal will be to adopt a sibling group in order to keep them together and to provide them with a forever home and family. The farm will be put back into production as an organic farm using permaculture (sustainable) farming techniques.

It will return to productivity, and the fruits, vegetables, nuts, poultry and eggs will be used to provide a healthy diet for the children along with being marketed at farmers markets and through a farm-stand. The farm should be significantly productive within two years and near fully productive within five years using heirloom varietals and no GMO seeds or plants. There is a very detailed plan for getting the farm to be a long term productive, and sustainable operation. The farm will also be used to teach classes and produce educational materials on sustainable farming and gardening and to study and develop new small scale farming and gardening techniques and technologies. We also may be able to devote a stall or two in the barn for taking care of rescued horses, because we believe that horses are good for children to be around.

At the centre of the project is Rob Barton who raised three biological children, two step-children, and a godson. Rob lived on a farm as a child and young adult and he is a music teacher who has worked with children for three decades and worked for some years was a residential supervisor for children with autism. He is also a fiction writer and so much of his professional work is from home. He has experience with farming, with fathering, and working with children. To help with the project Rob has two of his adult children ready to be at his side along with the assistance and support of a strong network of friends.

Any money raised will go for a down payment or outright purchase of a small farm, farm vehicle, initial equipment and supplies, appliances house, furnishing the rooms for the children. Lights, heating oil, gas, internet for school and lots of odds and ends needed for life on a family farm.

Our focus has been to find a farm in the New England area of the U.S. and we have located a number of good candidate farms in southern Maine which are in the Lewiston Maine area. 

The plan for the first five years of farming is to immediately establish a mixed orchard with at least a dozen heirloom varieties of apple along with pears, cherries, plums, peaches, and apricots. The orchard will also include chestnuts, grapes and kiwi, strawberry beds, blue berries and raspberries. Hops and asparagus will also be planted. The orchard will take at least five years to become productive with some things starting to produce in three years.
Establish multiple growing beds for very efficient vegetable production with a set of movable green houses to extend the growing season and begin to plant a wide variety of heirloom plants. Rotate the growing beds to maximise soil health and productivity with rest periods and cover crops to prevent soil loss.

Build multiple hen-houses for chickens, ducks, guinea fowl and geese for natural pest control, egg production and poultry. Bat-boxes will be put in place to control mosquitoes in the area.

Establish a two year cycling compost system with a separate earth worm rapid composting system to return organic material to the soil as fertilizer.

Establish multiple beehives to insure good pollination and marketable honey production.

Establish small herb beds to provide and market fresh culinary and medicinal herbs.

Build permanent greenhouses to raise plants that generally require a more southerly climate.

Establish a small scale aquaculture system to produce fish.

The business model is to establish a farm-stand as the farm becomes progressively productive over the first five years marketing produce, eggs and honey. As the farm reaches higher production levels we will begin to market through farmers markets. Then create a program to work with people who wish to have small vegetable stands in their neighbourhoods to serve as small market outlets for our products. When in full production we will start providing local chefs with the ability to order directly for a morning premium produce delivery that allows them to serve veggies that have gone from field to table in less that a day. Once in full production and fully marketed we will look at adding more usable acreage to increase production. We will also establish a Halloween pumpkin patch and activities for kids and possibly marketing a haunted field and barn as a local seasonal attraction. During the winter months the farm-stand will become the focus of a 'Country-Christmas' offering trees and traditional decorations and a visit with Santa along with winter apples, apple cider,  andpumpkins all built around a gingerbread house New England Village display. With a few traditional wooden toys, stick horses and ragdolls available for purchase.