{"id":99404,"date":"2026-05-16T06:13:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T10:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=99404"},"modified":"2026-05-16T06:13:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T10:13:05","slug":"view-from-the-farm-november-2017-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-1-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=99404","title":{"rendered":"View from the Farm – May, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Webmaster’s note: <\/em>The format of this column includes all of the Quill’s Endians participating at various times and in various ways! Phil writes this month’s column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Soft Start<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since early April, when the frost departed from the soil in the pastures, we have been privy to the scene that unfolds every spring. From 1\/4″ clover leaves, cute as a kitten to a grass farmer, to the stout orchardgrass, bullying its way to the heavens, the season never yet disappoints.\u00a0 But the greens.\u00a0 They change every day just ever so.\u00a0 Under gray skies, the glow seems otherworldly.\u00a0 Sunny skies seem to make smiling green, bright and toothy as it blows gently in a breeze and receives its soundtrack from the newly arrived frenzy of birds.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trees are starting to play along as well.\u00a0 The multitude of reds and yellows adding to the drama of yet another unfolding.\u00a0 They just frame the scene as the mist and clouds roll by, adding the promise of summer to the dreariness.\u00a0 Underneath the coming canopy they are all business, soaking up all the moisture\u00a0they can bear to miraculously turn it into foliage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soft start.  It is frustrating to us as we wait.  Know that we might be the only ones waiting in nature.  The rest are off to the races while we enjoy the view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heather and Phil Retberg and their three children run Quill’s End Farm, a 105-acre property in Penobscot that they bought in 2004. They use rotational grazing on their fifteen open acres and are renovating thirty more acres from woods to pasture to increase grazing for their pigs, grass-fed cattle, lambs, laying hens, and goats. Quill’s Endians are members of Halcyon Grange and publish a newsletter for their farm’s buying club of farmers in the area, and generously permit us to share some of their columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page<\/a> for more information.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Webmaster’s note: The format of this column includes all of the Quill’s Endians participating at various times and in various ways! Phil writes this month’s column. The Soft Start Since early April, when the frost departed from the soil in the pastures, we have been privy to the scene that unfolds every spring. From 1\/4″ … Continue reading “View from the Farm – May, 2026”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,74,688],"post_folder":[704],"class_list":["post-99404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-agriculture-2","tag-farms","tag-quills-end-farm"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Walter Boomsma","author_link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?author=2122"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Webmaster’s note: The format of this column includes all of the Quill’s Endians participating at various times and in various ways! Phil writes this month’s column. The Soft Start Since early April, when the frost departed from the soil in the pastures, we have been privy to the scene that unfolds every spring. From 1\/4″…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1arC1-pRi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99404"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99406,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99404\/revisions\/99406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99404"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=99404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}