07/20/2025
Good morning Friends of Crooked Brook Farm!
The last couple of weeks have been busy for us at the farm as we prepare to open for our first Maine Open Farm Weekend next weekend. We're looking forward to doing tours of our sugarhouse and sugarbush areas, a tutorial of our bee hives, as well as providing free samples of our honey and maple syrup. We'll also have Christmas tree pruning and shearing demonstrations, and lots of maple related treats will be available for sale.
As part of yesterday's preparation, I was on the mower trying to finish my last field in anticipation of today's rain. At one point I noticed smoke coming from the engine. By the time I shut the machine off there was a small fire. I ran the 100 yards to the sugarhouse to grab my fire extinguisher, but by the time I got back to the mower it was fully engulfed. The extinguisher did little to dampen the fire. At that point I called 911. The Wells fire and police departments showed up quickly and had the fire out in minutes. Many thanks to all of them for their promptness and professionalism.
We're thankful that nobody got hurt, and we'll go buy another mower this week and have the fields mowed in time to greet our guests next weekend.
Lastly, we can now add another exhibit to the weekend's activities: 'How Not To Mow Grass!'
Wells Maine Fire Department Wells Police Ryan Liberty Colleen Bovaird-Liberty Wells, Maine
