AUBURN — Nostalgia is the word that comes to mind when you step onto the Whiting Farm property today. Whiting Farm’s history and presence in the community is well known, and it is hard to find someone in the area who does not have a memory to share about visiting the farm. It is an important part of this community, and it is so nice to have it revived and open for business.
Whiting Farm is located in the heart of the city at 876 Summer St., just three-quarters of a mile past the big box stores, on the way to Lost Valley Ski Area, when approaching from Center or Turner streets. The 127-acre farm, established in 1937, was owned and operated by two Whiting family brothers — Elmer and Wilfred (Buster) Whiting — until 2012. At that time, Elmer Whiting made the very difficult decision to close, due to the death of his beloved brother, and privately listed it for sale.
In December 2014, John F. Murphy Homes, a local non-profit, dedicated to enriching the lives of those with developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorder, purchased the farm with the intent of carrying on the Whiting family traditions and offering all of the products, services and quality associated with Whiting Farm. At the same time, Murphy Homes expanded its services to include education and community outreach. Under the direction of John F. Murphy Homes’ staff, Whiting Farm has become a working, four-season farm dedicated to serving our community of diverse needs through nutrition, enrichment and education.
In the spring, the greenhouses are filled with annual, herbal and vegetable seedlings. The farm also offers a wide variety of hanging baskets, memorial and combination flower pots. Whiting Farm offers a very popular flower pot arranging service for those who have their own favorite pot and want the talented Whiting Farm staff to arrange it with beautiful annuals. The greenhouses are open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
During the summer season, Whiting Farm staff is busy harvesting fresh produce from 30 acres of fields. A wide variety of vegetables including cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, herbs, green beans, cabbage and much more are planted, cared for and harvested. The fresh vegetables and local artisan products, such as barbecue sauces, jams and jellies, salsas, dried herbs and spices are available at the Whiting Farm vegetable stand.
During the fall, the focus on the farm is, of course, fall harvest and seasonal decorations. The vegetable stand offers a wide variety of fall vegetables all harvested from the fields as well as pumpkins, mums, gourds, cornstalks and hay bales. All of your fall decorating needs can be purchased on the farm. Whiting Farm prides itself on growing its own product and offering a wide variety of items that cannot be found elsewhere. For example, this year the farm will be growing pink pumpkins for sale. For each pink pumpkin sold at Whiting Farm, twenty-five cents will go to cancer research. Whiting Farm is proud to be one of the few farms in Maine to be growing pink pumpkins and giving back to such a worthy cause.
In the winter, the greenhouses are filled with poinsettias and cyclamen. The outside becomes a holiday wonderland with fresh cut Maine trees, wreaths, boughs and memorial boxes for sale. All of the poinsettia’s and cyclamen are started in July and cared for through the summer and fall until they are ready for purchase after Thanksgiving. The farm is proud to offer a wide variety of colors and sizes.
This year, Whiting Farm is excited to make shopping for fresh produce as convenient as possible. The Busy Bee Box program is Whiting Farms customized version of a Community Supported Agriculture program. The program is designed to allow participants to order and pay for their fresh produce and artisan products online Monday through Friday. Vegetables will be harvested daily and orders will be boxed and ready for pick-up at the vegetable stand by 3 p.m. on the day of order.
There are many opportunities for community members to become involved and support the farm. Of course, the obvious is to shop at the farm for flowers, vegetables and local artisan products, but the farm also offers a large variety of informational classes on a variety of topics such as bee keeping, chicken keeping, rain barrel making, and learning to clean with essential oils, to name a few. The popular “Children’s Garden Program” is available for students in grades first through fourth to learn about farming and tending to gardens; the farm is always looking for volunteers to help in the greenhouses or teach an informational class.
For more information, please contact the farm at 207-777-5129, like them on Facebook and follow them on Instagram.
