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AUGUSTA — The Kennebec Historical Society will present “Intimate Details of Life on a Remote Farm in Maine” at its September meeting, 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 20, at the Maine State Library, 230 State St.
The program will be preceded at 4:30 p.m. by a potluck supper and at 6 p.m. by the society’s annual meeting and election of officers and directors.
The presentation is free and open to the public, though donations are accepted.
At the presentation, John H. Twomey will speak about his recent book, “Retiring To, Not From — From Massachusetts Professor to Maine Farmer.” The discussion will center on life on his farm and his comments will be accompanied by a slide presentation. Twomey and his partner, Leigh Norcott, live off grid in a 19th century farmhouse. They raise vegetables, fruits, chickens and brook trout, and enjoy hiking and cross-country skiing on the many trails on the farm, which is in Montville. Their lives include many aspects of life from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Twomey has also worked on maintaining and improving wildlife habitat on the farm’s 125 acres. He will discuss these efforts, focusing attention on his work in the fields, brushy areas, and woodlands.
Twomey has owned the farm since 1978 and retired there after 37 years as a professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, in 2009. The farm operates on solar power, completely off grid, and Twomey and Norcott produce almost all of their own food, and all of their own firewood.
“Having seen farms sold and developed in his hometowns in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Twomey long ago set his sights on owning and nurturing an old New England farm, a traditional home place,” said a news releases from the historical society. “He has accomplished that and intends to permanently protect his Montville farm.”
