September 23, 2026
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Emily Lad
Although the crisp air and cooler temperatures of autumn are upon us, the buzz of summer hasn’t quieted down just yet! Last month, we shared two new Forever Farms protected in July and August. Below, meet two more farms that we protected with an agricultural conservation easement this summer!
The Deering Family Farm, a farm property of 39 acres (aerial view, header photo), has become the latest in a growing cluster of protected farms in Scarborough.
In early August, the Deering family five siblings, including longtime Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) Lands Committee member Glen Deering, purchased the property from the O’Donal family while simultaneously closing on a conservation easement with MFT to permanently protect the land.
The Town of Scarborough contributed half of the funds toward MFT’s easement purchase through the town’s Land Bond, a fund established to purchase and/or protect land for conservation. Scarborough voters overwhelmingly approved replenishing the fund through a $6 million bond in 2024.
Surrounded by protected farmland, this property of 39 acres is extremely well suited for agriculture with approximately 31 acres of open fields, including 31 acres of high quality soils. The Deering Family Farm owns three sides of the property, while Broadturn Farm, protected by the Scarborough Land Trust in 2004, abuts the remaining side.
The land was originally purchased by the Deering family in the 1920s, before a portion was split off and sold to the O’Donal family in the 1980s. Glen currently hays about 7 acres of the property and plans to expand the hayed acreage. Another approximately 10 acres is used by O’Donal’s Nursery for ball and burlap growing of nursery trees, with provisions in the conservation easement ensuring that the agricultural soils remain protected.
Glen and his wife, Julia, own the 44 acres homestead known as Deering Farm. The Deering family siblings own the Deering Family Farm, consisting of approximately 214 acres in Scarborough and Buxton. The family’s larger farm property was protected with a Maine Farmland Trust conservation easement in 2009, with additional acreage protected in 2026.
For more photos of the Deering Family Farm, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click through photos 1-3 in the carousel.
In late August, farmers Karen and Paul Volckhausen and Angelica “Munch” Harwood celebrated a new chapter for Happytown Farm as Maine Farmland Trust closed on an easement protecting the 55-acre farm in Orland, with support from Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust.
Since the early 1980s, the Volckhausens have been producing organic vegetables, meat, poultry, and flowers. The two developed an intensive crop and livestock rotation on just a few acres, focusing on soil health and organic practices. Paul and Karen’s longstanding work with MOFGA, local farmers’ markets, Maine Farmland Trust, and countless young farmers have helped to grow the footprint and impact of the small farm economy at the heart of the region’s food security movement.
As they began to plan for retirement, Karen and Paul searched for many years to find new owners for the farm, with more than one possibility that fell through. Then, Angelica “Munch” Harwood, who had been working on the farm for 5 years, talked about a daydream she had of taking over the farm, with Karen and Paul living on the land too. That felt like a dream that worked for all of them.
With the easement with MFT in progress and additional support from Land for Good to develop a farm transition plan, Munch recently took over operations under a rolling lease agreement, which should allow her to build the equity necessary to eventually complete the purchase of the farm. MFT’s and GPMCT’s purchase of the easement on the farm will help to make this arrangement financially feasible for Paul and Karen and secure the next chapter for the farm operation.
"It is not easy to give up our farm; it's giving up who we are and what we do,” said Karen and Paul. “We have appreciated the help and guidance that the dedicated and talented staff from Maine Farmland Trust provided in creating a conservation easement. We are now assured that our land is protected and our farm will be a forever farm."
Happytown Farm abuts the 5,400 acres of conservation land around Great Pond Mountain known as the Wildlands. As part of the easement arrangement, the Volckhausens donated a trail easement across the property, providing public access from Happytown Road to the top of Flagg Mountain, where the farm’s woodland boundary intersects with GPMCT’s trail network.
“I feel blessed to live here and want to keep the farm organic,” said Munch. “It feels good to provide food to the community. I do what I can to try to make it affordable for less affluent people to buy fresh produce, and I accept WIC and EBT. I want to feed people and bring people together and really make it a community-oriented space, sharing the woods and including the trails up to Great Pond Mountain.”
A few days before the closing, we invited community members to join us for a tour of Happytown Farm to see their support in action. Thanks to Karen and Paul’s lifelong commitment to sustainable stewardship, Munch’s commitment to carry that vision forward, and community-supported collaborative conservation to protect our shared resources and shared future, Happytown Farm will continue to serve the region for generations to come.
For more photos of Happytown Farm, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click through photos 4-8 in the carousel.
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