news on one of our farm family's

Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District Honors the 2010 Agriculture Cooperator of the Year

Felix Blinn, Acting Chairperson, and Shelia Richard, Executive Director of PCSWCD, present Chris and Wendy Russell with a new farm sign and their achievement award.

On August 5, 2010 Chris and Wendy Russell, owners of Widdershins, were honored by PCSWCD for the low impact practices they use on their farm.

Rotational grazing, use of animal trails to reduce runoff, nutrient management, and manure storage facilities are just some of the practices they successfully manage. Many family members, friends, and interested public came to the event.

Felix Blinn, Acting Chairperson of PCSWCD, talked about the PCSWCD and its role in conservation and then introduced the Russell's. Wendy and Chris talked about the history of the farm and their vision for it.


Alice Begin, Resource Conservationist for Natural Resources Conservation Service, talked about grasses and the importance of rotational grazing to prevent overuse of the pastures. During a walk around the Russell’s pastures Alice showed how to use a pasture stick to calculate the amount of useable grasses in a field in order to rotate your animals before overuse occurs.

After the walking tour the participants were treated to a barbecue lunch of hamburgers that were made from Widdershins grass-fed beef, potato salad, pasta salad, and dinner rolls followed by a blueberry cream pie.

Following lunch Cathy Elliott, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, discussed sustainable living using a thought provoking handout to initiate questions. Wendy treated the group to her homemade goat’s milk gelato, which is frozen custard. The presentation of a new farm sign and an achievement award was then carried out.