Powerfarm Herbals in Falmouth, Maine
Powerfarm is run by Carol Power and it offers organically growing herbs and flowers on a 5 acre farm in Falmouth, Maine. Carol grew up in a farming family in Northern Maine and has been living and running Powerfarm for 50 years. She was our very first farm partner, and an incredible, intuitive herbalist and grower.
You can find lots of her herbs in our online Farmers' Market. She also makes salves, teas and tinctures for sale on her website.
Website: www.powerfarmherbals.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerfarm_herbals/
Powerfarm Herbals was featured in our Farm Partner Spotlight April 2021. Read the full article below.
Published March 31st, 2021:
Carol Power will turn 80 years old this year. Born into a farming family in Northern Maine, she's never used drugs or pharmaceuticals, unless absolutely necessary. Carol has made herbal salves, teas and tinctures for her own health for years. She often gives away her preparations to friends and family if they are willing and sells the rest on her website: powerfarmherbals.com
For the past 10 years, she's been able to focus her energy into organically growing and wildcrafting medicinal herbs and flowers at Powerfarm; a 5 acre farm in Falmouth, Maine. Carol and her husband, Tom, have been living on this farm for 50 years. Tom likes to mow and Carol likes to grow so they work together and Carol tends to her many plant varieties in raised beds built by Tom, leaving plenty of grass accessible for mowing. Occasionally she puts up a makeshift fence to protect the new Prunella growth from being mowed down but for the most part it works out as is.
She has always been a solo grower, starting seeds, planting, weeding, harvesting and tending the soil all on her own, with the occasional help from an herbalist friend or one of her 5 sons. She prefers growing and gardening to selling and marketing, which is why, when Emily Springer approached her in 2019, she was happy to give her a bushel of her dried herbs to sell. When Emily came back for more after selling out, Carol joined us as our very first farm partner and the Meeting House Farm herb growers collaborative was started!
Carol finds comfort in starting her plants from seeds saved from previous years. This way, she knows exactly where the herbs come from. Her season begins by trying to grow as many herbs as she can, and seeing what takes. Some years she has an abundance of certain herbs and other years, very little; she tends to let the plants decide who will have a fruitful year, and she goes with it. This year, she is excited to grow cleavers; an herb she's never grown before, as it can be very supportive for urinary tract imbalances, especially in a formula with Goldenrod, Dandelion and/or Uva Ursi.
Sometimes it's hard to do all this work alone. In the Spring, she walks around her gardens and thinks, “oh my god, there's so much to do”, but once the plants are growing, and she is harvesting and making medicine, she says it is all worth it and so rewarding and fun!
This year, Carol is hoping to hire a young person interested in learning more about growing herbs, to help on the farm. If you are interested, please email Carol directly: powerfarm@mail.com or forward this email to someone who may be a good fit.