One resident's journey from "having it all" to living her dream of running a farm.
Pinpointing that specific moment – that moment when Angela Morse plunged from a woman who has it all – husband, kids, career with a big suburban house and a tiled in-ground swimming pool – to a woman who has it all plus a farm – well, that’s hard to define.
Or was it this summer when she convinced her husband to drive to Virginia to meet a farmer from Alabama who was selling them a horse trailer, one Kunekune piglet and six Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats?
Nonetheless, the 38-year-old Cumberland resident is fully immersed in her farm, 53 Orchard, and she couldn’t be more pleased. Morse plans on exhibiting her and her family’s goats, poultry and rabbits at the Cumberland Fair this week.
“I love talking to people about my animals,” she said. “People are so interested now in farming. They want to learn about self-sufficiency and they think it’s important to know where their food comes from.”
Angela and her husband, Josh Brainerd, are among the many residents of southern Maine who are venturing into hobby farming. As more and more large farming operations disappear, many smaller operations -- suburban homes on a couple of acres -- are popping up. Morse now raises chickens for eggs, manages bees for honey and pollination of fruit, milks four Nigerian Dwarf does and feeds hogs and turkeys for meat.
Morse and her youngest, 3-year-old Brooks, get up every morning before daylight to milk and do chores and then prepare the older boys, Asher and Jameson, for school. Then she settles down to work as special counsel for the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar.
Brainerd, who was also a Greely graduate, never had any experience raising livestock or farming. But he supports his wife’s pursuit, Morse said. Every month he picks up the hay order and there’s even a mini-barn on order for increased hay storage in the future. Signing up for 4H is on the horizon for the boys. Facebook helps Morse connect with long-time farmers and those just starting.
“This hobby farm is my passion and though it can be quite hectic as my husband and I both pursue full-time demanding jobs, our homestead is what gets me up in the morning. It really is – emotionally/spiritually and literally – my roosters are quite loud.”