About us
About our mission
Crowded Hearth’s mission of providing access to local produce is primarily supported by offering free-choice, weekly CSA style produce boxes with a sliding scale option, instead of the more traditional model that requires payment up front for an entire season of pre-selected items.
By utilizing organic no-till practices, planting perennial pollinator-friendly plants, and prioritizing crop rotation and cover cropping, we hope to cultivate a sustainable and mutually beneficial relationship with the land.
We hope to provide resources and opportunities that inspire our communities to gather over local agriculture. Whether that be a community meal, an educational opportunity, or farm event, our mission is to get folks at the same table, sharing food grown from the land we love.
Crowded Hearth Farm is a small farm currently located in Lincolnville, Maine. Vegetables, flowers and eggs from Crowded Hearth are produced using only organic methods. Our laying hens are pasture raised and free-ranging. Farm manager and owner, Lily Carlisle-Reske, has been farming for 11 years, the past 7 of which she has been managing farms across mid-coast Maine. In addition to agriculture, she has spent the past 15 years working as a chef, community organizer and environmental educator.
Although Lily grew up in Virginia, she spent several weeks every summer from the time she was 6 months old on Chebeague Island, in Casco Bay. One day while shepherding sheep in Colorado, she felt called to return to the place that always felt like home, and decided to move to Maine. Since returning she has found incredible community amongst other farmers, and delighted in being able to feed her neighbors and friends all season long through her work on farms and commitment to growing her own subsistence crops.
Our Crew
Aspen, chief of Vole Pawtrol, head of security.
Selkie, Produce Quality Control Coordinator, Chicken Chaser (in-training).
Spaghetti, Floral Design Supervisor, deputy lieutenant of security.
Matthew, lead Carpenter, husband in-training, all around the most invaluable member of the crew (sorry Spaghetti).