RETIREMENT: It is a time to go away and rest, and this is what Tom and I will be doing as of June 1, 2019. We will be closing our business for good, and selling our home & farm in Stockton Springs, Maine.
A FEW CLOSING THOUGHTS FROM THERESA: For some of you this is first time news, so please forgive me for springing it on you like this. I had hoped that our big announcement was going to be introducing you to the new owners of Highland Organics, Inc., but sadly, that is not to be, yet. We are still hopeful that someone would like to carry on what we were doing right where we left off, with their organic wild Maine blueberries, at their own facility. As a Self-employed person, including a Farmer, and an entrepreneur of a one-of-a-kind, value-added agricultural product, retirement is never easy. There never seems to be a right "time" to retire, or a right "way" to retire.
What makes this even harder for me, is that there is no one to take over doing what I have loved & appreciated being able to do here on our organic wild blueberry farm for all of YOU. I have also been able to do this work with the most amazing Ladies IN THE WORLD. Teresa T., Teresa S., and Reshell T, have been by my side in the shop until the very end. It has been an absolute honor to serve with you Ladies all these years and I could not have asked for better friends. I wish you could meet ALL the people that I have had the privilege of working with in my 20 years of farming and Tom's 30 years of farming, but just in case you would like to see some photos, here is a link to our "meet the team"!
The memories I have of this work I have done, and with who I have done it with and for, will live on within me and be cherished by me for a long, long-time. Thank you EVERYONE for helping me take my dream to unimaginable heights. I never would have dreamed this in a thousand years, because for me, it was never about a business of selling a product, instead it was about the connection I made while doing the work in front of me on this farm and the connections I made with family, friends, customers and colleges that I made while I did this work. It was also about fulfilling my God-given talents and creativity in simple and beautiful ways for others and for myself. It was about walking through our wild blueberry field in all stages of its growth and praying, working & thanking my God for this most beautiful place and for allowing me to bless others with what He gave me from it. I also asked Him to bless those it went to, and I have heard from many of you of how you were blessed in such beautiful ways. Thank you for the sharing your stories with me, I will cherish them all. This has been an amazingly, WILD ride.
RECOMMENDATIONS: I wish I could say, "Hey, here is someone doing what we have devoted our lives to making for you", but unfortunately, I was the only one making this one-of-a-kind, Organic Whole Plant Wild Maine Blueberry Tea that we lovingly named "Sipping Blue Tea", which was made with just the fruit and the leaves of the wild Blueberry plant that we grew here on our farm, and I was the only one harvesting our wild Maine blueberry leaves to sell as a tea. Hopefully someone growing Organic Wild Blueberries will pick up what we stopped doing. Keep searching, keep looking and IF I hear of someone, I will make an announcement before our website goes down completely December 31, 2019.
HOW WE GOT TO RETIREMENT: Tom & I placed our house and farm business on the market a year ago, with only a handful of inquiries about taking over our business & farm. We had hoped that someone would want to come in and continue the unique work I had started, by keeping our one-of-a-kind products growing and expanding on the market, but to date, we have not found that special person, so we needed to move on to Plan B of our retirement plan. Tom & I have 5 adult kids now, and it was always my dream that they would join us in this business in some capacity. I had hoped that at least one of them would take over my work (while I practiced being a Grammy and teaching my grandchildren about all the beauty around us! :) All our kids decided to move out of Maine or join the military to live, work, and have grandchildren. We are so very happy for the lives they have now and the people they have become. They definitely made the right decisions for their lives. My husband, Tom, is also retiring from his day job as a Psychologist after 45 years at a beautiful age of 70! We decided that his weekend gig on the farm and his "after-his-day job" weekday work on the farm had to stop. I decided to close Highland Organics, Inc. to join him in a season of ENJOYING each other's company without so much work between us for awhile, and as some of you know, farming is good work that takes up a lot of time! The business was closed good on JUNE 1, 2019. We are currently liquidating all our farm equipment and shop equipment. We have our house, the out-buildings (commercial shop, farm garage, and greenhouse), and 91 acres of land which includes 25 acres of organic wild blueberry fields listed at a price that will sell quickly. Please contact our realtor, LuAnne Adams, if you are interested in our house property.
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT OUR HOUSE & LAND FOR SALE: If you are interested in moving to Maine to be your own Small Organic Wild Maine Blueberry Farmer or if you have ever dreamed of having a summer home in Maine, which is in the middle of an Organic Wild Maine Blueberry field, keep in mind, you do not need to farm the blueberries, ask us how! Our home is located in mid-coast Maine, which is a stones throw away from the Penobscot River and only a 1/2 mile away from the Gulf of Maine on the North Atlantic Ocean. Here is your chance to have a beautiful, passive solar & solar panel house surrounded by 25 acres of organic wild Maine blueberries, YUM!! We have 91 acres total with our house and we have beautiful walking trails to a beaver dam where Osprey, and Great Blue Heron's nest among 3 active beaver huts. Plenty of moose, birds and wildlife to watch all year. There are outbuildings of farm garage, greenhouse, chicken house, goat house and a commercial building on the property for your own business or as a rental property, the dream is YOURS to bring to life!! Here is a link for the sale of our home. https://realtyofmaine.com/listing/1354169/94-old-county-road-stockton-springs-me-04981/ Please be in touch with our agent, LuAnne, she will help you out!
Gratefully, Theresa
Comments