BrightBerry Farm looking South

BrightBerry Farm is a small organic farm in the hills of Dixmont, Maine, about 20 miles southwest of Bangor. The farm is the last 30 acres of a large dairy farm that was first homesteaded in 1830, and, as far as we can tell, has been farmed or homesteaded continuously since then.

Our piece includes about 20 acres of open fields, a year-round stream, two spring-fed ponds (which we have expanded) and about 10 acres of woodland on the east and west edges of our property. The property is quite steep, particularly around the house, sloping and leveling out south and southwest, which is great for sun exposure and drainage. That orientation was key to our excited purchase of this farm in 1999.

We’ve done a lot of work on this beautiful plot of ground. First,we added thousands of feet of drainage lines, to best funnel the water from several pop-up springs away from farm fields and and channel it into the ponds and stream on our west boundary. Then we planted the rows and rows of high-bush blueberries, red and black raspberries and blackberries, along with a small private orchard. Underground irrigation lines were finally completed a couple of years ago.

We’ve also added on to the old farmhouse, which was originally built around 1830 and still has its large rock foundation under the original house footprint. The old farmhouse was remodeled extensively by a previous owner in the early 1990s. And we’ve followed suit, adding a three-car garage on one side, and a two-story addition on the other.

Jean owned and operated Hay’s Farm Stand in Blue Hill, across from the Blue Hill Fairgrounds, in the 1980s and early 1990s. One of the earliest farms to be MOFGA-Certified organic when she owned it in the 1980s, that 10-acre Blue Hill farm was bought a few years ago by Blue Hill Heritage Trust, calling it one of the last pieces of organic farmland in Blue Hill Village.

BrightBerry Farm was MOFGA-Certified Organic from 2002 to 2022. As we moved into retirement and shrunk the farm operation down to Spring Seedlings and PYO Berries, and our farm income shrank likewise, we couldn’t justify the cost of Certification when it rose from $770 to $920 per year for our small operation. We still grow organically, as we have starting when we bought this farm in 1999. Now we consider our pick-your-own customers to be our organic inspectors, and hope that our organic reputation precedes us.

David Bright and Jean Hay Bright

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Our Growing Season Shakes Out Like This:

April thru June —

Herbs, Tomatoes, Other Vegetable and Flower Seedlings

Late-July to early August — Black and Red Raspberries

Late-July and August– High-Bush Blueberries

Mid August — Blackberries (one productive row)

Check Out our Facebook Page for Current Updates

Where are we?
4262 Kennebec Road, Dixmont ME 04932
Phone 207-234-4225

Seedlings

April through June. We had a banner seedling season this year, selling thousands of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, herbs and other garden vegetables from display carts at the Natural Living Center in Bangor. Check our Facebook page in the spring for updates on availability.

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Pick-Your-Own Berry Picking

We have about two acres in several different kinds of bramble and berry bushes, ripening mid-July into September. A few years ago we decided to semi-retire, and turn all our berry patches into Pick-Your-Own. That has worked out well, for us, and hopefully for our customers.

High-Bush Blueberries. Late-July thru August.

We have two well-separated high-bush blueberry plots, a patch of 60 plants in what we call Blueberry Circle, and a larger field across the farm road with 300 plants (six varieties) in 14 long rows. Check our Facebook page or call first to check for availability, to make sure previous pickers haven’t cleaned out the patch for the day.

Black Raspberries — Late July — We opened these back rows to PYO a few years ago, after telling John’s Ice Cream in Liberty that we were retiring from the wholesale berry business. For the previous decade, John Ascrizzi bought our entire crop, which involved us picking, packing and freezing them over the season. John was very understanding. Customers now enjoy picking the rarely-grown berries (watch out for the thorns).

Blackberries. Mid-Late August The thorns on our single row of blackberries are wicked, so we’ve been reluctant to do U-Pick with them. But a few years ago we had a bumper crop and no time to pick them all, so we let in a few families, and that worked out well. Now that we are ALL PYO (no pre-picked-and-packed berries), the patch is nicely picked clean by our customers. Please be aware of the thorns, and dress accordingly (open-toed shoes are NOT recommended.)