Our Farm

Avena Botanicals Medicinal Herb Garden contains over 150 different medicinal herbs and plants. Our three-acre gardens are certified organic by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Certification Services and certified Biodynamic® by Demeter-USA. Each herb, flower, shrub and tree growing in and around our gardens has been planted for its medicinal or edible uses or as food for plant pollinators. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the quiet, tranquil beauty of our garden. Wandering paths, meditation benches and handcrafted arbors and gates add to the colors and textures of our thoughtfully designed garden. A garden map and booklet explaining the medicinal uses of the herbs is at the garden's entrance for visitors who wish to learn more about the healing properties of plants.

Beginning in March, several thousand seeds are sown in Avena's greenhouse. From April through June, our gardeners are busy transplanting, weeding, watering, and harvesting the spring barks, roots and greens. The summer months are filled with early morning harvests, the ongoing tending of the gardens, and the wild-harvesting of herbs from nearby islands and fields. Fall finds the gardeners building compost piles, digging roots, collecting seeds and preparing the gardens for the long winter ahead.

In 1997 we began using various biodynamic preparations, created by Dr. Rudolf Steiner, to further enhance our soil fertility and the vitality of our herbs. In 2011, Avena became the first farm in Maine to be certified Biodynamic®. We attribute the health and well-being of our gardens to the use of the biodynamic preparations, our compost, and our love of gardening.