BOWDOIN, Maine — Andy and Julia McLeod started Scratch Farm in 2018, growing and raising fresh produce in their backyard.
Now, they have to-go boxes full of fresh produce for the community to enjoy.
Scratch Farm comes up with different types of boxes year round that contain a selection of the freshest products from their farm. The boxes contain seasonal vegetables, fruits, teas, medicinals, preserves, and frozen goods. They can also include pita bread, eggs, pickles and other healthy and handmade foods.
“I do most of the work by hand I have a tractor that I use for just prepping the field in the spring and putting them to bed in the fall, but all the planting and the weeding is done by hand." Andy McLeod said.
“We do a lot of preserving so it’s a lot of work this time of year and then our basement is full of food to sell throughout the winter." Julia McLeod said.
The McLeod's say they have loyal customers that buy their boxes, but their main struggle is competing with big supermarkets that can offer fruits and veggies at lower prices.
“It’s still hard to figure out what to price things at because we want to be affordable and we want to be accessible to people, we want people to eat this food.” Julia McLeod said.
Adriane Ackroyd is one of the loyal customers at Scratch Box.
“If it's in your budget, purchase locally," Ackroyd said. "You can’t get fresher products in local purchasing and you are not going to be able to support your local economy as well by going to a bigger big box store."
The McLeod's say their main goal is to get more locally grown produce into their community to benefit the health and lifestyle of Mainers.
Jackie Conn is a health expert and general manager from Weight Watchers Maine. She says Scratch Farm is truly the definition of farm to table.
“First of all, you’ve got a lot of fresh produce so it's probably picked right at its peak which means it is as nutritious as its going to be, its full of important vitamins and antioxidants,” Conn said.
Andy are Julia are Maine natives and you can find them and their monthly scratch boxes at www.scratchfarmme.com to arrange a pick up at their Rideout Road farm in Bowdoin.