Mandala Farm  
   Gouldsboro
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Name:           Mandala Farm

                      Sara Faull and Eugenio Bertin


Location:       46 Youngs Farm Road

                       Gouldsboro, Maine  04607


Phone:            207-963-2984


Email:            sara@mandalafarm.com

                        genio@madalafarm.com


Website:         www.mandalafarm.com


Products and Services:


  1. -Norwegian Fjords

  2. -Cashmere Goats

  3. -Pigs

  4. -Sheep

  5. -Laying Hens and Meat Birds

  6. -Gardens

  7. -Farmer’s Market

  8. -Farmstand

  9. -CSA

  10. -horse logging

  11. -Berlin Timber Frames

  12. -vacation cottage rental


What Makes Mandala Farm in Gouldsboro

So Unique?


A mandala has been an image with great spiritual and historical significance.  It is the

symbol that Sara Faull and Eugenio Bertin

chose to be the logo of their organic farm operation in Gouldsboro.  Their mandala is

composed of single shafts of wheat that are intertwined in a circle.  They explained that their mandala represents the circle of life and the completeness and balance that they strive for on their farm. 


The story of the mandala and its relationship with Mandala Farm in Gouldsboro is also a lovely story of the connection of two farms both located in Hancock County, but situated thirty-two miles apart from each other.  It is a story that begins with another Mandala Farm - the  St. Francis farm community in East Orland that is associated with H.O.M.E. - Home-workers Organized for More Employment. (A profile of the first Mandala Farm in East Orland already appears on this Unique Maine Farms website).


As young farmers, Sara Faull and Eugenio Bertin, were welcomed by the St. Francis Community in 1999, and trained at their Mandala Farm in East Orland to learn all about Norwegian Fjord horses and organic farming.   Throughout the three years Sara and Genio worked as interns in East Orland there was a plan that they one day would go out on their own and purchase and manage their own farm. 


Sara and Genio visited many farms that were

for sale, but fell in love with a 100-acre farm

in Gouldsboro in 2002. It had land for pasture, woodlands, and frontage on Jones Pond. Miraculously they were able to finalize an offer on this farm just minutes before a developer attempted to purchase the farm to turn into house lots.


The St. Francis Community in East Orland, in their amazing generosity, gave Sara and Genio five beautiful Norwegian fjords so that they could begin raising their own horses at their new farm in Gouldsboro.  They also gave them some of their goats and sheep and chickens.


The Norwegian Fjords have become a major

part of the farm operation in Gouldsboro.  They are the primary power source for the farm as Sara and Genio use them for plowing and cultivating the fields and bringing in their hay. Their horses are also used in harvesting the firewood from their sixty-acre woodlot.  Because they offer a much lower impact in the forest than traditional logging equipment the horses prove valuable in selective harvesting. 


Sara and Genio have established a successful Norwegian Fjord breeding program (live cover and artificial insemination) that focuses on temperament and confirmation.  Their stallion MVF Karimann has fathered many sons and daughters who have been utilized as work-horses, driving horses, therapeutic horses, pleasure horses, and competitive riding horses.

Sara and Genio feel that the Norwegian Fjords are a breed that is very hardy, willing, gentle, curious, and versatile. 


Sister Marie, a member of the St. Francis Community in East Orland, where Sara and Genio interned, shared how pleased and proud

everyone is in East Orland with the farm

that Sara and Genio have established.  She

discussed that it was quite meaningful that

they named their farm after their own East Orland farm.  For the St. Francis Community, the mandala has signified a search for wholeness and integrity.


Sister Marie recalled that when Sara and Genio

were married in the back field at their farm that everyone was given a shirt with a mandala on it

as a wedding gift. She still wears this highly-prized shirt.  The St. Francis Community has enjoyed being able to visit and re-connect with Sara and Genio a few times each year.  They are thrilled that Enna and Ross, the children of Sara and Genio, have such a lovely farm to call home.


It is fitting that the mandala is a circle with an intertwined beginning and end because the goodness that began in Orland continues to flow and blossom in Gouldsboro inviting

others along in the cycle.  When a visit to their farm took place for this profile, Genio was busy building some of the timbers for the barn that was being rebuilt for their neighbors at the Darthia Farm in Gouldsboro that had been tragically destroyed in a fire this past spring.


The circle of knowledge that traveled from the St. Francis Community to Sara and Genio continues to flow through workshops that they offer and through the apprentice program that takes place on their farm in Gouldsboro. 


Sara and Genio offer workshops in the use of horses for sustainable woodlot management. They also share knowledge about all aspects of farming with their apprentices.  The apprentices learn about animal chores, field work, harvesting, and processing poultry.  The Mandala Farm in Gouldsboro is a certified organic farm with MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener Association) for all their crops and with some of their livestock.


In addition to the Norwegian Fjords, Sara and Genio raise sheep and cashmere goats for fiber and meat.  They have a flock of 150-200 laying hens that are provided pasture through moveable pens and broiler chickens which are raised in portable chicken tractors.  Apprentices participate in the butchering of chickens that takes place once a week and learn about the care of Tamworth pigs.  There is also a milking cow that is milked by hand twice a day and a few beef cows.


Apprentices play a vital role in the planting and care of the three acres of vegetable production.

The vegetables are grown for the 75 CSA members, the farm store, wholesale accounts,

and the farmer’s market.  There is a hoop house where tomatoes and peppers are grown.

Apprentices assist with starting seeds, garden prep, transplanting, cultivating, harvesting,

and washing produce.


Just like Sara and Genio learned from the St.

Francis Community, their apprentices are experiencing all the responsibilities and hard work that goes into a life of farming.  During the busy times of year, their day begins around 6:30 a.m. and ends around 5 p.m.  Dinner takes place around 6:30 p.m. with apprentices alternating with dinner prep and chore responsibilities.  The work week includes Monday through Friday and a half-day on Saturday.  Meals are shared in the farmhouse.


Mandala Farm in Gouldsboro sells farm tee shirts with the mandala logo at their farm store.  The mandala is painted on the sign that welcomes visitors to their farm.  A large white mandala adorns the side of their barn.  They view it as a symbol of the circle of life and the completeness and balance that they strive for in their lives. 


The mandala is a very good choice for their farm name, for through their incredible energy and commitment to healthy living, they are certainly offering a great deal of knowledge and experiences to those whom they meet and with whom they work.  The Mandala Farm at Gouldsboro has had an outstanding mentor - the St. Francis Community at the Mandala Farm in East Orland. 


It is hoped that the completeness, peace, wholeness, balance and integrity that is sought at both Mandala Farms will continue to be achieved since their efforts have positively affected so many visitors to their farms.











Norwegian FjordsNorwegian_Fjords.html
Farm StoreMandala_Farm_Store.html
CropsCrops_at_Mandala_-_Gould.html
Photos
AroundPhotos_Around_Mandala_-_Gould.html
Farm
StoreMandala_Farm_Store.html
Farm CottageMandala_Farm_-_Farm_Cottage.html

Sara Faull and Eugenio Bertin

Apprentices

Genio is shown holding Enna while Sara is shown holding Ross in front of the mandala on their barn.

One of the beautiful Norwegian fjords.

Genio Bertin and Randy Daul

Common Ground 2012Mandala-Goulds-Common_Ground.html