Wood Prarie Farm plans Seed Equipment Repair Shop

Contributed photograph
LINING IT OUT — Caleb Gerritsen, left, and his father Jim line out how the Wood Prairie Repair Shop will be located. Wood Prairie Farm is an organic farm specializing in certified seed potatoes and is taking on an Indiegogo Project, with support being solicited from the public to help build a Seed Equipment Repair Shop.
    Maine’s Wood Prairie Farm, a pioneer organic farm specializing in raising certified organic seed potatoes, has initiated an Indiegogo Project, which means support is being solicited from the public to help them build a Seed Equipment Repair Shop on their family farm in northern Maine.
    Jim and Megan Gerritsen, and their family, are the owners of Wood Prairie Farm. They have been farming organically for 36 years. The Gerritsens will perform the actual Repair Shop construction work and they are seeking crowd-funding contributions for the purchase of the needed building materials.
    “Growing organic seed requires a lot of specialized equipment,” said Wood Prairie Farm owner Jim Gerritsen. “We need a place out of the rain and snow to keep our tractors and equipment maintained and repaired. This 30-foot by 70-foot metal building with wood-fired radiant floor heat is what we’ve needed for a long time. With our community’s support, we can make this shop happen this year.”
    Crowd-funding, of which Indiegogo is the world’s leading platform, is a web-based community-funded project incubator. It is a means by which a community comes together to support a worthy project. Pledges are made by individuals who want to see the project succeed. Unique “perks” are offered to backers for different levels of support.
    Crowd-funded projects have established funding goals and deadlines. Wood Prairie Farm hopes to raise the $32,000 needed to cover the cost of materials by their deadline of July 24.
    “My brother, Peter, and I do now do most of the repairs on our farm,” said Caleb Gerritsen. “We have a lot of good, older equipment which takes time to keep in running condition. The shop will help us get our work done.”
    Caleb is one of four Gerritsen children, all of whom work on the family farm. He just graduated from high school. He will be studying Diesel Hydraulic Mechanics beginning this Fall at nearby Northern Maine Community College.
    The Gerritsens are active and have volunteered many thousands of hours on behalf of the organic community over the past 30 years. Jim is president of the national trade group, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association, lead Plaintiff in the landmark organic community lawsuit, OSGATA et al v. Monsanto, which is challenging the validity of Monsanto’s GMO patents.
    Wood Prairie Farm is located in Aroostook County, northern Maine’s historic center of potato farming. Wood Prairie Farm’s organic seed potatoes, kitchen potatoes, vegetable and cover crop seeds and other products are available direct to the customer by mail order from its website and catalog.
    For more information on Wood Prairie Farm, visit  www.woodprairie.com or call  800-829-9765. They are also available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ woodprairiefarm.