10/11/2026
In late August, farmers Karen and Paul Volckhausen and Angelica “Munch” Harwood celebrated a new chapter for Farm as Maine Farmland Trust closed on an easement protecting the 55-acre farm in Orland, with support from Pond Mountain Conservation Trust.
Since the early 1980s, the Volckhausens have been producing organic vegetables, meat, poultry, and flowers. Paul and Karen’s longstanding work with MOFGA, local farmers’ markets, Maine Farmland Trust, and countless young farmers have helped to grow the footprint and impact of the small farm economy at the heart of the region’s food security movement.
As they planned for retirement, Karen and Paul searched for many years to find new owners for the farm – and with transition planning support from Land For Good, farm employee Angelica “Munch” Harwood recently took over operations under a rolling lease agreement, which should allow her to build the equity necessary to eventually complete the purchase of the farm, while MFT’s and GPMCT’s purchase of the easement on the farm will help to make this arrangement financially feasible for Paul and Karen. The Volckhausens also donated a trail easement across the property, providing public access from Happytown Road to the top of Flagg Mountain, where the farm’s woodland boundary intersects with GPMCT’s trail network known as the Wildlands.
"It is not easy to give up our farm; it's giving up who we are and what we do. We are now assured that our land is protected and our farm will be a forever farm," said Karen and Paul. As for Munch: “I feel blessed to live here and want to keep the farm organic. I want to feed people and bring people together and really make it a community-oriented space, sharing the woods and including the trails up to Great Pond Mountain.”
A few days before the closing, we invited community members to join us for a tour of Happytown Farm to see their support in action. Thanks to Karen and Paul’s lifelong commitment to sustainable stewardship, Munch’s commitment to carry that vision forward, and community-supported collaborative conservation to protect our shared resources, Happytown Farm will continue to serve the region for generations.
