Established in 1916 Joses H. Murch, my great great grandfather, started Murch Dairy in North Baldwin, Maine. “Joe” Murch or Grandpa Joe known to most in town had a milk route that covered Baldwin and Sebago, Maine. He delivered and sold raw milk to local stores and homes.
When my grandfather Norman was old enough to carry a grain bag he began working on the farm and then started raising poultry as well as other animals and vegetables to be sold and canned. The milk route was sold to Silver Ledge Dairy in Gorham in 1957, but farming still continued. In the 1970’s poultry became a large business with flocks of 5,000 chickens raised free range and shipped to Revere, Mass where they were blessed by a priest and butchered.
In the late 1980’s my father Steven and I started making maple syrup in our front yard with a homemade barrel evaporator made by Steven. We eventually upgraded and purchased a 2x6 Leader evaporator and then in 1994 built the original sugarhouse known today as Grandpa Joe’s Sugar House. Today it serves as the outlet for maple production and retail sales for the farm.