The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust announced recently that it hopes to preserve a 45-acre parcel of the William H. Jordan Farm as a working farm.

"We're at a point where we're seeing some threats to our working agricultural lands," said Susy Kist, executive director of the land trust. "There are three to four working farms in Cape Elizabeth now. There used to be 60."

Penny Jordan Barthelman, whose father, William Jordan Sr., has owned and operated Jordan Farm for the past 50 years, said the family is negotiating with the land trust to sell its development rights.

"The family always wanted to preserve the farm but needed a vehicle to make that happen," said Barthelman.

She said the land trust has been discussing the opportunity with her father for the past year.

The farm, which grows fruits and vegetables, operates a retail stand and supplies produce to local grocers and other farm stands.

Barthelman said the family has been approached "many times" to sell the farm. "We don't want to do that," she said.

Barthelman would not say how much the farm is worth, but she estimated that by preserving the farm, the family will receive half of what it could get by developing the land. "Our goal is to keep it a working farm for as many generations as possible," she said. "Whether it's in the Jordan family or if someone wants to lease the land from the (Cape Elizabeth Land Trust)."

To be honest, Bill Jordan, Jr. isn’t positive that the Wm. H. Jordan Farm has the best-tasting corn in the area.

But it might.

"I only eat the corn here," Bill says with a smile. He likes it. He knows you will, too. And that is probably the best reason for finding the Jordans Farm Stand in the rural area of Cape Elizabeth – you’ll be able to enjoy the freshest vegetables possible.

The Jordans have been farming in Cape Elizabeth for decades. Bill Jordan, Sr. has operated the farm since 1948 and Bill, Jr. joined him in 1972. Now, three daughters – Penny Jordan Barthelman, Pam Butterfield and Carol Anne Jordan – have also joined in the effort to promote and expand the farm.

Those familiar with local history are undoubtedly aware of Bill, Sr. He was a selectman and then a town councilor for close to 30 years, was the deputy fire chief for years and then the fire chief for five years, and has been active in different aspects of agriculture in the state, especially in organizations such as the Maine Vegetable Growers Association.

Jordans Farm offers you a wide selection of produce. You can buy purple eggplant, but you can also buy neon, green and white eggplant. With squash, Jordans carries the standard varieties such as buttercup, butternut and blue hubbarb, but also delicata squash.

There is also a good selection of lettuces, bell peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, summer squash, zucchini, Swiss chard, fall squashes, gourds, onions, peas, green beans, cucumbers and specialty vegetables. The strawberry season has come and gone and the pumpkin season is expected to be a highlight of the fall.

There’s a good selection of cutting flowers which are exploding with the colors of summer.

Salad greens are also available in bags – mixed, washed and ready to eat. "It’s like a mescaline mix," Penny says.

Or you can buy a bag of washed Romaine lettuce, add dressing and serve Caesar salad.

All of this is FRESH! "We pick corn more than once a day," Bill, Jr. says. And all of it is grown right in Cape Elizabeth on 50 to 60 acres of the farm which looks out over the Spurwink River. Some Jordan vegetables are also sold in local stores and area roadside stands.

Jordans Farm is located on Wells Road, right off Spurwink Ave. which connects with Route 77 in a couple places. Stand hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week. To find out what’s in season, just call the information line at 767-3488.

Recently Frank Miles and I interviewed four Cape Elizabeth farmers and a local farm manager to find out firsthand what it's like to run an agricultural business in the community today.

We talked to Billy Jordan of Jordan's Farm, Ken Maxwell of Maxwell's Farm, Lester Jordan of L&A Farm, Jodie Jordan of Alewife Farm and John Greene who is property manager for the Sprague Corporation. Together these folks grow crops and graze cattle on over 400 acres of land in Cape Elizabeth.

The smallest commercial farm is Lester Jordan's L&A Farm. In the space of four acres behind Ocean Variety on Ocean House Road, Lester grows 75 varieties of plants, split 50/50 between vegetables and flowers. A "regular" at the farmers market in Portland, Lester sells his produce every Wednesday at Monument Square and Fridays at Deering Oaks during the middle seven months of the year.

Jodie Jordan runs Alewive's Brook Farm with his dad, Alvin. He raises a variety of vegetables on twenty acres of land and sells most of the vegetables, along with lobster and clams, from a farm stand on the family's property. He also supplies some local restaurants on occasion.

Ken Maxwell and Billy Jordan and their families each till 80 to 100 acres of Cape land. They both grow strawberries and a range of vegetables, from pumpkins to corn. According to Ken Maxwell, whose son-in-law Bill Bamford runs the farm, all their produce is sold at the family's farm stand on Spurwink Road run by his son Nate. Billy Jordan, who runs his farm with son Bill Jr., wholesales the majority of his produce to A.J. Kennedy. He also runs a small farm stand on Wells Road in front of his farm.

John Greene oversees 240 acres of Sprague Corporation land on which family enterprises grow hay, raise beef cattle and board horses. The hay is grown for use on the farm, and beef produced is sold at Maxwell's farm stand and at Spurwink Farm. Some Sprague Corporation land is leased to other farmers for vegetable production.

Farming in Cape Elizabeth today is "different than years ago," says Lester Jordan. "You have to go outside of the town to buy most farming supplies." Help can be hard to get with potential farm workers having a range of employment options in the Portland area which can earn them equal or more pay than Cape farmers can afford to offer.

The farmers running larger operations are adapting their practices to accommodate neighbors in residential areas growing up around their farms.

"You gotta be thinking about your neighbor as far as noise goes," says Billy Jordan. He tries to be done with his irrigating by 10 p.m. these days, rather than midnight or later as he used to do.

Nature, in one form or another, poses the greatest challenge for the farmers with whom we talked. Lester Jordan is most aware of his age.

"There are a lot of things which I used to raise which are too difficult for me now," says Lester Jordan. "I need to ride around the fields, instead of walk, and I can't get down on my knees any more."

Billy Jordan spoke of the weather's effect on his work. "When we have a dry year like this, you wonder why you're doing it. And when it rains nine inches in two weeks, you wonder why you're doing it."

Deer have created significant problems for Ken Maxwell and Jodie Jordan and minor difficulties for John Greene. At Maxwell's, electric fencing is used to keep deer away from pumpkins and many of their green crops. Woodchucks are also a nuisance. Jodie "plants some for the deer and some for (himself)." He's tried a variety of methods to deter deer from eating his crops, but nothing has worked. He'd love to see bow hunting allowed year round to curb the deer population.

When asked about what they envisioned for the future of their farms, worries about being able to keep up with taxes and hang on to their land came up. The increasing challenge of making a living from farming alone was also voiced. Yet farming is a way of life for these well-known community members. Jodie Jordan put it simply, "It's all I've ever known."

Billy Jordan added, "I'm always tired."

In considering the future of his own farm, Lester Jordan didn't think his land would turn over to a new generation of farmers because of its small size. On second thought he added that a small farm such as his might be the way of the future in Cape. "If there is a next farmer here, and he continues to raise the variety of produce that I do and sells it at the farmers market in Portland, it might be a go."

(Susy Kist is Executive Director of the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust. Frank Miles is a Cape resident who recently founded the Maine Farmland Trust with Searsport orchardist Steve Page.)