The resident farmers at Broadturn Farm invited local and state officials and other friends of the farm into their home at noon on Wednesday to meet, greet and eat – and to announce a new program that will bring refugees to work and learn at the farm in Scarborough.

John Bliss and Stacy Brenner laid out a lavish buffet of farm foods, including their last turkey of the season, to lure guests into the farmhouse to introduce each other and share in their amazement with the progress the farm has made in just a few years.

The 434-acre farm has been protected since 2004 by the Scarborough Land Trust with help from the Maine Department of Agriculture, the Land for Maine’s Future Fund, the Trust for

Public Land and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Brenner and Bliss also used the gathering to announce plans for the near future. Broadturn Farm will host an innovative farming program for refugees from Sudan and Somalia, as outlined by Sarah Bostick from the New American Sustainable Agriculture Project which, in partnership with AmeriCorps, works to help the refugees learn to work as farmers in Maine.

The refugees were farmers in their former countries. However, Bostick said, “nothing translates.” From farming procedures to finances, it’s all completely new – and their old ways are hard to unlearn.

Part of the program is offering classes in farming and marketing through Lewiston Adult Education. Currently, there are 15 participants in the program in Lewiston and five in Portland. In the coming months, the participants will start getting hands-on experience, and those based in Portland will be getting their hands dirty at Broadturn Farm.

Several other upcoming programs are in place, including planting strawberries to start a pick-your-own harvest in subsequent years and continuing the farm camp, which Brenner will run in the summer.

Among those at the lunch were Town Manager Ron Owens; Laurene Swaney, president of the Scarborough Land Trust; and Stephanie Gilbert, Farmland Protection Program manager from the Maine Department of Agriculture, all attended the luncheon.

Formerly called the Keith Meserve Farm, the land is one of the largest farm properties in the Greater Portland area. The historic farmhouse has been renovated with help from the community and the land has returned to agricultural production after years of dormancy. It operates a community-supported agriculture program that includes vegetables, poultry, eggs, pork, lamb and turkey. Its educational summer day camp is for children ages 4 to 9.

Farm bounty: Food and innovationFarm bounty: Food and innovationFarm bounty: Food and innovation