Anna-Lena and Mike Kress, pictured here with daughter Ella, have opened a new store at their Better Together Acres farm in North Yarmouth. Contributed / Anna-Lena Kress
Two couples in North Yarmouth are expanding the town’s food and beverage scene this summer – one with a new farm store and the other with a family-friendly brewery.
Better Together Acres, run by Mike and Anna-Lena Kress, has opened a farm store at 306 West Pownal Road selling organic, chemical-free, no-till produce and other products. And at 173 Cumberland Road, Well & Good Brewing Company, a new venture from Byron and Elise Kern, is set to open as soon as this week after delays with its inspection process.
Better Together Acres was started roughly five years ago. Mike is originally from Portland and Anna-Lena hails from Northern Germany. The new store at the farm will post what’s available on any given day, from locally sourced honey and maple syrup to vegetables and eggs, at bettertogetheracres.com.
“I think some of the thing that keeps people away from farm stores in general is you never really know what’s there. And so we’re trying to prevent that by posting everything online,” Anna-Lena said.
The Kresses will not have anyone working a traditional cash register at the store, and instead will use the honor system when it comes to payment. The store takes Venmo and cash, and customers can pay with a card via the farm’s website.
Their farm and farm store is located on a little more than 3 acres of land. A quarter-acre is devoted to farming vegetables and herbs, and the vast majority of the rest of the land is used to raise and pasture chickens.
The farm also has a CSA, or “community supported agriculture” program, where community members pay a subscription fee at the beginning of a growing season and can pick up a box of produce each week.
“We (have) a holistic approach here on the farm,” Anna-Lena said.
“Incorporating animals and pollinators, we have beehives. (We’re) really looking at our farm as a complete ecosystem,” Mike said.
Part of the mission of their farm is community building, they said.
“We really want to have an open-farm type policy, we want to be integrated with the community. We love having so many neighbors and folks swing by, and we’re always outside and we’re always available,” Mike said.
The store is open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
Well & Good
Elise and Byron Kern, the couple behind Well & Good Brewing Company, hope to open their new establishment this month. Contributed / Byron Kern
Over on Cumberland Road, Byron and Elise Kern are getting ready to open Well & Good Brewing Company to the public. Both have business backgrounds and opening a brewery is something they talked about for “years and years,” Byron said.
Byron, who has brewed beer at home for over 20 years, thought that “there was a space (in North Yarmouth) for something that was a little more interesting and was focused on being family friendly. (So we) decided to take a run at it,” he said.
Their first menu includes six beverages. “I wanted to have a broad variety,” he said, so there would be something for everyone. They have a hazy IPA, a double IPA, a light lager, an oatmeal stout, citrus lavender gose and a hard ginger ale – “which is like a hard soda, (not) a ginger beer,” he said.
The Kerns rehabbed the brewery building, which was originally a log-cabin style home, and have retained its rustic feel. The renovation process started about two years ago.
“We really wanted to find a place that was more inviting and more interesting than the traditional sort of industrial, concrete and steel box that most places are in,” he said.
The brewery plans to donate about 50 cents per pint sale to local charities that will rotate each month. Through their “Halo and Crown Club” they’re going to give customers the ability to weigh in on which charities should receive the donations, though the first charities have already been selected: Finally Home Senior Dog Rescue and Retirement Home in North Yarmouth and Maine Boys to Men.
As part of its commitment to being family friendly, the brewery will also have a dedicated play space for kids where they can read books and play with toys. The space is close enough to the main space that parents can sit and “monitor but not have to hover so (they) can actually relax,” said Byron.
The brewery plans to be open Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.
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