Bill and Anna Spiller, who own and operate Spiller Farm in Wells, were recently recognized for their generosity to the Harvest for Hunger program, donating 246,688 pounds of produce during the past 21 years. Tammy Wells photo
WELLS – Bill and Anna Spiller bought 110 acres on Branch Road in 1967 and began to farm the land.
They still do, 54 years later, growing vegetables, strawberries, raspberries and apples. There is a herd of polled Herefords in a far pasture, and a trio of geese check out the tall grass next to the farm pond. In the summer, there are goats and chickens.
It is a way of life for the Spiller family from way back – Bill Spiller’s ancestors began farming in Wells in 1894. And it is one that will continue. A few years ago, the couple entered into an agricultural conservation easement that protects the property as working farmland now and for future generations.
Representatives from York County Cooperative Extension and other agencies visited Spiller Farm to express their thanks for the Spiller’s contributions to the Harvest for Hunger program – and were treated to a hayride around the farm. Tammy Wells photo
The couple operates a U-pick, offer summer CSA shares, sell produce wholesale, offer school group tours and hayrides, hay and more. Their son Jim and his wife Jeannine own and operate the nearby Spiller’s Farm Store. And Bill and Anna support the Harvest for Hunger program, donating from their annual harvest to help feed hungry Mainers.
“I like planting things, and watching them grow and produce, and the cycle they go through,” said Bill of his life’s work on a recent day. “We’re providing a service and people appreciate it; people tell us how they like the farm.”
People appreciate the farm – and they appreciate Bill and Anna, too, for their generosity of spirit, and of deed.
Since 2000, Spiller Farm has donated 246,688 pounds of produce to the Harvest for Hunger initiative of the York County Cooperative Extension Agency of the University of Maine.
The Spiller’s generosity was recognized on Nov. 2, when the gleaners – the folks who pick the produce Bill and Anna grow and donate – came together at the farm with master gardeners and other York County Cooperative extension and university representatives to say, “thank you.”
It was an outside event in the fall sunshine, preceded by a wagon ride around the pasture.
The Spiller’s involvement in the program came in 2000, its first year, when Lori Michaud and her son, Tyler, then 12, came to the farm. Michaud said she talked to Bill, and said she would pick up what produce the couple could donate for the food pantries. And so it began, with Michaud and Tyler packing a few boxes each week. Then one day Bill said he could donate a lot more, if Lori could secure volunteers to help her pick, and pointed to a row of tomatoes.
“There’s a frost coming tonight,” she said he told her. So, she picked. And she brought volunteer gleaners, to help. They came Tuesdays and Thursdays, throughout the season, and still do.
“He’d say “take as much as you want of this,” pointing to a row or this or that, said Michaud.
Volunteer gleaners for the Harvest for Hunger program celebrate the bounty at Spiller Farm in this undated photo. Courtesy Photo/York County Cooperative Extension
That first year resulted in 400 pounds of food from Spiller Farm to the Plant a Row program, as it was called early on. As the years passed, the numbers grew – a lot. In 2001 Spiller Farm donated 2,000 of produce; in 2007, 15,273; and so on. The most abundant year was 2015, with 37,308 pounds according to Frank Wertheim of York County Cooperative Extension Agency. Through the years, donations from Spiller Farm add up to 246,688 pounds.
Sometime during the 21 years of participating in the program, Bill and Anna volunteered to produce vegetables specifically for the program.
“They asked what we needed and we said carrots and potatoes, and we got together and had a big seed potato cutting party,” said Wertheim.
Wertheim recalled the winter of 2012, when there was a lot of snow. Bill had been shoveling off his roof and taken a fall.
“I told him not to push himself,” on the farm, Wertheim recalled. “He said, “No, we’re not going to stop. It’s what we like to do.”
A trio of geese at Spiller Farm in Wells on a recent day. Tammy Wells photo
The volunteer gleaners, the master gardeners, the cooperative extensive agency, and food pantry volunteers expressed thanks to the Spillers for their generosity.
The Spillers continue to farm, and are planning for the 2022 season, even as this season winds down. They are cutting back a bit, though, and with labor hard to come by, 2021 is likely the last year for the Harvest for Hunger program at Spiller Farm, Wertheim said
“They don’t like recognition, they do it because it’s the right thing to do, and we’re incredible grateful,” said Wertheim. “They allowed us to glean and they planted some, just for us. ”
“It’s not just us,” who contribute to the program at Spiller Farm, said Anna, pointing to the time donated by the gleaning teams.
“This has been a two-way street,” said Bill.
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