At 236 Sebago Lake Road, the farm store keeps its posted hours. It is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, and closed Monday and Tuesday. The Thanksgiving preorder list includes turkey, pies, cider donuts, cinnamon rolls and bagels with cream cheese. Pickup runs Monday, Nov. 23 through Wednesday, Nov. 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturday, Nov. 14, a land trust group will walk the Mountain Division Trail and end up at the farm for a fall treat.
The property also has a for-sale listing. Erica and Will Gottshalk announced on Oct. 18 that they will sell the 38-acre farm, the Portland Press Herald reported. Their social media post said the farm will stay open "throughout the holidays or until a potential sale," WMTW reported.
So the next six weeks are the fixed part of the farm's future. Gorham also knows from this year exactly what the town values about the place. What the Gottshalks hope to pass on is the farm's role as a community space, and that role took five years and a lot of neighbors to build. The orchard and the barns are only part of it.
Five years from orchard to gathering place
The Gottshalks took over the farm in 2021. Speaking about the sale, Erica Gottshalk told the Press Herald she had done what she set out to do, which was to turn the farm into a community space. She said it had become too challenging to manage alone.
The farm's own site shows what that space holds. Orchard Ridge describes itself as a year-round farm store and u-pick orchard. It sells eggs, local meat and dairy, produce, pastries, donuts, espresso and bagels. In season you can pick highbush blueberries, apples and pears. Fresh donuts and bagels are made Wednesday through Monday, and the farm animals are there to visit all year. Ice cream has its own schedule: Friday 4 to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Most Gorham errands don't take you past a henhouse. That mix of things is what makes this stop on Sebago Lake Road different.
The week the town showed up
The clearest proof of the farm's place in Gorham came in January. A fire early on Jan. 2 destroyed the farmhouse on the property. Firefighters from 10 communities responded, the Press Herald reported. The fire also knocked out the farm's water system, and the store closed for almost a week, according to the Gorham Times.
The store reopened on Thursday, Jan. 8. The Gorham Times reported that local businesses supplied the labor and equipment to get the water running again. The Reed Allen Community Fund directed donations made during January to the family, and WMTW covered a fundraising yoga class held at the farm.
A farm store is a business, but it took other Gorham businesses to reopen this one in six days. That speed shows how much the farm had already become shared ground.
What the letter said
In a letter to the community, the owners said the fire made them reconsider their future and where to put their time and energy. WMTW quoted one line:
"Over the past year, I have come to realize that I no longer have the bandwidth required to keep driving the farm forward."
Erica Gottshalk told the Press Herald that losing the house was not the main reason for the sale. She told WGME she hopes new owners will keep the farm's community role and traditions going.
WMTW listed what the property includes: the farm, the store, barns, fruit orchards, walking trails and a replacement home under construction. The asking price is $1.695 million. A buyer gets all of that in the deal. The Thanksgiving pickup line and the Saturday donut run are habits, and those don't come with a deed.
The calendar between now and the holidays
The owners have committed to the holidays, so these are the dates the farm has published or that other groups have built around it.
| Date | What's happening | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14, walk listed 9 to 11 a.m. | Historical walk at Gambo Preserve, followed by a short Mountain Division Trail hike to the farm | Gambo Preserve, Gorham |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Rain date for the walk | Same |
| Mon., Nov. 23 to Wed., Nov. 25, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Thanksgiving preorder pickup | 236 Sebago Lake Road |
| December | Christmas preorders, including turkey, ham and duck | 236 Sebago Lake Road |
The farm's holiday preordering page lists the full Thanksgiving menu. It includes turkey and specialty turkey cuts, cinnamon rolls, pies, cider donuts, bagels and cream cheese, plus gift cards. Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26 this year, so the last pickup day is the day before.
Reaching the farm on foot from Gambo
Orchard Ridge sits close enough to the Mountain Division Trail that the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust built the farm into its Nov. 14 walk. Don Wescott will lead it. He is a longtime Gorham resident who has been involved with the land trust since 2009. He learned the history of the Gambo Powder Mill from local historians Dr. Maurice Whitten and Joel Eastman, and he helped develop the preserve's interpretive signs.
The morning runs in this order:
- A loop of about two hours on the Gambo Preserve trail, covering the powder mill's history and the trail upkeep behind it.
- A short hike with land trust staff on the Mountain Division Trail.
- A local fall treat at Orchard Ridge Farm.
Registration is through the land trust's event page, and the rain date is Sunday, Nov. 15.
The history at the start of the walk is substantial for a preserve the land trust lists at 1.75 acres. The preserve has gunpowder mill ruins and a stretch of the Cumberland and Oxford Canal towpath, and it branches off the Mountain Division Trail. The land trust's preserve page says the Oriental Powder Mill opened in 1824 as Maine's first and largest gunpowder mill. During the Civil War it supplied a quarter of the Union Army's gunpowder, and it closed in 1905. The Presumpscot River Trail links the Mountain Division Rail Trail, Shaw Park and Gambo, and it reaches a bridge above Gambo Dam with access to the mill and canal ruins.
To park for the Mountain Division Trail, the Town of Windham's trail page lists two spots. One is behind the South Windham Fire Station, and the other is a lot off Gambo Road beside the youth soccer fields.
The farm store at 236 Sebago Lake Road is open until 6 p.m. on Saturdays, so there is time to stop in after the walk on Nov. 14.
If you own acreage, orchard land or a farm property around Gorham and want to know how its barns, outbuildings and trails factor into its value, The Moulton Group RE is a good place to start. We're a boutique brokerage with a licensed appraiser in-house, and we value land and farm properties in Cumberland County regularly. Get Your Free Home Valuation, and we'll walk the property with you before we put a number on it.
