LIVERMORE — Across Franklin County, two farms — one seven generations old, the other just over a decade in — are cultivating more than crops.

Boothby’s Orchard in Livermore and Rustic Roots Farm in Farmington are each investing in the future of local food and community, rooted in a shared belief that farming connects people as much as it feeds them.

At Boothby’s Orchard and Farm, Rob and Denise Boothby have turned their hillside orchard into both a family legacy and a community gathering place.

“We don’t know that we’ve worked to preserve traditions as much as a reverence for the history of this place,” Rob Boothby said. “Having been in the same place for so many years means we have both a living history, stories passed down through generations — and artifacts from stone walls to hundred-year-old receipts.”

Boothby said they’ve seen a shift in how people connect to farms.

“I think customers have a renewed interest in growing food and asking questions about where their food comes from, and we love that,” he said. “They’re also willing to pay for experiences more than ever, particularly ones that offer an opportunity to connect with nature and each other.”

That connection is at the heart of Boothby’s approach to agritourism.

“The pick-your-own experiences and the weddings and events we host are opportunities to invite the public into our backyard to take a deep breath and be present together,” he said. “It’s our joy to see familiar faces that have been coming to pick apples for decades, now with grown kids and grandkids. Likewise, it’s so much fun to see couples that got married here return to pick apples and catch us up on their lives and often growing families.”

The Boothbys also prioritize community partnerships.

“We work hard to keep our prices affordable for our local community and enjoy partnering with dozens of other local small farms and businesses,” Boothby said. “These partnerships bring the best of what our community has together.”

Their market shelves feature items from across Maine: breads from Ruby on the Hill in Hebron, soups from Hurricane Soups in Greene, cheeses from Conant in Canton, nuts from Nuthatch Nuts in Leeds and poultry from Chicken Street Farm in Mercer.

“These and so many others round out our own offerings of fruits and vegetables, grass-fed beef, cider, and wine,” Boothby said.

Even as they look ahead, they are mindful of the future of the family farm.

“Being aging owners of a family farm, we don’t yet know what the future holds,” Boothby said. “But we are certain we are doing what we love now and preparing to make way for the next generation should they choose to farm.”

Their children, he said, already share that work ethic.

“Our kids appreciate our way of life and work hard in ways that set them apart from their peers,” Boothby said. “That is both good and challenging, but the teens that remain at home continue to choose it. If they return to continue to run this farm, great; if they don’t, the farm will find its way forward.”

That same spirit of long-term investment in local food connects Boothby’s to Rustic Roots Farm in Farmington, where Erica Emery and Dave Allen are expanding operations through a $100,000 crowdfunding campaign to build critical infrastructure on newly purchased farmland, also in Farmington.

“We are basically building a farm from the ground up,” Emery said. “We bought a hay field with absolutely no infrastructure.”

Emery said gaining reliable electricity is especially vital after farming for years without power.

“We used to rely on coolers and shade from trees, which limited how much we could harvest and store,” she said. “Getting power and a walk-in fridge was a game changer for our efficiency and produce quality.”

The new property, she said, will complement Rustic Roots’ existing Farmington operation and allow them to grow more food for the region.

“Installing power is the most vital because our veggies are highly perishable and we need refrigeration on site to be able to scale up,” Emery said. “Being able to have refrigeration will allow us to store veggies for farm share distribution, harvest and hold orders for wholesale distribution, and have refrigerated items like lettuce and spinach in our farm stand.”

Founded in 2013, Rustic Roots now feeds 130 families through its community-supported agriculture (CSA) program.

“Our CSA, we call them farm-share members, is the core of our farm,” Emery said. “Our new land here in Farmington will allow us to increase farm-share membership and provide more food to local pantries and schools so people can eat healthy, hyper-local food no matter their budget.”

The campaign invites 4,000 donors to contribute $25 each, a number that holds personal meaning for Emery.

“I have 25 years until retirement,” she said. “Buying land, building infrastructure, growing our farm, it’s all to build toward a healthy retirement and eventual exit from farming.”

Co-owner Allen said the support has already been inspiring.

“Many people are donating $25 and people are showing up at the farm with cash and checks in hand to contribute,” he said. “We have people who want to host fundraising events for us, like a comedy night or a trivia night, and one couple even wants to encourage their wedding guests to donate to our fundraiser instead of buying gifts.”

For Emery, success is measured not only in dollars raised but in the connections forged through food.

“A strong local food system depends on a network of many farms of all sizes and enterprises,” she said. “Our community has a role to support all farms, not just ours, by committing to eating, growing, purchasing and cooking with local food.”

From Boothby’s deep-rooted orchard in Livermore to Rustic Roots’ growing vegetable fields in Farmington, Franklin County farmers are continuing a shared mission to cultivate not just the land but the lasting bonds between farm and community.