It’s easy to forget or maybe hard to remember why we do things sometimes, especially when life gets in the way. Which is why I was so excited to visit Jeff Olsen’s mill with my sister and business partner Jenn – And be reminded why we run this crazy little venture call Lumbery.
On the way home Jenn asked (this was her first mill visit) “How would you describe the mill?” I thought for a very long time and then said, “Very Maine.”
Jeff’s mill was not a mill per se. There was no sign at the side of the road proclaiming his existence. There is no phone number and there is no website. There is though, a road named after his family that leads down to Damariscotta lake. His father purchased the land with the barns almost 100 years ago.
The barns have been worked on and repaired throughout the years but there is a sense that one or two more slabs added to the abundant slabs neatly placed throughout the second floor might be the cause of a collapse.
To be honest, with Jeff’s sore knees, which we were told, are older than he is, I have no idea how he managed to get the slabs upstairs, or how he manages to produce such amazing slabs from felled trees.
Jeff spends half the year in Maine and have in the Hudson Valley in New York and saws all of his wood on a portable saw mill called a Wood Mizer.
After our grand tour we went about selecting slabs for our store. It was not easy to pick from the Mulberry and Catalpa, Cherry, Apple, American Elm, Walnut, Black Birch, Maple and more. At one point Jenn shouted “Enough.”
We then grabbed a fantastic Reuben at the Jefferson Market and General Store, jumped into the river next to the store to cool off then headed back down to Cape to sort and label the wood. What a great day!
Stop in to check out what we grabbed. Each piece is unique and milled by Jeff.
See you all at the store.
Forwardmainewood@lumbery-me.com
www.lumbery-me.com
207-835-7023