The Sweetest Season
Fresh-picked Goodness at Goughan’s Farm
By Jen Lynds
For Jessica Levesque, 48, spring doesn’t announce itself with the first appearance of daisies and daffodils pushing through the soil.
Instead, the Caribou resident said the thaw is only final when her family makes their inaugural pilgrimage to Goughan’s Farm in Caribou. They trade their winter gloves for the cold, sweet weight of the year’s first ice cream cone.
“It is the best feeling in the world,” Levesque said. “There is nothing like tasting strawberry ice cream made right on-site. We just love it!”
Established in 1978 by Mark and Gloria Goughan, their three daughters, and other family members, the 500-acre farm at 875 Fort Fairfield Road has become a beloved local berry farm known especially for its strawberries and popular pick-your-own season. In addition to strawberries, the farm offers pumpkins, Christmas trees, fruits, vegetables, homemade ice cream, hayrides, and an 18-hole miniature golf course.
In 2005, a 280-by-280-foot moose-shaped maze was constructed in a 6-acre cornfield on the farm. It was so popular that additional mazes were built and expanded, adding pathways and games.
Kelly Michaud, Katie Shannon, and Kristi Goughan are Mark and Gloria Goughan’s daughters. They said in a recent interview that their grandfather started making ice cream in the 1990s. It remains the most popular food at the farm.
“People just love it,” Kelly Michaud said. “And it isn’t just people who complete the corn maze and want to have a snack.”
Kristi Goughan added that the farm’s maple syrup production started around the same time.
The three women said the farm purchased a food truck about five years ago after their father noticed a service gap at the business.
“Our father noticed that people would come to the farm to play miniature golf or spend time with their families at the animal barn, but then they had to leave to get something to eat,” Michaud said. “He wanted to do something to keep them here. That is why we purchased the food truck. We just sell the basics, like hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken tenders.”
For the Goughan sisters, the business is as much about family collaboration as it is about farming.
The sisters hope to add new and beloved flavor combinations to the menu this summer. Fiddlehead ice cream, a classic treat, could be making a comeback.
“We run ideas for new flavors by each other,” Katie Shannon said. “We always discuss ideas with each other before moving forward. Nothing goes forward without each other’s approval.”
