Touring Misty Acres Alpaca Farm
TL;DR Harvest Hosts lets RVers stay overnight at businesses. Discover Misty Acres Alpaca Farm: its history, operations, and joining Harvest Hosts.
Harvest Hosts is an incredibly unique RV membership program. Through this program, members are granted access to 5196 host locations across North America for overnight accommodations with no camping fees. To support each of these businesses, members typically make a small purchase of wine or produce or whatever it is that the business is selling or offering. Locations include establishments such as farms, wineries, breweries, museums, restaurants, attractions, and more. Misty Acres Alpaca Farm is an awesome example of one of our amazing hosts. Located near Augusta, Maine, this peaceful farm has been raising and breeding alpacas for sale and for fiber for over fifteen years.
Continue on to learn:
- All about Misty Acres Alpaca Farm farm
- The business today
- When they joined the Harvest Hosts program.
The History
On the way to visit family, owners Red and Connie Laliberte would often drive by a small alpaca farm and ponder and discuss the reasons why people would raise them. One day, they stopped to see what the fuss was all about. They were instantly smitten by the personable animals and continued to research more about them and visit the farm. On one visit, the farm was selling some alpacas and the Laliberte’s couldn’t say no.
Red and Connie officially began their alpaca farm in 2007 with original intentions of breeding and harvesting the fleece annually. They soon realized that they would love to showcase their own alpaca products as well. This led them to having their fleece turned into products to be sold in their store. Currently, they sell socks, sweaters, stuffed animals, outerwear and accessories, throws, and yarn.
The Business Today
Today, the Lalibertes have expanded their barn and pastures to work as efficiently as possible. The immaculate barn is the heart of their alpaca area. There, the adjoining pastures connect on different sides, allowing them to adequately separate the alpaca herds. They have an onsite store with all of the above-mentioned products for sale. Typically, one of their nieces is working with them on the farm assisting with chores or caring for the alpacas.
Raising, breeding, and interacting with alpacas is their passion. They have spent thousands of hours with their herd and each of their alpacas has a name and its own personality! Alpacas have an eleven month gestation period, so they tend to breed a few females around the same time for efficiency of delivery. No matter how much planning and forethought goes into a breeding pair, the outcome of the baby’s color and fiber is almost always a surprise. The best time to visit to hopefully see a baby alpaca, also known as a cria, is between late May and early June.
Joining Harvest Hosts
Misty Acres Alpacas has been with Harvest Hosts for years and has met visitors from all over. They are happy to take members on a property tour, open the shop doors for them, or talk alpacas. They will also answer any questions and love sharing their knowledge with visitors. Within the smallest amount of time with Red and Connie, it’s easy to see how deeply they care for their alpacas. The property is quiet and serene, making it the perfect place to unwind after a long day of travel or serve as a basecamp to explore nearby Augusta. This Harvest Hosts location offers four reservable, pet-friendly spaces for RVs of any size. They also have 20amp electric and water available if desired. Please note that large RVs that are towing may need to unhook to back into a properly-sized space.
