Smoke from the chimney of a wood‑fired pizza trailer twists lazily in the air as Icelandic sheep "bah" greetings from their pasture next to an old timber‑framed barn. Life on the 32‑acre Shofar Farms on Shore Road in Perry feels tranquil, and it is, but it's also the site of a five‑member family that combines homesteading, homeschooling and entrepreneurship in a life that the eldest daughter, Rebekah, describes as good, rich and full.
     Glen and Dawn Guiltner with their children, Rebekah, Sarah and Josiah, attend farmers' markets during the season with their farm's produce, run a tasty wood‑fired mobile pizza business that includes a catering arm and have two yurts in their woods for the visitor looking for an agri‑tourism camping experience. This summer was their first year running the pizza and camping business, having moved from Idaho to Maine in 2017. "The pizza is a mobile business for our farm products," Glen explains, and in return provides revenue to build the farm. In‑season vegetables are used to top off the pizzas, including a requisite splash of olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt.
     The catering arm is being developed. "It's all about the pizza," says Dawn. "Each guest orders their own or can share." They catered a wedding in Calais with about 30 pizzas. "It went over really well; we got a lot of business from that," adds Glen. In addition they've done some office parties -- also a big hit.
     During the summer, a couple of German doctors brought their families to Maine and stayed in the yurts, along with visiting the farm animals and eating custom pizzas. The two yurts, while feeling deep in the woods by trail, are not that far from the heart of the farm, have a composting toilet and will have solar bag showers in the future. The families enjoyed it very much, Glen notes. The idea came from their time in Idaho where they enjoyed participating in medieval reenactment fairs and saw big tents being used for myriad purposes.
     The Icelandic sheep are a heritage breed, with milk that Glen describes as the best for drinking and cheese‑making that he's ever tasted. Sheep's milk is naturally homogenized, he explains, and is the easiest form for humans to digest. While the sheep are bred and raised with their value‑added products for homesteading purposes only, the farm does sell some of the animals to others interested in the breed.
     The Guiltners chose Maine because of their desire to have a small homesteading farm. "That's our primary focus," says Dawn. They connected right away with the homeschool community, which it turned out also had a number of homesteaders. They will do the farmers' markets together, and the children have been able to meet others their own age. As a father, Glen says, since they've started homeschooling the family dynamic has developed and become much richer. They're outside teaching and learning skills, running a business, problem solving and being "part of a team." Rebekah, sitting at the table with her parents, nods in agreement.
     For information about the mobile pizza trailer's location, days and hours of operation and pizza choices, visit the Shofar Farms social media page or call 214‑8618, and for additional information about the farm and campground, visit the website <www.shofarfarms.com>.