Today’s Portland Daily Sun includes an interview with Steve Melchiskey from Maine Coastal Vineyards in Falmouth.
Whether or not global warming turns Maine into a wine center, as a 2006 National Science Foundation report suggested, the short season and mild summers make for a climate that is inhospitable to classic wine grapes. St. Pepin, St. Croix, LaCrescent, Leon Millot, Marechal Foch, Ravat 51, Sabrevois and Aurore are the cold-adapted grapes that Melchiskey has found success with. Hundreds of gallons of test blends have been dumped over the years but there has been enough bottled success that their grape harvest festival attracts 125 volunteers.
and an article on the Wayside Soup Kitchen and Food Rescue.
A decade into its mission to feed the hungry and distributing more than a million pounds of food annually, Portland’s Wayside Food Rescue is reaching beyond the traditional food kitchen format by cultivating garden plots and establishing new neighborhood outlets.