The 23rd Annual Open Farm Day takes places today at dozens of farms across the state and 13 here in Cumberland County. A list of all participating farms and the activities they’re hosting is available online (starts page 5).
Category: Farming
Selling During a Short Season
This week’s Portland Phoenix reviews methods used by local farmers to market and sell their products.
With a limited growing season and high demand for local food, Maine farmers have a short window of time to get their products to the public. While farmers’ markets and community-supported agriculture plans (CSAs) are popular, it can be difficult for vegetable farmers to stand out among their peers. Some have found that teamwork, creativity, and technology can attract more customers and help boost sales among existing ones.
Review of Mom’s Cafe & Farmers Impacted by Unusual Weather
The Press Herald has published a review of Mom’s Cafe.
There’s a lot of secret little places around Portland that hungry office workers know about but are hidden from the general public. The cafe in city hall used to be one of those places, but it’s now gotten enough ink that it can no longer be considered a secret.
Mom’s Cafe is another one of those places.
Also in today’s paper is an article about how this year’s highly variable weather is impacting Maine farmers.
It started in March with temperatures that soared into the 70s and 80s, dipped to freezing levels in April and was followed by heavy rain in May and June.
The National Weather Service in Gray recorded 11.03 inches of rain in June, almost 7 inches above average.
Summer Picnic & Organic Corn
The Food and Dining section in today’s paper includes a caution about the introduction of genetically modified sweet corn in Maine and guidance on where to locate organic/non-GMO sweet corn.
This summer marks the first time that Monsanto’s Bt sweet corn has been approved for planting in Maine. Unlike genetically modified field corn, which farmers in Maine and across the country have been growing for years as livestock feed, sweet corn is intended for human consumption.
The Food and Dining section also includes advice and recipes from local chefs and food purveyors in putting together your Summer picnic basket.
Strawberries Squared & Kids Gone Raw
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald has an article on strawberries which includes recipes from 3 Portland chefs, a guide to farms where you can pick your own strawberries, details strawberry dishes on the menu at local restaurants, a calendar of strawberry festivals in Maine and info on a strawberry jam making class taught by Kate McCarty.
“My advice to people is to get out a little earlier this year to get what you want, and certainly call the farmer ahead of time to see how things are going,” David Handley, a small-fruit specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, said in an interview after last week’s stretch of hot weather. “I’ve been out in the fields for the last couple of days, and I’ve been amazed how two days of temperatures approaching the 90s will ripen strawberries so quickly.”
The season started a little early as well, anywhere from a week ahead of schedule to just a day or two, depending on the location of the farm.
Also in today’s paper is an article about Kids Gone Raw,
Sensing an opportunity, Knowles quickly contacted her friend Elizabeth Fraser, who runs the Girl Gone Raw cooking school in Portland. Over lunch at Local Sprouts Cooperative Cafe, the two came up with the idea of a raw foods cookbook filled with kid-friendly recipes.
The book is now written and the pair is in the process of determining which publisher they want to work with…In the meantime, the two are busy creating a line of raw vegan foods for children, making appearances at events and teaching classes.
MOOMilk
NPR’s food blog, The Salt, has published an article about MOOMilk.
Now, things are looking up, albeit modestly. MOOMilk has been picked up by Whole Foods and Hannaford’s, as well as by a swath of small purveyors across northern New England. Even with demand for organic milk booming, though, the cooperative is struggling to push past 5,000 gallons in weekly sales.
Phoenix Proposal for Farmers Market
The Portland Phoenix has proposed a system for ranking applicants for open slots at the farmers market.
The idea would be that, upon the opening of a slot at one of the markets, every applicant would be scored according to this chart (or whatever this chart is revised into). The highest-scoring vendor would be first admitted. If there were more than one slot available, then the slots would be assigned based on score.
Farmers Market Participation
About Town has examined the current process and potential changes to the way new vendors are selected for the Portland Farmers Market.
The present system is a quasi-informal one governed jointly by the city clerk’s office and the Portland Farmers’ Market Association, in which the city individually licenses vendors to sell their items, but with the number of vendors and the diversity of their products determined internally by the association – including voting on who gets to join the market when spaces become available.
Carmen at the Danforth, Maine Organic Seed Industry
The Food & Dining section in today’s paper includes an article about chef Carmen Gonzalez and the new restaurant she’s opening this Spring at the Danforth Inn,
“Carmen at The Danforth,” scheduled to open in mid- to late May, will be something really different for Portland – a small, 40-seat boutique restaurant inside an historic inn that has a celebrity chef in command of the kitchen full-time.
The summer menu has just been completed, and is heavy on Maine seafood served with a Latin twist.
and an article about the Maine organic seed industry.
Maine is home to five certified organic seed companies, and some are seeing signs of economic recovery in this season’s sales.
“I think people were more comfortable economically this year,” said Gene Frey, who works at Fedco Seeds in Clinton.
Selecting a CSA
Vrai-lean-uh has posted some advice on what to look for when selecting a CSA.
The other point is that there are many types of farms and CSAs**, and which (or if) one works best for you depends on a number of things. When I was first choosing a CSA, I made a spreadsheet. I am the kind of person who encounters a situation with many options and variables and makes a spreadsheet. You could make a list? Or mentally compare? I just don’t want you to lay down $500 and be unhappy.
Here are some things to consider…