Category: Farming

Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun hus published reports on the early start to the maple syrup season,

“We’re usually getting started to get ready to go tapping this time of year, but normally the sap is not ready to run for another week or so,” said Lyle Merrifield, president of the Maine Maple Producers Association, whose family was out gathering sap Monday at Merrifield Farm. “It seems like the weather changed so quick on us that we’re tapping; things are ready to run right now.”

and on new taps that are gentler to the trees,

In a shift from the traditional spout size of 7/16-inch diameter, producers like Lyle Merrifield of Merrifield Farm in Gorham have advanced to a spout that fits a 5/16-inch hole. The reason is to extend the life of trees.

This year’s Maine Maple Sunday is scheduled to take place March 28.

According to a blog post on Eat Maine Foods, MOOMilk, a new brand of organic milk sourced from Maine farms, will start appearing on store shelves this weekend.

Produced by 10 Maine family organic dairy farms in Washington, Aroostook, Penobscot and Kennebec Counties, the milk will be trucked by Schoppee Milk Transport of Holden to Smiling Hill Dairy in Westbrook for processing, then distributed by Oakhurst Dairy of Portland and Crown O’ Maine Organic Co-op of Gardiner. That makes it the only organic milk available in Maine that is produced, trucked, processed and distributed exclusively by Maine family businesses.

MPBN talked with the creators of Maine Food Trader and soon to be launched Farm Fresh Maine about how their websites can connect people with locally grown food.

Farmfresh for ME, she says, will be targeting consumers in the Bangor area, as well as in Downeast Maine. “I know that a lot of the consumers we’ve talked to can’t get to the farmers’ market during the hours that it’s open, or want to see what’s available online in the comfort of their own home, so I think that interest has grown.”

Today’s Portland Daily Sun includes an article about expanding artisanal cheese industry in Maine.

Eric Rector, president of the guild, said the Maine Cheese Guild is working with many cheesemakers as business booms.

“In Maine, artisan cheese movement is growing by leaps and bounds,” he said. “We’re winning awards all over the place, nationally.”

The long awaited launch of Portland Cooks—a multimedia blog by “Radio Host, former urchin-diver, ex-restaurant lackey, and fearless promoter of the hard-working people in the local food industry” John Dennison—took place today with a piece on Sunset Farm Organics. Sunset provides organic greens throughout the winter to some of Portland’s best known restaurants from their greenhouses in southern Maine.

Chow Maine has published a report on some new Maine made chesses from Edible Rind, Winter Hill, Liberty Fields, Spring Day and Second Chance Farm and Longfellow Creamery.

The Curmudgeon was like “a cross between an Alsatian Muenster and an Epoisse,” my wise food-loving friend Ann Takman said. Both her and her husband, wine writer Bob Rossi, agreed that a better wine with the Curmudgeon would be an Alsatian Gewurztraminer.

An article in the Food & Dining section of today’s Press Herald explores Portland’s lack of an indoor winter farmers’ market.

First Brunswick and Bath and now Falmouth and Cumberland have charged ahead and found suitable sheltered venues to allow their farmers markets to operate through the coldest months and give residents easy access to Maine-grown eats. In contrast, Portland is now entering its third season of an every-other-week subscription winter market that takes place outside, no matter the weather.

I wonder if the Public Market House could provide some room?

An front page article in today’s Press Herald looks at the “increasing number of farmers are pushing the growing season into the winter to take advantage of the surging demand for locally grown food”.