Portland Food Heads has posted an interesting piece on how the wet Summer weather has been impacting local farmers. It includes video interviews done at this morning’s Farmers’ Market with Fishbowl Farm, Freedom Farm and Rippling Water Organic Farm.
Category: Farming
CSAs on an Upswing
There’s a front page story in today’s Press Herald on the increasing popularity of CSAs in Maine.
The number of CSAs in Maine has roughly doubled to 140 in the past three years, said Melissa White Pillsbury, organic marketing coordinator for the Maine Organic Gardeners and Farmers Association. The public’s increased familiarity with CSAs and the growing number of farms in Maine are some of the reasons cited for the trend.
The CSA approach is also being applied to business beyond the farm.
Others involved in food production are also adopting the concept and tailoring it to meet their needs. In Maine, apple orchards, sheep farms, fishermen and bakeries are among those using the CSA model.
Saskatoons, Rare Books and the 4th
According to today’s Press Herald, Old Ocean House Farms will be selling Saskatoon berries at the the Saturday Farmers’ Market in Deering Oaks. Today’s paper also includes a note about a new rare book catalog from Rabelais, and an article about the traditional Independence Day meal of salmon and peas.
Salmon and peas on Independence Day is an old Maine tradition that hearkens back to the days when wild salmon were plentiful in the state’s rivers, and peas were a tasty summer holdover of the traditional English diet. Old-time Mainers didn’t plan to celebrate the Fourth this way; wild-caught salmon and home-grown peas were simply the foods that were available at this time of year after a long, hard winter and cool spring.
Out on a Limb Apple CSA
Rabelais Books and Out on a Limb in Palermo, Maine are teaming up to bring a rare apple CSA to Portland this fall. Shares are $120 and will bring “30-40 varieties of rare, interesting and highly flavored apples over the course of the season” and “will be accompanied by a newsletter with descriptions, history, tidbits and lore about each variety, as well as recipes and ideas for how to best use them.”
Apprentice Farmers
There’s a front page article in today’s Press Herald about the MOFGA apprentice farmer program. The online version of the article includes an audio enhanced slide show illustrating the life of apprentice farmers. For more information on the apprentice program check out the MOFGA website.
Bear Garden
Shown in the photo above is Craig Howard hard at work tending The Great Lost Bear‘s new rooftop vegetable garden. Howard has beans, tomatoes, tomatillos, shallots, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, and a variety of peppers as well as lemongrass, and mint under cultivation—all destined for use in the GLB’s kitchen. If the rooftop concept works out, the hope is to expand it in the coming year.
Farmers' Markets Expansion
The Portland Daily Sun has a report on the start of the season for Farmers’ Markets and the nascent Monday market as well as the planning for a weekly market at Mercy.
There’s also an interview in today’s Sun with Jon Courtney, the organizer of this week’s Food+Farm program.
Farmers' Market Season
The Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market opened for the season today with an abbreviated set of vendors. I picked up some flowers and a jar of Tom’s Honey. There has been some talk of adding an additional market on Monday in Monument Square to the existing Wednesday/Saturday rotation to provide an outlet for farmer’s currently on the wait list for a space.
Kelp Noodles
The Boston Globe has a report on kelp noodles, “seaweed in long, green strips cut to the rough dimensions of linguine” produced here in Portland by Ocean Approved. The noodles are available at Browne Trading, Harbor Fish Market and Whole Foods.
Like pasta noodles, kelp is a submissive plate-mate, wrapping neatly around the tender mussels on a fork and bending nicely to their sweet, meaty flavor. Hot, simple food has a tendency to make you smile after a few hours on a cold ocean, and we slip into port a happy crew. The ocean provides – noodles and all.
Urban Chickens
This week’s Forecaster includes an article on Portlander’s new found ability to raise chickens in the city. Paris Farmers Union on Auburn Ave is a source for buying baby chicks. Portland Adult Ed is offering Chicken 101 classes, however all three sessions are alredy fully booked. The Union is getting a shipment of 800 chicks and the classes are sold out, but the Forecaster reports that only “four residents have taken out applications for permits”.