Local Food Memories of Maine

Special Guest Post by Natalie Bolton

Maine supports its local fare.

Natalie Bolton is a Boulder, Colorado based marketing and design professional, as well as my friend and a former colleague. When we worked together in Bangor, she is the one who always arrived at the holiday parties with a basket full of homemade preserves and other goodies made from the yields of  local Maine harvests. I'm delighted to be able to share her memories of Maine and its foods in her guest post for Nosing Around Maine.

Many of my best memories of Maine involve food – local, fresh food. Until I moved to Maine, I'd never eaten fiddleheads, whoopie pies, or freshly boiled lobster.

One of the things I loved most about summer in Maine was driving down nearby roads on a sunny day and seeing small stands at the end of long driveways with extra garden produce for sale – zucchini, tomatoes, squash and more. I loved the fact that payment was always on the honor system, and while I never heard of anyone taking advantage of it, the general attitude I heard was, “If someone just takes it, they probably need it more than we do.”

After graduate school, I started getting more involved in picking, cooking and eating  local foods. Picking strawberries and raspberries in Corinth in the summer became an annual tradition, followed by days of making jam. Later, we bought flats of blueberries to freeze (and make more jam!), and September was a time for homemade relish, made from a combination of purchased and our own garden vegetables including peppers and cabbage. What didn't get eaten became Christmas presents for friends and family around the country.

Now I'm living back in my home state of Colorado and am glad to be continuing the tradition of preparing homemade foods to share with family and friends. I'm also glad to be in an area that, like Maine, values local food – a place where I can take advantage of  great farmer's markets and CSA memberships.

When I walk through the aisles of supermarkets today, I'm horrified at the vast array of new products that get packaged and categorized as “food” – things with additives I can't begin to recognize and which friends and I lump together in a general category we call “Sodium Cancerate.” Because of this, I'm excited to see people from Maine supporting the Slow Food and Local Food Movements to keep their heritage of locally-grown foods alive for generations to come.  

Natalie Bolton

Wise Penny Marketing & Design, LLC

1-800-833-0456

Follow the Wise Penny Blog for marketing and design tips.

Maine Food Links of Interest:

http://www.wildblueberries.com

http://www.lobsterfrommaine.com/

http://www.mainepotatoes.com/

http://www.danamoos.com/

http://theyankeechef.blogspot.com/

Nosing Around Maine © Copyright 2012 Gail J. VanWart All Rights Reserved

Maine's Wild Blueberries; a Celebrated Heritage

Fresh Organic Wild Blueberries at Peaked Mountain Farm

Anyone, who knows me personally, knows I grew up in the middle of a Wild Blueberry field in Maine and wear the badge of being the fourth generation to oversee the family farm, plus, its Wild Blueberries nature endowed it with. Though my farm is very small compared to larger names in Maine’s Wild Blueberry industry—such as Merrill, Wyman, and Cherryfield Foods—it really pleases me to be one of the few people in the entire United States, perhaps the entire world, who can actually claim to be a producer of a Wild Blueberry crop. The state of Maine is also quite proud of its unique Wild Blueberry crop as it can rightly boast, overall, to be the largest producer of blueberries.

Just so there's no confusion, Maine’s Wild Blueberries are just that, wild plants native to Maine’s soils, containing twice as many antioxidants as larger cultivated blueberries grown elsewhere. Nature also gave these small Wild Blueberries a special flavor causing people to flock to Maine each summer in search of them. While Maine celebrates its agricultural heritage with fairs and festivals throughout the summer months, it’s no wonder three are especially devoted to the Wild Blueberry.

The L.L. Bean bootmobile will be rolling into Wilton on August 3rd to kick off its 30th annual Wild Blueberry celebration. The iconic boot, touring in honor of L.L. Bean's 100th anniversary, will be standing outside the Western Maine Expo building to greet festival goers from 11 am to7 pm. As a first in a chain of festivals paying tribute to Maine’s official berry across the state, Wilton’s Blueberry Festival will take place August 3-4. If you get there early on Saturday, you can start the day off with a traditional Blueberry Pancake Breakfast. Both days are jam-packed with events, some of which you may never encounter anywhere else, such as the 6:30 pm parade of boats on Wilson Lake prior to the fireworks display.

 

The annual Blueberry Festival musical will be front and center at the 37th Annual Wild Blueberry Festival in Machias, August 17-19. In the heart of Downeast, where Maine’s unique Wild Blueberries grow best, the Machias festivities include everything from an old fashion pie-eating contest to blueberry farm tours. But, five nights, August 14-18, its air will be filled with sounds of a musical written and performed by local talent in the sanctuary of Centre Street Church.

Friday, August 24, will mark the 53rd Wild Blueberry Festival Day at the Union Fair. In 1959, the Union Fair introduced the State of Maine Blueberry Festival as a special featured attraction. Nowadays, people travel from all over the world for Union Fair’s Wild Blueberry Festival Day. Each year a new Blueberry Queen is selected and fair goers enjoy Wild Blueberries as only Maine can dish them out. Wild Blueberry pie is actually free at The Wild Blueberry Hut and attendees can even score a free poster or t-shirt by visiting Wild Blueberry Corner in the Blueberry Acres pavilion.

Wilton Blueberry Festival 

 Machias Wild Blueberry Festival

Union Fair and Wild Blueberry Festival

Maine’s Agricultural Fairs

Maine Festivals and Events 

Learn more about Wild Blueberries:

WildBlueberries.com

  

Learn more about organic farming: 

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association

Check out my family farm:

 Peaked Mountain Farm

Wild Blueberry Heritage 

Video provided by the 

Wild Blueberry Association of North America

You can read more about Maine events 

and attractions in an issue of 

theSCENE 

an entertainment magazine published monthly by 

Courier Publications LLC in Rockland, Maine.

Nosing Around Maine  © Copyright 2012 Gail J. VanWart  All Rights Reserved

Nature’s Place; Holbrook Island Sanctuary on Cape Rosier, Maine

Cape Rosier, Maine on the way to Holbrook Island Sanctuary

Many visitors to Holbrook Island Sanctuary believe it rivals the beauty of Acadia National Park, without crowds or park fee. Most simply treasure its tranquility and the opportunity to witness the wonders of its natural environment and will return again. All can agree, Holbrook Island Sanctuary in Brooksville, Maine is a place where everybody, including the family dog, can escape from modern day stresses and relax. It’s a part of the world situated on beautiful Cape Rosier that will remain unaltered by modern park facilities or management techniques as natural forces alone will, forevermore, determine its future.

Blae at Holbrook Island Sanctuary

Dogs must be on a leash no longer than four feet in length, that’s one of a few simple and easy to follow rules and regulations visitors are asked to abide by. Others state the native plants and wildlife are not to be disturbed and remind visitors fires are not permitted in the park, nor is overnight camping. Observing the rules is certainly a small price to pay for the privilege of experiencing this sanctuary from 9 a.m. to sunset daily—thanks to the foresight and generosity of Anita Harris.  The area resident acquired and donated 1,230 acres of Brooksville to the state in 1971 in order “to preserve for the future a piece of unspoiled Maine that I used to know.” What a gift she bestowed to us all. I for one have an overwhelming respect for both Anita and her priceless gift.

The park is maintained by the Maine Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands year round and can be enjoyed by cross-country skiers during the winter months, as well. You can also arrange for special group outings by calling 207-326-4012.

Kids can earn a free tee shirt at Holbrook Island Sanctuary. Here’s how:

For More Information:

 Download a copy of the Holbrook Island Sanctuary Brochure

Friends of Holbrook Island Sanctuary

Maine Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands

You can read more about Maine events and attractions 

in an issue of theSCENE, an entertainment magazine published monthly by 

Courier Publications LLC in Rockland, Maine.

Nosing Around Maine  © Copyright 2012 Gail J. VanWart  All Rights Reserved

Join the Flock in Southwest Harbor

Pink Flamingos Flock to Southwest Harbor, Maine

When July’s temperatures rise in the midst of summer on the Quietside of Mount Desert Island, it turns hot pink as flocks of flamingos suddenly take up residence in the front yards of businesses and homes throughout the quaint little town of Southwest Harbor. It’s the Harbor House Flamingo Festival that brings the plastic iconic lawn ornaments to the neighborhood, joining community, summer residents and tourists together, year after year, in celebration of small town life—the whole town is decked out and in the pink, so to speak, from one end to the other. This year the colorful event takes place July 13-16 with a full schedule and a promise to provide fun and entertainment for folks of all ages.

It is unclear, even to the Harbor House, how this annual event actually started. In fact, the inventor of the pink flamingo lawn decorations, Don Featherstone, had no connection to the area, until after the festival of flamingos was established. How it all started is really insignificant, it’s how the event has come to symbolize a community that works and plays together that’s important. The Flamingo Festival has become the kind of festival people add to their Maine bucket list.

More Information:


Harbor House

Southwest Harbor & Tremont Chamber of Commerce

Woof! Blae suggests this link:

Traveling to MDI with Pets

You can read more about Maine events 

and attractions in an issue of 

theSCENE 

an entertainment magazine published monthly by 

Courier Publications LLC in Rockland, Maine.

Nosing Around Maine  © Copyright 2012 Gail J. VanWart  All Rights Reserved

Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island on Dwellable

Tidal Falls Preserve; Fresh Maine Air, Lobsters, and Free Concerts

A protected Maine environment for your enjoyment.

Conservation is a wonderful thing. It allows us to protect and enjoy the land we love. A perfect example of just how great it is can be witnessed at Tidal Falls Preserve in Hancock, thanks to a generous land grant from Land for Maine’s Future and the Frenchman Bay Conservancy, which, by the way, is celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year.

Picnic tables and grills provided.

The conservancy owns and protects the 4.2 acre Tidal Falls park offering public shore access—the only public shore access in Hancock—for hand carried watercraft, plus a very pleasant picnic area complete with tables, iron grills, and a pavilion. Tidal Falls also houses the Frenchman Bay Conservancy office on the second floor of its lobster pound, which operates a take-out in July and August to benefit the conservancy. 

Free Monday Evening Concerts at Tidal Falls

This beautiful preserve, and challenging reversing falls on the Taunton River it overlooks, boasts a colorful history, abundant wildlife, and even provides a spotlight for local culture by offering free concerts on Monday evenings from July 9 to August 20. Add a food cart serving lobster rolls and hot dogs to the festivities and it’s the ultimate example of Maine, the way life should be. The only draw back for some, such as my Border Collie, Blae, is dogs are not allowed on the grounds.

Getting there is easy, though off the beaten path for many who never realized its existence. From Ellsworth, travel north on US Route 1 through the village of Hancock, turn right onto Eastside Road, then turn left onto Tidal Falls Road. If you come to bridge, turn back. Directions from US Route 1 in Sullivan, heading south, take the first left after crossing the bridge into Hancock onto Eastside Road then another left onto Tidal Falls Road. You’re there!

If you’d like to support the Frenchman Bay Conservancy further, you can reserve your seat at a BYOB Lobster Dinner with all the fixings, July 21, 2012, 5:30-6:30 p.m., rain or shine. See link below.

Note:  Fido needs to make other plans.

More information can be found on these links:

Free Concerts at Tidal Falls Preserve

July 21st Lobster Dinner at Tidal Falls Preserve

Maine Department of Conservation

Sullivan/Sorrento Historical Society

Taunton River's history is as strong
as its currents and tides.

© Copyright 2012 Gail J. VanWart  All Rights Reserved