We're Golden in Maine!

They say some of the best things in life right under our noses can, at times, go unnoticed. It is often more tempting to jump into a car and take off on a trip in our fast paced world than it is to slow down a few minutes to appreciate what is right in front of us in our own backyards.

Blae, my faithful Border Collie, pointed that fact out to me and my husband as we walked the farm this past week while developing our pollinator plan for the future. Since pictures are worth a thousand words—and words often can't express nature's beauty accurately—Blae and I thought we'd let the photos we took on our farm this past week speak for themselves in this blog post. We hope you enjoy them.

What's in your backyard?

Blae, with his "Dad"
 Enjoying the Shades of Autumn on Peaked Mountain Farm

Kiwi Leaves Decorate our Woodshed.

Hues of Gold Enhance the View of Lucerne Inn
from Peaked Mountain Farm.

Painted Leaves Surround our Fields

Peaked Mountain is Framed in Gold

Autumn's Golden Backdrop on Peaked Mountain Farm

To learn more about Peaked Mountain Farm and the Lucerne Inn:

peakedmountainfarm.com and lucerneinn.com 

(You'll see be looking back at Peaked Mountain from the Lucerne Inn sight.)

© Copyright 2012 Gail J. VanWart  All Rights Reserved

Gail J. VanWart is a regular contributor to theSCENE:
a publication of Courier Publications LLC in Rockland, Maine with distribution in Waldo and Lincoln Counties

Look for upcoming contributions by Gail J. VanWart in Washington County, too: 

County Wide News

County Wide is a journal of fact and opinion published since 1977 by 

County Wide Communications,Inc. at 25 Main Street, P.O. Box 497, Machias, Maine 04654.

Phone (207) 255-NEWS for a free online subscription to County Wide News or E-mail countywideonline@hotmail.com

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