Seacoast Eat Local

On Sunday, August 15th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the Blaisdell Memorial Library on Route 152, the Nottingham Farmers’ Market will feature a special selection of local artists and crafters.  Vendors at this event will offer pottery, wool products, jewelry, and more in addition to the fresh local produce, eggs, baked goods, flowers, honey, maple syrup and other products always available at the Nottingham Market.  A raffle will be held and the winner will receive a gift basket full of our regular vendors’ wonderful products.  Tickets will be available at the market on August 15th and also at the library in the week leading up to the event.
For more information, contact:

Brieghan Gardner
Nottingham Farmers’ Market
603-679-5392

There are still a couple spots for craft vendors, if you are interested contact Brieghan at the above number!

SAVE THE DATE!

This December, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture will present its third annual Young Farmers Conference: Reviving the Culture of Agriculture, a program especially for young and new farmers. The Young Farmers Conference provides a forum for hundreds of new or transitioning farmers to network with peers and learn from leaders in the field. Workshops are taught by seasoned farmers, and topics have ranged from securing farmland, to financing a farm, to launching a grass-based dairy operation. Recognizing that farming is by nature a solitary profession, the Young Farmers Conference offers invaluable opportunities for young farmers to share ideas and learn from each other.

Planning for the 2010 YFC is well underway now! If you’re interested in presenting at this year’s conference, download a workshop proposal form. Workshop and presentation proposals will be accepted July 23–September 3.

Conference registration will open in October.

The New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station (NHAES) and College of Life Sciences and Agriculture (COLSA) will host research field days on Monday, August 2, 2010, at the UNH organic dairy research farm and on Thursday, August 26, 2010, at Woodman Farm, from 8:15 a.m. to noon.

Beverages and light snacks will be provided from 7:15 to 8:15 a.m.  Both events are free and open to the public.

Presentations and discussions will be provided by the farm managers, faculty and student researchers, Cooperative Extension staff, and others.

The organic dairy is located at 216 Lee Hook Road in Lee and Woodman Farm is at 70 Spinney Lane on the west edge of UNH. 

Maps and directions for each facility may be found at http://www.colsa.unh.edu/aes/directions.html.

Here’s a link to the flyer: http://extension.unh.edu/Agric/Docs/Research_Field_Days_2010.pdf.

From the organizers of the monthly Barrington Community Market:

The next Barrington Community Market will be next Wednesday August 4 on the lawn of the Christmas Dove in Barrington from 5pm to 7pm.

We will have free live music by ” LUNCH AT THE DUMP” an awesome local band who have been playing together over thirty years!  There will also be a farmers’ market with lots of great produce, farm products, local artisans, and snacks from Calef’s Country Store and Brindleview Farm Kitchen.

Tell all your friends, grab the kids, pack a picnic, and come on down and meet your neighbors.  Enjoy a beautiful summer evening out in Barrington!

Looking forward to seeing you all there!
Spread the word!

Our friends at Slow Food Seacoast will be holding their annual Down on the Farm Picnic this Sunday, August 1. This year’s theme is “Weeds & Seeds! A Celebration of Summer’s Bounty”, and will be hosted by a local farm featuring the use of permaculture principles. A full afternoon of activities promises fun for all!

Down on the Farm Picnic, Sunday, August 1

 

Slow Food Seacoast will again be celebrating local agriculture with our annual farm picnic. This year we will be hosted by the Rowell Family at Dalton’s Pasture, their sustainable and ecological farm in Nottingham, NH.  The Rowells apply permaculture principles to their homestead and will be sharing some of their practices with us.

 

When: Sunday, August 1, Noon – 3:00 p.m.

Where: The Rowell Family Homestead at Dalton’s Pasture, 156 Stevens Hill Road in Nottingham, NH

What: A potluck lunch followed by talks, tours and activities for all ages

 

This year’s picnic offers a different farming perspective from the previous 3 years where we were hosted by small scale market farms in the Seacoast. Dalton’s Pasture is a homestead on which one family has worked to create a living space that is self-relient, low impact and ecologically connected to the natural world. By working within nature’s cycles, planting a highly diverse landscape and simplifying their lifestyle, the Rowell’s have been successful at producing most of their own food and generating very little waste. Come check it out and learn how you can apply some of their practices to your own home.

 

The afternoon will feature:

• A delicious potluck meal of local foods (12:30 – 1:30)

• An in depth tour of the homestead given by Lauren Chase- Rowell (1:30)

• Wild edible walk with John Forti (2:30)

• Raising your own chickens using the tractor method (2:30)

• Traditional bean hole demonstration (12:00)

• Information tables from numerous local partner organizations(All Afternoon)

• Lots of fun, hands-on activities for kids

• Meet visiting scholar Rami Zuray, founder of Slow Food Beruit and author of “Akkar to ‘Amel: Lebanon’s Slow Food Trail”

 

 For more information and directions, please visit Slow Food Seacoast >

July 31^st and August 1^st The New England Farm 2 Fork Project will offer a multiple course Shaker Supper.

first course:  a selection of new england artisan and farmstead cheeses

entrees:
crispy local buttermilk soaked maine barnyard chicken livers on toast with oak aged black vinegar cream, young rocket and pickled heirloom orchard apples

country fried american bourbon red turkey breast with sour cream mashed taters, pickled garden greens and creamed corn misaquatash

the freshest mess of field greens, herbs, and flowers tossed in a switchel vinaigrette with orchard smoked mountain trout and low bush blueberries

sabbathday heirloom herb rubbed berkshire pork tenderloin with bacon fat spinach, chow chow and smoked ham hock

stewed heirloom maine white beans

Dessert: antique applesauce cake with frozen crème fraiche

Beverage: shaker spiced concord grape drink

 byob- no box wine or 1.5ltr bottles – we will provide Riedel stemware – $8 corkage

This event will be held at Raven Hill Orchard, 255 Ossipee Hill Road, East Waterboro  (207.247.4455)

July 31^st  and August 1^st  @ 6pm 

$45 per person (plus tax and gratuity) 

Call TNEF2FP Field Phone for Reservations-   207.459.4271  or visit- www.thenewenglandfarm2forkproject.com

Congratulations to Cheryl Dixon for winning a national award of excellence for her work as the food service manager at Kittery’s Horace Mitchell Primary School! In addition to teaching good nutrition and promoting healthy eating habits, Dixon’s award-winning program includes a Farm to School initiative to provide schools with farm fresh foods, and a third component on composting and recycling. As reported by SeacoastOnline.com:

Kittery school has nation’s best: Food manager takes top award for initiatives at Horace Mitchell

First it was state recognition. Then it was regional acclaim. Now it is national notoriety.

 

Cheryl Dixon, food service manager at Horace Mitchell Primary School, has had quite the summer.

 

Having already received the Maine School Food Service Association’s Louise Sublette Award of Excellence for 2010, Dixon was then selected as the regional winner from the six New England states and New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

 

The accolades then cast her into the national spotlight, and Dixon hasn’t looked back.

 

On July 11, before thousands packed in the Dallas Conference Center in Texas, Dixon received the National Louise Sublette Award of Excellence. She was chosen out of six regional winners.

 

Dixon was honored for her work teaching good nutrition and promoting lifelong healthy eating habits among the students at Mitchell School.

Her award-winning program combined the elements of two existing nutrition education programs in her school: the 5-2-1-0 Program, which teaches students to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, watch less TV, exercise more and eliminate sugary beverages; and the Farm to School Initiative, which provides schools with farm fresh foods.

 

Dixon also added a third component to the program to teach students about composting and recycling.

 

“I don’t think my feet have hit the ground,” Dixon told the Herald during a recent interview. “This honor is not just for me, but it’s for my school and Maine…”

 

She said perhaps the most rewarding experience aside from the award was realizing that students actually learned something from her project.

 

Having never been taught the importance of nutrition and healthy living when she was in school in the 1970s, Dixon said the role she plays in the schools these days is just as vital as that of educators.

 

“The award is wonderful and it’s totally awesome, but I’m really hoping that somehow, someday, I made a difference for these kids.”

 

To read full article > 

Cookbook author, Susie Middleton, will be at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, on Thursday, July 29th at 7 pm, demonstrating using her favorite ingredients and tools:

Susie Middleton talks about one of the biggest cookbooks of the summer: FAST, FRESH & GREEN

 

Susie’s cookbook has been named one of the top cookbooks of the summer by both NPR and The Washington Post! Fast, Fresh & Green is a collection of more than 90 vegetable recipes, organized by 9 great techniques for cooking vegetables. Eight of those techniques-from quick-roasting and quick-braising to stir-frying and even no-cooking-are perfect for weeknights. The ninth technique-baking gratins-is a slower-but-worth-it idea for weekends. The recipes, which use more than 50 vegetables, are designed to be side dishes, though many can move to the center of the plate. Sample recipes include: Quick-Roasted Cauliflower with Zesty Orange-Olive Dressing; Sweet Potato “Mini-Fries” with Limey Dipping Sauce; Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas with Salami Crisps, and Stir Fried Swiss Chard with Pine Nuts and Balsamic Butter.

 

Top Ten Tool & Ingredient Tips for Making Fast, Tasty Vegetable Side Dishes:

This will be a demo using Susie’s favorite ingredients (fresh herbs, lemons, garlic, ginger, Parmigianno Regianno, etc.) and her favorite hand tools (microplane zester, julienne peeler, ceramic knife, etc.) to show folks how to add flavor to and get the most out of weeknight vegetable dishes. Tips include peeling fresh ginger with a spoon, making zucchini “ribbons” with a handheld julienne peeler, adding flavor with sweet/sour combos like balsamic vinegar and honey, and more. Susie will bring a tasting sample of her Caramelized Roasted Tomato “Sandwiches” with mozzarella and basil.

About the Author:

SUSIE MIDDLETON is a food writer, magazine consultant, chef, and recipe developer. She is the author of Fast, Fresh & Green, a collection of delicious vegetable side dishes published by Chronicle Books. Susie is the former Editor and current Editor at Large for Fine Cooking magazine. She was consulting editor for the startup of Edible Vineyard magazine in 2009, and consults for Edible Communities Publications, which now includes 62 Edible magazines nationwide.

Susie is a member of the Institute of Culinary Education’s Alumni Hall of Achievement, and has developed hundreds of recipes for publication. She lives, cooks, writes, and grows vegetables on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. She blogs about cooking and growing vegetables on her website, www.sixburnersue.com, and about sustainable food on the Green Page of the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com/susie-middleton).

For more information about RiverRun Bookstore and this event >

The Greater Seacoast Permaculture Group is hosting a composting workshop with Rian Bedard of EcoMovement. The meetup workshop is scheduled to take place on Sunday, August 8, in Barrington:

Come learn from Rian Bedard the basics of backyard composting, the do’s and don’ts, how to keep your pile active, and the basic science behind it.

Rian will also talk about his company and how it is done on a large scale at commercial facilities.

Rian Bedard is a certified Permaculture Designer and instructor. He received both certificates through the Urban Permaculture Guild of SF. Upon his return from CA, he started the first Zero Waste program as manager of the Me and Ollie’s cafe in Downtown Portsmouth. After his time at Me and Ollie’s he worked as Assistant Director of the Green Alliance, where he realized that there was a demand for compost hauling service. In November of 2009 he decided with his business partner to venture into the hauling industry and started a company called EcoMovement. They currently have 30 clients and are diverting and estimated 20,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill a week.

We are charging for this on a sliding scale of $5-20. Please dress for being outdoors. We expect this to go until about 4pm.e charging for this on a sliding scale of $5-20. Please dress for being outdoors. We expect this to go until about 4 pm.

To RSVP and more information about the workshop >

From their blog:

“Bring your friends and family out to the farm on Saturday, August 7th at 4 PM for a hayride and farm tour. Kiss the cows, pet the chickens, and walk the rows of cucumbers and corn. RSVP at brookfordfarminfo[at]gmail.com”