July 2, 2010 by Heather.

At the Porstmouth Farmers’ Market tomorrow New Roots Farmwill have its pasture-raised, heritage breed sausages available for the 4th of July holiday. New Roots is also introducing its nitrate/nitrite free smoked kielbasa, frankfurters, and mini-bratwursts, alongside the perennial all-natural favorites that include chorizo, fresh kielbasa, Italian sausages, breakfast sausages, and more.

For more information about New Roots Farm and its offerings, don’t forget to visit the website, www.newrootsfarm.com!

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July 2, 2010 by Debra.

Watching this map of locavores grow makes me want to celebrate! From Roger Doiron at  Kitchen Gardeners International (KGI), who launched the White House kitchen garden campaign from his own garden in Scarborough, Maine:

It’s July 4th weekend here in the United States.  Whether you’re American, European, African, Australian or an “an” of another ilk, achieving greater levels of food independence and food sovereignty is a universal goal that we can and should be working towards together.

 

Local foods are patriotic, whether you’re buying them from producers in your area or growing some of your own. They’re good for our local farmers, our economies, our health, and that of the planet. Best of all, they taste great because they’re fresh from the soil.

 

This July 4th, we’re asking our nation’s first families not only to lead by example but to eat by example by sourcing their meals as locally, deliciously, and sustainably as possible.

 

Here’s what you can do:

• Source the ingredients of your own Sunday meal as locally and sustainably as possible

• Join our facebook group and invite your friends to join

• Petition your First Family to source the ingredients of its July 4th meal from local and sustainable sources

• Inspire them and others by adding a locavore marker to our Food Independence map (click “add” in the upper righthand corner)

Add yourself to the map and have a great weekend celebrating Food Independence Day locavore-style!

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July 2, 2010 by Debra.

As part of their current campaign to Protect Deb-Tone Farm in North Berwick, Great Works Regional Land Trust (GWRLT) invites you to view the documentary in progress, “The Last Crop”:

Great Works Regional Land Trust is proud to offer screenings of a documentary-in-progress by Chuck Schultz about a small California farm’s conservation journey. We invite you to join us, meet the filmmaker and learn about the efforts underway in our own communities to protect local farmland.

 

York Public Library will host the first screening, which is free, at 1 pm on Tuesday, July 6. That evening, at 9 pm, Buoy Gallery on Government Street in Kittery will host a screening. There is a $5 charge for this one, proceeds will go to GWRLT’s Farmland Protection Fund.

Wednesday, July 7: Reception and dinner at Clay Hill Farm with guest speakers and private screening of Chuck Schultz’s documentary The Last Crop. Reservations required, please call Christine at 646-3604. $75 per person, benefit for GWRLT’s Farmland Protection Fund and Deb-Tone Farm Campaign.

 

Link  to trailer for The Last Crop

 

Currently in a campaign to conserve Deb-Tone Farm along Route 4 in North Berwick, GWRLT has a farmland protection program that is recognized statewide. Read more: Deb-Tone Campaign.

 For more information about screenings >

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July 2, 2010 by Debra.

Come spend some time on the farm!  Located in York, Maine, Rumsey Farm will be hosting a series of three one-week camps for kids ages 9 and older:

We will focus on farming and homesteading and being self- sufficient in this camp.  Children will experience daily farming chores, care of animals, and gardening.  Lunch will be prepared by the children themselves using local, in season foods, many from our own farm. Each week will have an interest focus and lots of fun and games. During our gardening, we will touch on soil preparation, planting, natural pest control and harvesting.  Throughout the week, while the children spend time with the different farm animals, they will investigate about life cycles, animal uses and predator protection.  We will continually discuss our minimal impact on the land and a respect for our wonderful earth.

 

Students 9 - 16 can sign up for the week they are interested in, or all three!

 

Week 1: July 5-9 focus on poultry, baking/bread making, field trip to poultry farm

 

Week 2: July 12-16 focus on sheep, knitting and crocheting, field trip to two sheep farms

 

Week 3: July 19-23 focus on gardening, herbs and natural remedies, field trip to crop farm

 

Sign up by calling York Parks and Recreation, more info. coming in their summer activity catalog! 207 363 1040

More information may be found at the farm’s website, and a profile on the farm and camp was published in the Portsmouth Herald.

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July 2, 2010 by Debra.

Add  Saltbox Farm  in Stratham to the list of PYO places now open! They expect to start picking blueberries and raspberries today, July 2:

Saltbox Farm

321 Portsmouth Ave, Stratham, NH

Hours (berries and weather permitting): Tues–Fri 8–6, Sat–Sun 8–5, closed Mondays

Information: (603) 436-7978

Many other local farms offering pick-your-own can also be found at  Seacoast Harvest, newly updated for the 2010!

Posted in author: Debra, sources of local food | Print | No Comments »

July 2, 2010 by Sara Zoe.

Next up from the New England Farm 2 Fork Project!

The New England Farm 2 Fork Project’s Twenty  Mile Meal
Saturday July 17th, 6pm
Sunday July 18th, 6pm
Raven Hill Orchard

Dinner will consist of locally made artisan & farmstead cheeses, pastured local lamb, antique (heirloom) apples and many other locally raised products. Our gastronomic goal is to serve the best local, sustainably produced ingredients, and to treat them with respect and simplicity in our cuisine. This means using as much of a products resources as possible, be it the greens from garden grown organic beets, or the livers and gizzards of barnyard chickens. Our deep-rooted regional influences have shaped and continue to shape New England farm cuisine and inspire our cooking and food on a daily basis. Diners are generally served 5-8 courses, in small, manageable portions that allow them to sample the variety of edible commodities available to us in a particular season, from a local source, without relying on imported foods purchased from agri-business conglomerates.

The seasonal cheeses, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and other foods we procure locally and at the farmers market for our ‘a twenty mile meal’, along with the conviviality of seeing our local farmer twice a week, have been the truest source of inspiration in our kitchen and cuisine. As a Chef, Sebastian believes that we have a vital responsibility to be part of an overall solution. Reuniting the local beekeeper, artisan cheese maker, herdsmen, cattle rancher, lobsterman, fisherman, clam-digger, organic grower and dairy farmer to the dining public is a mandatory necessity that must not be overlooked. The New England Farm 2 Fork Project, Chef Sebastian Carosi and his band of roving rural culinary visionaries are cultivating a more conscientious food culture within our little corner of the country….

The evening’s menu will feature:

Smashed Maine grown heirloom white beans on fried peasant bread with pickled cucumber and ham powder…

‘Liquid salad’ with a tall tomato & Cold River vodka jell-o shot and a local goat cheese grilled cheese…

The freshest mess of field greens and foraged roughage tossed in a lemonade vinaigrette with native strawberries, rosemary’s waltz, wildflower bee pollen and organic applewood smoked sunflower seeds…

Pastured local spring lamb ‘schnitzel’ with a homemade organic pretzel crumb crust, sweet pea mashed taters, zucchini and red rooster sauce…

Heather’s ‘home-made’ baked farmers cheese with crushed local berries…

Pink shandy cooler with citrus…

Cuisine by-  Chef Sebastian Carosi

$45 p/p    ( plus tax & gratuity )

To view our schedule of up-coming events go to:  www.thenewenglandfarm2forkproject.com

Please call the field phone direct for reservations- 207-459-4271. Seating is limited to 36 people per night…..

Host Farm: Raven Hill Orchard  255 Ossipee Hill Road, East Waterboro, ME  207.247.4455

Inquiries, questions and comments for The New England Farm 2 Fork Project should be directed to:    info@thenewenglandfarm2forkproject.com

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