Seacoast Eat Local

Through sheer persistence and offers of free labor I recently managed to worm my way into a tour and tasting at the soon to be opened Throwback Brewery in North Hampton.  Annette and Nicole were hosting a couple of local beer bloggers and decided to let Kate and me tag along.  For a thorough description of the beers we tried, check out Seacoast Beverage Lab and Beer Zen Girl.

Annette is truly committed to sourcing locally for her beers and has begun by buying 1,000 pounds of grain from Brookford Farm for her Hog Happy Hefeweisen.  As a farmer, Kate wanted to know what she might be able to grow for Throwback and how much land it would take.  Barley, wheat, and hops can all be grown in the northeast and Annette is eager to see how local varieties can be used for her brewing.

We had a great time drinking beers brewed with hot peppers, peanuts, rye, wheat, chipotles, and more.  You can count on me being first in line to pick up a bottle of Campfire Smoked Porter and Dippity Do Brown Ale.

Throwback is still moving through the arduous and multi-tiered process of getting their beers approved for sale, but we’re hoping that they’ll be available soon.  We’ve had our first taste and are eager to try some more.

And because he’s a friend of mine, I feel I should mention that the images for their beer labels (such as the soon to be iconic happy hog) are being designed by Nate Walker, builder of the giant ant.

Seacoast Eat Local has had a tremendous year presenting two winter workshops for farmers, supporting NH Eat Local Month, planning 11 Winter Farmers’ Markets, and publishing the third edition of Seacoast Harvest. We thank you for your continued support of Seacoast Eat Local, and more importantly, for your continued support of the region’s farmers, fishermen, beekeepers, maple syrup producers, orchardists, and vintners. By working together and making mindful choices about how we eat, we contribute to the health of our environment, community, culture, and economy.

In 2009 Seacoast Eat Local and Slow Food Seacoast printed 6,000 copies of Seacoast Harvest, the local food guide for Rockingham, Strafford, and York Counties. What started as a small leaflet has grown substantially since 2007. Last year we listed 150 farms, two dozen farmers’ markets, and helped local farms survive and thrive during a difficult economy. Seacoast Harvest was such a success because of the many individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations that sponsored its publication, as well as those that gave their time. Please donate today so that we can continue our work in support of our communities’ farms and farmers.

Please donate $25 toward the 2010 edition of Seacoast Harvest today.  In thanks, we will mail you a copy of Seacoast Harvest as soon as it is published in late May.

Donate online through Paypal, a secure transaction.

If you would like to make your donation by check, please make checks payable to “Seacoast Eat Local” and mail to Seacoast Harvest c/o Jeff Donald 245 N River Rd Epping, NH 03042.

Seacoast Harvest is given out at farmers’ markets, farm stands, local businesses, and community events throughout the Seacoast, all year long.  It helps consumers to find the foods they want and to understand more about the farms where it is grown or raised. The companion website, www.seacoastharvest.org, provides links to more information about local food, a map of the area’s farmers’ markets, an interactive Harvest Calendar, and a searchable database of the farms listed in the print edition.

Individuals, businesses, or organizations that donate $100 or more can be listed as sponsors of Seacoast Harvest.  Sponsors are listed in print and on our website. If you are interested in making this level of donation, please contact us directly.  If your business was a sponsor in 2009 we hope that you will sponsor Seacoast Harvest again.  Our Sponsorship Coordinator can be reached at jeff@seacoasteatlocal.org or at (603) 793-9768.

We hope that you will consider being a donor or a sponsor of Seacoast Harvest.  Your donation provides the resources needed to ensure that farmers will have a viable market for their products, providing the Seacoast with a reliable source of real food.

It’s easier than having to grow it all yourself.

Beth Poitier has nice post up at UNH’s Discover(ing) Sustainability blog.  She’s thankful that the Seacoast’s farmers have had more success with their farms than she has had with her garden.  And she’s right.  The growers that we get our food from have a lot more training and experience than your average backyard gardener.  They’re also growing food for a living so they have a bit more invested in ensuring that things go well and that their crops make it to market.  So the next time you look in your backyard and the pickings look a little slim remember that they are plenty of farmers’ markets and farm stands nearby to bail you out and the growing season isn’t over yet.

For those of you who enjoy beer, there are a few nice events coming up in the next month.  First, on October 3 Redhook Brewery, WHEB and Prescott Park are hosting NH Brew Fest 2009.  There will 30 brewers, 90 brews, and 2 tasting sessions.  I’ve already bought my tickets online and hope to see you there.

On October 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Shapleigh Hops Craft Brewing Supply is hosting an open house and brewing demonstration. There will be demos for beer, wine, cider, and mead.  Shapleigh Hops can be found at 37 Grant Road in Shapleigh, Maine.  They can be reached at 207-432-3677.

And finally, there’s a new brewery in Hooksett, NH, White Birch Brewing.  I haven’t tried the beer yet, but hopefully I’ll make it to one of the tastings being held in Hooksett on October 14 and New Durham on October 21.  White Birch also posts regular updates on his progress over at Twitter.

Enjoy your beer!

On August 6 the Concord Monitor ran a good story by Chelsea Conaboy on the challenges currently facing New Hampshire’s dairies.  The gist of the story is this, the process by which prices for bulk milk are set has led to a situation where farmers are receiving less money for their milk than it costs to produce.

It is a sad truth that dairy farmers, and many other farmers as well, are price-takers instead of price-makers.  In most industries producers create a product and then charge the retailers or consumers whatever it cost to produce and then their profit on top of that.  Dairy farmers however, are forced to accept prices set by someone else, regardless of whether or not it earns them a profit or even covers the costs of production.

I recommend that all of you read the Monitor’s article so that you’ll have a better understanding of what our dairies are facing.  Six NH dairies have closed so far and more are likely to follow suit.  The one highlight of the article for me was reading our Commissioner of Agriculture, Lorainne Merrill say “What we have seen is a tremendous transfer of wealth, of equity, from dairy farm families to these corporations,” in reference to the increased profits of the Dean Foods corporation at a time when the farmers it buys from are having trouble holding onto their farms.

The 2009 Seacoast Harvest is now available and ready to help you find local sources of your favorite foods.

Copies of Seacoast Harvest can be picked up for free at the Portsmouth, Durham, Newmarket, Exeter, and York farmers’ markets.  You can also find them at farms such as Riverslea Farm in Epping, Barker’s Farm in Stratham, and Brookford Farm in Rollinsford.  We are currently working on getting copies out to farm stands, markets, and events throughout Rockingham, Strafford, and York Counties, so be on the lookout for it.

This year’s Seacoast Harvest is 24 full-color pages of information about many of the farms, farm stands, and farmers’ markets in our region, including products available and where they can be purchased.  Information is provided for over 140 farms and two dozen farmers’ markets. It also includes seasonal availability charts for local produce and New England seafood, a farming practices glossary, and a quick reference guide to help consumers find what they’re looking for.

Seacoast Harvest is the local food guide for York, Strafford, and Rockingham Counties and is updated annually to ensure that it is an effective resource for consumers and farmers.  It is a collaborative project of Seacoast Eat Local and Slow Food Seacoast and is accomplished through the hard work of their volunteers as well as the generous contributions of both business and nonprofit sponsors and individual donors.

Seacoast Harvest‘s launch will be held in conjunction with  Slow Food Seacoast’s Down on the Farm Picnic on July 12, 2009 from 11am-3pm at Osprey Cove Farm in Madbury.

Be sure to visit to www.seacoastharvest.org for more useful information as well as a searchable database of local farms.

For farmers trying to enter into farming as a full-time profession affordable farmland is hard to come by.  Many landowners and older farmers have land that they wish was being put to good use as fields for growing vegetables or pasturing livestock.  Organizations around the country have established LandLinks to help put these two groups together.  LandLinks serve as a database of farmers looking for land to lease or buy and landowners who would like to sell or lease their farmland.  Both farmers and landowners are often open to a variety of mutually beneficial arrangements.

New England LandLink exists to serve just such a purpose. NE LandLink is hosted by the New England Small Farm Institute in Massachusetts and lists farms in New England and New York that are in search of farmers.

Farmers can join LandLink for $10 and will receive contact information for farms that interest them as well as updates on new properties.

NH Farm Link was formed on June 21, 2000 and has now joined NE LandLink to connect more New Hampshire farmers and landowners.

For more information, contact John C. Porter, UNH Cooperative Extension Dairy Specialist/Professor, Emeritus at john.porter@unh.edu.

On Saturday, June 13 from Green Start, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the use and availability of biodiesel, is hosting a workshop entitled “Putting Oilseeds & Grains into your Rotation: Organic No-till and Cover Cropping“.

The  workshop starts at 9:00 AM at Burton Hall on UNH’s Durham campus. The event will feature speakers from the Rodale Institute, the US National Resource Conservation Service and Cooperative Extension agents from UNH and U Maine.

Following the morning workshops there will be farm tours and a display and demonstration of no-till equipment.

To download the registration form, click here.

On Friday, June 12 Green Start will also be hosting a workshop on carbon sequestration and cover-cropping.  “Farming for Carbon in New England – Food and Fuel Policy and Application” is also being held at Burton Hall at UNH.

To download the registration form, click here.

For more information about either of these workshops please visit www.greenstartnh.org or call Barclay Jackson at 603-498-8252 or Suzanne Hebert at 603-862-3200.

I’m taking the easy way out today and just giving you all some links to make sure you’re keeping on the news.  Much of this comes from NHPR, so good for them and don’t forget to pledge!  Below we have stories on Seafood, conserved farmland, a misguided attempt to merge the Dept of Agriculture with a few other departments, and more.

Seacoast Fishermen Begin to Advertise Locally Caught Fish

Littleton Coop Expected to Boost North Country Economy

Commissioner of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Lorraine Stuart Merrill

Merger Plan Hears Broad ‘No’

Agreement Reached to Permanently Protect Scamman Farm