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It's Friday and the farmers are in Freeport May 28, 11:04 PM Portland Grocery Examiner Andrea Rouda 
Two eggplant seedlings, three tomato plants, a jar of olives, some dill weed and peppercorns,
and 11 ounces of chevre goat cheese were among my take-home treasures from the Freeport
farmer's market.While the season is still young, there were quite a few more vendors in Freeport than earlier in the week at the Yarmouth farmer's market. Besides more products and a greater variety of each, the attractive buildings and general surroundings of the L. L. Bean campus add a certain festive air to the proceedings. Cheesemaker Tim Clements from Creeping Thyme Farm was there to sell some of his fine artisan goat cheeses. Apparently the farm's name has less to do with the spice and more to do with the fact that Clements is supposed to be retired but isn't really now that he's begun this second career; the first was in construction. Self-taught, he's "up to 800 batches" of his handmade cheese. He had samples set up on a large card table, and with so many varieties it was tough making a decision. We finally opted for a plain chevre--it also comes in garlic herb -- which is great on bread and baked potatoes or, for the growing number of carbo-phobes, spread on celery stalks. Rick of Gryffon Ridge Spice Merchants was eager to talk about peppercorns. (Who knew that the pink ones aren't even pepper at all?) Besides an education, you can pick up fresh herbs, spices and gourmet salts at prices far below what you'll pay in stores, and most of them are organic. The Greek Kalamata olives and olive oils made the visit perfect. We left, grabbing a quick loaf of naan bread, and hurried home to enjoy our purchases. |
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Freeport Community Market Invitation Rain or Shine at 3pm on Friday May 28th the tents will go up transforming the Moose Parking Lot and Discovery Park on the L.L.Bean Campus for the Opening Day of the Freeport Community Market. Come peruse the market arena for our diversified Maine products. Locally grown, organic and all natural produce, grass-fed meats and farm fresh eggs abound. Choose your own mouthwatering Maine lobster plucked just hours before from our coastal waters. Imagine your patio bedecked with hanging pots of cascading flowers, sweet and savory scented herbs and potted heirloom vegetables. Specialty desserts, crusty breads, handcrafted cheeses and yogurts; smoked meats, fish and poultry; custom spice blends and Middle Eastern Naan will be there for your selections and meal planning delights. Toss a salad of fresh greens and plump tomatoes in a bowl turned in "Herbie" wood, garnish with Greek Olive Oil and learn about the Maine family that has brought their product to us. Don a vintage apron while you prepare supper or pick up a sculpted glass tray for easy, yet elegant, entertaining. Quality Maine crafts add splashes of color and bold textures to everyday living. Select alpaca yarn for that luxurious sweater or add a felted doll to your collection. Organic dog biscuits, catnip candy and cookies for birds make a special treat for the pets in your life. The Cumberland Farmers Market Association invites you to come and enjoy Maine, the Way Life Really Is, and sample it at our market. Our 2010 pledge to you is to take time for family this summer and, "Leave the Weeding to Us!" The Freeport Community Market runs weekly on Friday afternoons from 3pm - 7pm, May 28th through Oct 8th. |
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Institute lauds family-owned businesses By The Mainebiz News Staff May 18th, 2010 www.mainebiz.biz/news46339.html Three family-owned businesses took home honors last night at the 2010 Maine Family Business Awards held at the Marriott at Sable Oaks in South Portland. The Institute for Family-Owned Business each year selects the winners out the state's 36,000 family-owned companies based on nominations and applications. Sweetser's Apple Barrel and Orchards in Cumberland won the Maddy Corson Award, given to businesses with fewer than 25 employees. The property has been in the Sweetser family for nearly 200 years, and is currently owned by Gregg Sweetser. The seasonal business has 1,200 trees that produce 39 varieties of apples. Sweetser's Apple Barrel is a charter member of the Cumberland Farmers Market Association. |
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Posted Friday April 23rd, 2010: The Cumberland Farmers Market Association will open its 14th season beginning May 1st in Cumberland, 8:30am at the Mabel I Wilson School. "We're looking forward to one of our best seasons yet," comments the Assocation's President, Pamela Harwood. Four additional CFMA markets will open in successive weeks: May 5th at Noon in Falmouth at the Walmart Lot; May 11th at 11am in Yarmouth on the Town Green; May 20th at 2pm in Gray at the Town Office Complex on Shaker Rd and May 28th at 3pm on the L.L.Bean Campus in Freeport. We look forward to seeing all of you again this year at the markets where you can "Leave the Weeding to Us!" |
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Farmers market moves to Bean campus as Freeport Community Market By Amy Anderson The Forecaster Mar 31, 2010 12:00 am FREEPORT - There will be a new farmers market in Freeport this summer hosted by L.L. Bean off Main Street. The Freeport Community Market will open on May 28 at 3 p.m. at two locations - one at Discovery Park, and the other in the area between the handicapped parking lot and Discovery Park. This new market will run from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Friday through October. Leslie Fitzgerald, the market manager of the Cumberland Farmers Market Association, said she worked as a private contractor for the Bean's market, but it will be facilitated by the CFMA. The CFMA has held a market in Freeport since 2008. It was first located at the Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers parking lot on the corner of Main and West streets. The next year it moved to the Town Hall parking lot when the offices went to a four-day work week. This year, the Town Council advised Town Manager Dale Olmstead to negotiate terms with the CFMA for use of the Town Hall parking lot. By the next meeting, representatives of the CFMA thanked the council for the use of the lot in 2009, but said they would move to the Bean's location for the 2010 season. "We were going to host the two markets in Freeport this year, but as we saw the scope of the L.L. Bean market grow, we decided to focus our energy on the large-scale market," Fitzgerald said. "This way, other farmers can have an opportunity to use the town's parking lot to set up a market there." Carolyn Beem, spokeswoman for L.L. Bean, said the Freeport Community Market is an opportunity for local farmers and vendors to make connections with the community and visitors. The market is primarily hosted by Bean, she said, and will appeal to visitors and community members. "We have been interested in using the area for a market and other community events since the Outlet Store moved to the Village Station," Beem said. "This is one more opportunity to use the space like a town square." Fitzgerald said Bean approached her in January to set up the market. By February, she said the "ball was rolling." "I never thought Bean's would offer us the space, but we are excited to expand in this way," she said. "It is not typical for us, but will be a lot of fun." The Freeport Community Market will be similar to the Crystal Springs market in Brunswick or the Portland farmers markets, she said: more of a destination market. "Usually, we have a few vendors sell to a few small communities, Yarmouth, Gray, Falmouth and Cumberland," she said. "We focus on the nurturing, comforting aspects of a small community market where the customer knows the farmer. We practice farm sustainability and community sustainability." Of the 37 members of the CFMA, there will be 34 vendors participating in the Freeport Community Market from 16 towns and six counties, Fitzgerald said. Seven of the 34 vendors are from Freeport. Like all the markets, there will be crafts, vegetables, meat, and specialty items. The CFMA will host five markets, five days a week in Gray, Cumberland, Falmouth, Freeport and Yarmouth. "This is a new market, with new faces and a new feel," Fitzgerald said. Amy Anderson can be reached at781-3661 ext. 110 or aanderson@theforecaster.net |
Forecaster Forum: To 'know your farmer' is to live betterBy Susan GilpinFeb 08, 2010 9:30 am I saw a new bumper sticker on a car at the Falmouth Shopping Center today. It said, "Know your farmer." And for the first time, I can say I do. Kathy supplies me with potatoes and cabbage and mini McIntosh apples. No longer is she just the bundled-up body under the "Valley View Farm" sign at the farmers market. Underneath all that wool is a warm-hearted person whom I met at a potluck supper Saturday night. Turns out that two years ago, when I went on a two-week guided tour of Tuscany, she was there for a month, working four hours a day on a farm to earn her keep and touring the rest of the day under a scheme called "agriturismo." Kay supplies me with free-range eggs for breakfast, herbed goat cheese for hors d'oeuvres and chocolate milk for our grandchildren. No longer is she just the woman under the Spring Brook Farm sign who relieves me of my egg boxes when they pile up by our back door. She's the stylish silver-haired person behind us in the potluck line who knows Roger Knight of Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook. Farmers turned into friends the last Saturday in January, when the Congregational Church in Cumberland Center showed the movie "Fresh." The movie visits diversified family farms and monoculture corporate farms around the United States and compares them. I cast my vote for family farms. The church Green Team invited real, live farmers to come to the screening, and they brought real, fresh produce with them for show and tell, including smooth duck eggs too big to close the box-tops. We chowed down roasted winter veggies and quiche and venison stew, and I wondered why I don't eat fresh all the time. I could, of course. But it takes some organizing to get to the farmers market in Falmouth on Wednesday noons, or Gray or Brunswick on Saturday mornings. After seeing "Fresh," I understand better why the effort is worth it. Now that I know my farmer, seeing friends is an added reason to go. Besides, the Mason jars are spilling out of my pantry, and I need to pass them on to the beekeeper to fill with honey in the summer. Susan Gilpin lives in Falmouth. |
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From pressherald.mainetoday.com May 31, 2007 By TESS NACELEWICZ Staff Writer FALMOUTH — Frank Breggia listed his reasons for shopping at the Cumberland Farmers' Market on Wednesday: the food is fresh and, as a Falmouth business owner, he likes knowing his money is going back into the local economy.
Now he and other community residents have another reason to stop: The Cumberland Farmers' Market -- held on Wednesdays in Falmouth and on Saturdays in Cumberland -- will be doing business on Thursdays in Yarmouth. The Yarmouth market opens for the season this afternoon and will be held each week from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church at 326 Main St. until October. Besides adding a new location, the Cumberland Farmers' Market also is continuing to expand and diversify its vendors.
Such growth and diversification are coming to characterize farmers' markets around the state, according to the Maine Department of Agriculture. The number of markets is on the rise, said Deanne Herman, the department's marketing manager. She said that in 1970, there was one farmers' market -- in Portland. The count this year showed 62 markets, up from 54 in 2000, she said. And Herman said "another trend that is happening, a lot of the markets are getting deeper in many ways in variety of produce and the number of vendors." She said Maine farmers are diversifying to meet a growing demand for a variety of fresh and local goods. The Cumberland Farmers' Market, now in its 11th year, will open for the season on Saturday, June 16, at its traditional location at Greely High School in Cumberland Center. The hours are 8:30 a.m. until noon. Its Wednesday market runs from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Wal-Mart parking lot off Route 1 in Falmouth. It opened for the season this week. Among new vendors this year is Klenda Seafood, which sells lobsters, steamers and other goods from a small truck. Brenda Klenda, weighing clams for customers Wednesday, said she thought a farmers' market would be a good way to expand the small South Portland seafood business she and her husband run. "I'm so glad that they let me join," she said. Shannon Grauer, owner of Casco Bay Soap Co. in Freeport, is also new. Her homemade vegetable-oil soaps, in country scents such as lavender and apple pie, fit into a farmers' market because they're healthy and natural, Grauer said. "And farmers need to clean up too," she said. Afternoon Tea and Company, a Cumberland business specializing in custom-blended teas, has been at the market several seasons but has a new offering this year: gluten-free baked goods. The pastries Wednesday included gingerbread and black-and-white cookies. Owner Leslie Fitzgerald said customers in previous years had asked if she had any gluten-free goods, and she decided to bake some after learning she suffered from gluten intolerance. The market doesn't lack traditional vendors. Their offerings Wednesday included fresh eggs, milk, meat, rhubarb and fiddleheads, as well as seedlings and cut flowers. Kay Fowler of Spring Brook Farm in Cumberland, one of the founders of the market, said the wide range of offerings is driving its success. "It brings more people in by being diversified," she said. Staff Writer Tess Nacelewicz can be contacted at 791-6367 or at: tnacelewicz@pressherald.com |
"I'm glad there's more of these going on," said Breggia, a self-employed electrical contractor who routinely interrupts his work day to stop at a farmers' market whenever he sees one.
For example, shoppers this year can buy everything from lobsters to homemade soap and aprons as well as traditional offerings such as fresh produce and flowers. And if they get tired, they can relax by getting a chair massage or a hand, face and scalp massage.| Home | Meet The Vendors | Events | Press Clippings | Join | Contact Us | Links | Market Blog |
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