Maine Heirloom Apple Guide

September has arrived and with it the leading edge of the Maine apple season. Take a look at the updated Maine Heirloom Apple Guide for detailed information on where and when to find dozens of heirloom apple varieties grown at  fifteen outstanding Maine orchards.

The orchard guide is a co-production of Portland Food Map and the intrepid apple expert Sean Turley at The Righteous Russet (instagram). We hope this provides you with all the information you need to go out for a self-directed exploration of Maine orchards and the many heirloom apples they offer. Use it throughout the fall to go exploring so you can take advantage of the entire season.

For those of you who like to consume Maine apples in liquid form also check out our Guide to Maine Cider Producers—a list of the 20+ cideries in Maine. Many have a tasting room that you might visit after a day of apple picking.

Heirloom Apple Lineage

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a very interesting article about an heirloom apple research project.

Since 2019, Bunker has been working with College of the Atlantic history professor Todd Little-Siebold, Laura Sieger, orchard manager for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and MOFGA intern Lydia Pendergast to collect samples from hundreds of Maine’s unidentified apple trees. They send the samples clear across the country to their partner in the project, Cameron Peace, a horticulture scientist at the University of Washington who runs tests to reveal the DNA.

“It’s almost like 23andMe, but for apples,” Sieger said, referring to the popular human genetic testing web service, 23andMe.com.

Maine Heirloom Apple Guide

September has arrived and with it the leading edge of the Maine apple season. Take a look at the updated Maine Heirloom Apple Guide for detailed information on where and when to find dozens of heirloom apple varieties grown at sixteen outstanding Maine orchards.

The orchard guide is a coproduction of Portland Food Map and the intrepid apple expert Sean Turley at The Righteous Russet (instagram). We hope this provides you with all the information you need to go out for a self-directed exploration of Maine orchards and the many heirloom apples they offer. Use it throughout the fall to go exploring so you can take advantage of the entire season.

For those of you who like to consume Maine apples in liquid form also check out our Guide to Maine Cider Producers—a list of the 26 cideries in Maine. Many have a tasting room that you might visit after a day of apple picking.

Investing in the Local Food System

An editorial in today’s paper makes the case for investing in the local food system to balance against risk of future supply chain disruptions.

This vision has Maine supplying half the food to the region by 2060. In another effort, Maine’s diet would be made up of 30% locally sourced foods by 2030.

Both are difficult goals to meet — Maine only consumes about 10% local food now, and that may be high.

But they are worth pursuing in order to make sure food is there when we need it, and to support local producers and their communities, and the wider Maine economy.

Maine Cheese Industry

This week’s Portland Phoenix has a report on the Maine Cheese industry.

Donahue said she is fortunate because her farm now processes all of its milk on-site, meaning it makes cheese and yogurt without having to ship or bottle it.

And unlike many other states, she added, Maine allows farmers to bottle their raw milk and sell it either at the farm or at farmer’s markets or retail stores.

Maine is also unique because of the way it allows cheesemakers to make their cheese, which Donahue said has helped open the door for smaller and new cheesemakers to make higher volumes of cheese to sell.

Maine Heirloom Apple Guide

September has arrived and with it the leading edge of the Maine apple season. Take a look at the updated Maine Heirloom Apple Guide for detailed information on where and when to find dozens of heirloom apple varieties grown at fourteen outstanding Maine orchards.

The guide is a coproduction of Portland Food Map and The Righteous Russet (instagram). We hope this provides you with all the information you need to go out for a self-directed exploration of Maine orchards and the many heirloom apples they offer. Use it throughout the fall to go exploring so you can take advantage of the entire season.

Maine Farmers’ Markets

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a report on Maine farmers’ markets.

Farmers who sell at markets around the state report similar scenarios. While they are seeing a lot of new faces across the mountains of zucchini and greens, in most cases the number of customers is down. But sales are up because shoppers are buying more meat and produce from fewer vendors. Adding to the trend of bountiful sales is the fact that homebound shoppers are stocking their fridges and pantries more fully but may not be comfortable buying food at a grocery store.

Maine Heirloom Apple Guide

For the last six years Portland Food Map and The Righteous Russet (instagram) have held an annual Heirloom Apple Tasting. We were so looking forward to the opportunity to share our passion for heirloom apples with you again in 2020 in person, but, for obvious reasons, that will not be possible.

In its temporary place we’d like to offer up this Maine Heirloom Apple Guide. We hope that in a small way it can take the place of the apple tasting and give you the information you need to go out for a self-directed exploration of Maine orchards and the many heirloom apples they offer.

The Guide includes detailed information on where and when to purchase dozens of heirloom apple varieties grown at fourteen outstanding Maine orchards. Use it throughout the fall to go exploring so you can take advantage of the entire season.