Category: Farming

Maine a la Carte reports that Fishbowl Farm will be exiting the Portland Farmers Market at the end of this year.

Once these summer markets close up shop around Thanksgiving, Fishbowl Farm intends to change its business model and focus on wholesale accounts for salad greens. The plan calls for selling greens from early spring through late fall.

Today’s Press Herald includes an article about the 2012 apple harvest.

Here in Maine, some growers are reporting yields coming in just a little bit early. But there’s no question that by this weekend, the apples will be ready to go — whether you pick them yourself or buy from a local farm stand.

At Rollins Orchards, a Garland farm that’s been in the family since 1821, owner Jean Rollins has been stocking her market for a while with help from her son, Ernest, and his wife, Andrea.

“We’ve been picking for three weeks,” Jean Rollins said. “That’s early. It’s a pretty good crop this year; overall, it’s about average.”

The Forecaster has published an update on Alewive’s Brook Farm’s use of Kickstarter to raise $60,000 to build a new farm stand.

“It’s like a barn raising, but we’re calling it a market raising,” said Caitlin Jordan, manager of the farm and daughter of owner Jodie Jordan. “We’re asking the community to go one step further in their support for our farm. We’re not asking them to lift the beams, just to buy them.”

So far 42 people have pledged $4,345 towards the goal.

MPBN is reporting that the 2012 Maine apple crop is “off by as much as 30 percent”.

The first hint of trouble for some orchards came back in March, when temperatures rose into the 80s in some parts of the state, shattering records. Apple trees started to bloom.

“And this was before the danger of the last freeze, so while they were in full bloom, or just around the time of full bloom, there was an event that killed flower buds,” says Renae Moran, tree fruit specialist at the University of Maine.

The Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about the 2012 potato harvest.

This year, the farmers are struggling with the opposite extreme: too little rain, which is stunting the potatoes’ growth and will hit farmers’ wallets hard this fall.

Like the corn crop in the Midwest, Maine potatoes are withering, but they’re underground and out of sight, so how poorly they’re doing is a bit of a guessing game.

Two Portland-area farms are using Kickstarter to raise funds for infrastructure projects:

• The Long Barn Educational Initiative at Broadturn Farm is trying to raise $4,000 by August 31st to fund the construction of a cob oven which will be used in an upcoming class
• Alewives Brook Farm is trying to raise $60,000 by October 6th to fund the rebuilding of their farm stand

The Forecaster has a report on a youth program that’s provided four teens with the experience of working on a farm.

By the end of the week, the small crew will have followed as much as 5,000 pounds of produce from seed to table, and donated it to food pantries in Freeport and Brunswick, while learning about all aspects of farming.