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| Events! |
| Lisa Fernandes, Cape Farm Alliance and Portland Maine Permaculture member, will be a featured Maine Garden Day speaker on Saturday, April 17. Her topic is "Intro to Permaculture Gardening". The event is organized by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. This 17th annual Maine Garden Day will be held at a new location: Lewiston High School. FMI: http://extension.umaine.edu/gardening/maine-garden-day/. |
| 5th Annual Local and Sustainable Foods Conference: Building Urban/Rural Alliances and Mud Season Dinner Register now for this fun and informative event, in Lewiston, April 10 & 11. This year's conference will explore key issues facing Mainers working for positive change in local and regional foodsheds. Through discussion and facilitated planning sessions conference participants will help create a set of action plans to guide our growing movement towards an equitable food system with justice and dignity for all. Conference tracks include: Rural Food for Rural People; What are the principal barriers to rural Mainers' feeding their own communities a diverse diet? How do we help rural producers sell locally first? Cultivating Maine’s Future Food Leaders; How can youth and adults work together to better the food system? What role does farm-to-school and school gardens play in this? We Can Get there from Here: Grassroots Food Distribution; Maine has a number of successful grassroots models for getting food from farm or sea to our plates. How do we support and expand what is working? How do we create what is needed? Growing Food Everywhere: The Home Economy and Food Security; What support and resources exist for homesteaders, subsistence farmers, fisherman, and community gardeners? How can we help each other build a food economy based on bread labor, interdependence, and self-reliance? Don't want to sit in meetings all day? Take part in one of eight Skill Shares. Or take a self-guided tour of Lots to Gardens' community gardens. End the day with our Mud Season Dinner, a nearly all-Maine meal and enjoy a vaudeville revival with over a cardboard sea! Registration for conference and Mud Season Dinner is required and space is limited. Register Today! |
| Growing Connections: Farm to School and Classroom to Cafeteria. The Maine-ly Nutrition and Take Time! School Program is bringing Tony Geraci, Chef Andrea, and local Maine advocates for Farm-to-School initiatives together to help school teams develop plans to increase nutrition education, local foods, and a strong cafeteria/classroom connection in Maine schools. March 25th from 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at the Augusta Civic Center. For more information, contact Mary Ann Bennett at mbennett@usm.maine.edu or 626-5044 or Amy Root at aroot@usm.maine.edu, or call 592-2276. Sponsored by the Maine Nutrition Network, a part of the USM/Muskie School. |
| Grow Your Own Organic Garden Are you concerned about the rising cost of food? Interested in learning how to grow your own vegetables in a sustainable manner? The Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association (MOFGA) will be holding one of its popular workshops right here in Cape, April 1 (6-9 pm). Topics will include: enriching your soil to produce healthy, high-yielding plants, the principles of crop rotation, managing nutrients in the garden, and basic weed and pest control. Contact Community Services, 799-2868. |
| The Maine Local Twenty: Can Maine Feed Itself? Here’s a second chance to hear this vital presentation and discussion with Cheryl Wixson, MOFGA's Organic Marketing Consultant and Resident Chef, March 25, 6:30 p.m. at the Freeport Community Center. Cheryl will talk about her research on Maine's ability to produce a balanced, year-round, local, organic diet. This report is a blueprint for Maine food independence. A local foods reception and community discussion will follow Cheryl's presentation. Suggested donation $5. This event is part of Wolfe's Neck Farm's Winter Community Forum, Sustainability: Transitions to Resilience. For more information visit www.wolfesneckfarm.org or call 207-865-4363. |
| Cumberland County Extension Service Classes How to Build a Cold Frame Date: Saturday, April 3, 9:00 am – noon Location: Maine Forest Service, Gray Instructor: Richard Brzozowski, Extension Educator Cost: $30/person or couple, Limit: 10 registrants, Course Code: A Backyard Poultry Want to grow your own poultry for eggs or meat? This practical 2-session course will equip you with the knowledge for success. Dates: Thursdays, April 8 & 15, 6:30 – 8:30 pm Location: Maine Forest Service, Gray Instructor: Richard Brzozowski, Extension Educator Cost: $25/person or couple, Limit: 25 registrants, Course Code: B From Recipe to Market This program is for individuals currently operating a value-added business or those seriously considering one. This series will provide an overview of what’s involved in taking a specialty food product to market (including licensing, preparing and packaging product safely, and resources available to support business development). Participants must have a specific food product or recipe in mind and are expected to attend all sessions. Dates: Thursdays, May 13, 20, 27, June 3, 10; 6:00 – 9:00 pm Location: Windham High School Instructors: UMaine Extension Educators & Specialists Cost: $25/person, Limit: 30 registrants, Course Code: D To register for any course or for more information, call the Extension at, 780-4205 or 1-800-287-1471. |