Farmers Market Announces Fall Hours

On June 20 Bowdoinham will be the home to a Farmers' Market for the first time since 2003.

The Bowdoinham Farmers' Market will be will be located at the Merrymeeting Grange building on Main Street and will continue through November 1.

The hours of the market will be Fridays 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.

The Bowdoinham Farmers' Market Association held an organizational meeting on March 31 and the following Board of Directors members were elected:

Chas Gill, President; Nate Drummond, Vice President; Gabrielle Gosselin, Secretary; and Pete Karonis, Treasurer.

After careful consideration, the Association chose the Merrymeeting Grange as its home for the great indoor facilities, convenient parking, and central location that it offers. In addition, the Grange's history ties into the goals of the market.

The Grange is a fraternal organization for American farmers that encouraged farm families to band together for their common economic and political good. Founded in 1867, it is the oldest surviving agricultural organization in America. Our local chapter, Merrymeeting Grange 258, founded in 1887, is in need of some money to address maintenance issues on their historic Main Street building. The combination of the farmers needing a retail outlet closer to their fields, consumers wanting access to fresh food closer to their homes, and the Grange needing help with funding, makes a perfect partnership.

The market will sell a large range of fresh local food and farm products, including fruit, vegetables and locally raised chicken and pork. This project will allow many of the new and existing farmers in the town of Bowdoinham and surrounding areas to have access directly to the local customers. Farmers may either choose to represent themselves at the market or partner with other farmers to share an employee to sell their products. The cooperative staffing option will allow the farmers to attend larger markets or to spend more time in their fields if they prefer.

Featured farms:

Six Rivers Farm, Browns Point Road - Gabrielle Gosselin and Nate Drummond farm 2-1/2 acres of mixed vegetables and 6 acres of cover crops. They sell their produce at three local area farmers' markets each week during the growing season. Prior to starting Six Rivers Farm, Gabrielle and Nate's first foray into sustainable agriculture was working the harvest season at Sewall's Orchard in Lincolnville. Gabrielle then worked at the Greenmarkets in New York City for two years, and as an apprentice with Nate at Pleasant Valley Farm in Argyle, New York. Six Rivers Farm's goal is to provide the local community with high quality, nutritious produce grown in an ecologically sustainable manner. Gabrielle and Nate are also interested in the sustainability of our global food systems, and enjoy traveling during the off-season to learn from farmers in different parts of the world. Besides enjoying the occasional nap in their newly built greenhouse, Gabrielle and Nate like cooking, camping, and snowshoeing. They also spend an exorbitant amount of time trying to prevent Mollie, the farm pup, from chewing on everything at the farm. Nate and Gabrielle plan on having a wide array of fresh-from-the-farm produce every week at the Grange-this will be easy for them since they live on Main Street and their farm land is just two miles down the road.

Fair Winds Farm, Browns Point Road Fairwinds Farm is owned and operated by Pete Karonis and Cathy Rackley. It has been in operation for thirteen years. The Farmstead is located on the Augusta Road in Topsham, where they have five greenhouses and five acres of mixed vegetables. They also have a large portion of the farm on Brown's Point Road in Bowdoinham. On Brown's Point, they grow 10 acres of strawberries, and approximately 25 acres of mixed vegetables. The strawberry fields are open to the public for "pick your own strawberries." According to Kathy and Pete, "On our farm we raise bedding plants, hanging baskets, all veggies (from acorn squash to zucchini, and everything in between), as well as strawberries and raspberries. We sell at the Brunswick Farmers' Market on Tuesday and Friday and at Crystal Spring's Market, Brunswick on Saturday. This year we are also excited to be members of the new Bowdoinham Farmers' Market on Friday and Saturday." The phone number for Fairwinds Farm is 729-1872. During strawberry season they hire local teenagers to pick strawberries for market and they encourage those interested in picking to give them a call.

Kennebec Flower Farm and Nursery- Pork Point Road Linda and Chas Gill got started in the horticultural world after enrolling in the Southern Maine Vocational Technical College's plant and soil program in 1988. When asked how they got started farming, Chas replied: "After working in the traditional garden center/nursery business for several years as both growers and retailers we realized that wasn't the business for us. We borrowed a small piece of land in 1991--our first year--and grew some flowers and did one wedding and a party, still working full-time at various nurseries. During that year we'd been looking for land to move to and start a horticultural endeavor. After looking all around central Maine, we found a perfect piece of land. We bought 80 acres with approximately 15 acres of Kennebec River bottom land--silt loam with no slope or rocks. Whenever I find a stone in the field, I wonder how it got there. During the summer of 1992, on weekends and evenings we traveled the 45 miles to the land we'd purchased and planted approximately 1 acre of cuts. Linda set up a table at the Wednesday farmers' market in Portland, and we both participated on Saturdays. We made mixed bouquets (because everyone else did) and charged $3 each, averaging $30 to $60 a day. The neext year, I took more time off and participated more actively on the farm. We built a house in 1994 and since the summer of 1993 have been full-time flower growers. Although for a while we sold to a few specialty grocery stores, we found that selling direct to the customer is without a doubt the best way to market for a small farm. We are excited to be part of the new Bowdoinham Farmers' Market for many reasons. It only makes sense that the residents of Bowdoinham be able to buy local produce that is grown here. This market will have a good representation of agricultural products and will prosper with public support."

Also from Bowdoinham will be Apple Creek Farm and Atlantic Organics. In addition to the above listed Bowdoinham farmers, we will have the following area producers:

New Orbit Farm - Litchfield. Marada Cook will be offering free range eggs, organic produce and sprouts, raspberries and natural pork.

Little Creek Farm- Brunswick. Brenna Chase and Susan Meredith will be offering pasture raised pork and eggs, organic chicken and turkey, and bouquets of field-grown cut flowers. According to Brenna "We are excited to be growing good food for local folks. Our products are available at the Crystal Spring Farmers' Market in Brunswick, The Bowdoinham Farmers' Market, at local restaurants, and through our CSA program."

As you can see, the market will have a great selection of locally grown produce, fruit, meat and other farm goods. We are still looking for 3-4 more farmers and producers to join the market to help round the selection for our customers. If you are interested please contact me at 666-5531 or tcox@bowdoinham.com. See you at the market. Bowdoinham Farmers' Market logo and poster design by Morphee, providing creative solutions to help grow Maine's small businesses: Branding, Identity, and Graphic Design, tailored to your needs. Website to come soon: www.morpheecreative.com Contact: Manon Whittlesey at 207 522 6142 or mwhittle77@yahoo.com. Bowdoinham, Maine.