Is your garden producing more vegetables than you know what to do with? Not sure what to do with that new vegetable you received in your CSA share? Looking for some seasonal inspiration? We have 50 years of recipes and resources to help. Read our seasonal eating guides and browse our recipes below.
Spring is here! Celebrate the end of winter by introducing lively spring greens and foraged edibles into your diet. Read our suggestions below:
By Roberta Bailey Happy 50th birthday to The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener. You have grown so much! Look how tall you are now! I see that you have matured into such a refined newspaper! So much poise, such eloquence! You have shared so many voices, so many stories. You have celebrated great news and
By Holli Cederholm Gnocchi is one of my favorite celebratory meals. I usually only make this potato-based pasta a few times a year, but it’s always for a special occasion: the arrival of an ingredient that I haven’t cooked with since the last time it was in season. In the fall, I mix up a
By Roberta Bailey When I was first farming in Maine, I befriended as many elders in my small rural town as I could. My partner and I would visit them in their extraordinarily warm houses, we always remembered to dress in layers, and we would ask a steady flow of questions about how to do
By Roberta Bailey Hallelujah! We made it to the longer days of spring and the much yearned for warmth of the sun. I hope you are all faring well and that along with the sunshine comes an unlocking of our tightly bound, weary hearts. Throughout the pandemic I have marveled over how I barely noticed
Drawing by Toki Oshima By Roberta Bailey Happy Anniversary to me! This spring marks the 35th anniversary of my time writing this column. My entire adult life has evolved around the full flavors of homegrown food straight from the garden, pantry and root cellar. I have never thought of myself as a fancy cook. Instead, I feature
Toki Oshima drawing By Roberta Bailey These days “kindness” is the word that I hold in the foreground of my mind. It is on a slip of paper at the corner of my bathroom mirror, the base of my computer, and I envision it on the inside of my forehead. It helps me move through
Whether you eat a strictly plant-based diet or you want to eat more vegetables, we have 30 years worth of plant-based recipes for you to browse!
By Roberta Bailey Once upon a time, but not too long ago, mushrooms were thought of as little white things that added flavor to a dish, but barely had any nutritional value. Rather they were just spongy little morsels that absorbed butter in a very delicious way. But all the while, mushrooms were building a
By Roberta Bailey Happy 50th birthday, MOFGA. Few remember a time before MOFGA was a part of Maine. It has become the mycelium that connects and enriches all of Maine’s community, from gardeners, farmers, artists, co-ops, apprentices and journey-folk to businesses and fairgoers. As with mycelia, MOFGA extends the reach of our roots and furthers
Toki Oshima illustration By Roberta Bailey I have been thinking about cycles. Maybe I am always thinking about cycles. As soon as the weather turns colder in September, I start to crave winter squash. And late June has me watching the baby summer squash, balancing my urge to pick it and eat it with the
Stock up on ingredients for fall and winter recipes at the Common Ground Country Fair farmers’ markets. John Williams photo By Roberta Bailey Here we are at another September, another Common Ground Country Fair. We have persevered through drought and heat, wild thunderstorms and unexpectedly chilly nights. We have reveled in a cool breeze, cooled
Tide Mill Creamery’s products at the Common Ground Country Fair show a few of the many ways to enjoy local, organic dairy products and support our farmers and processors. English photo By Roberta Bailey It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. Small dairy and cheese businesses are starting up all over
‘Happy Rich’ gailaan. Photo courtesy Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Johnnyseeds.com. By Roberta Bailey “What is your favorite vegetable?” I never used to be able to answer that question. When asked, I would think of tomatoes, and then the need for basil or cilantro, or the spicy zip of arugula, and before I knew it, I had
Whether you’re looking to try something new or change your diet to promote a healthier lifestyle, we have a recipe for that.
Turmeric grown by students at the Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast and entered in the 2018 Common Ground Country Fair Exhibition Hall. By Roberta Bailey High tunnels have changed the cycles of Maine’s local food systems, extending our live food harvests to year-round bounty. Along with cucumbers, greens, sweet potatoes and tomatoes come the
By Cheryl Wixson For a variety of health, social and environmental reasons, I’ve been tweaking a number of my recipes to get the sugar out. Table sugar, or sucrose, is obtained by refining the juice from sugar beets or sugar cane. Today, about 80 percent of the white table sugar consumed in the United States
By Cheryl A. Wixson Because I often cook for large groups, I try to be sensitive to individuals’ many eating styles and dietary requirements. One diet that has become increasingly prevalent is gluten-free. This diet excludes all foods that contain gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat, and in similar proteins found in crops of
By Jean English I use four guidelines for most of my food choices. First, I avoid foods that are high in saturated fats (animal fats), high in polyunsaturated fats (corn and other vegetable oils) or high in hydrogenated oils (aka trans-fatty acids: margarine and solid shortenings, for example). Second, I avoid foods with pesticide residues,
Toki Oshima drawing Read the review: Estrogen the Natural Way By Roberta Bailey Of the three primary forms of estrogen, plant estrogen (lignans), appear to protect against breast cancer, while the other two stronger forms of estrogen promote cancer. Soy and flax are excellent sources of plant estrogen for menopausal women. Relief from menopausal symptoms
Tomatillos are prized for their sharp, clean taste and, once cooked, for their thick sauciness. They are used in salads, desserts, soups, sauces, and stews. Illustration from The Principles of Vegetable Gardening, by L.H. Bailey, MacMillan, London, 1901. By Roberta Bailey Each year I seem to get excited about a different fruit or vegetable. Last
Preservation, including fermenting and canning food, is the best way to make the most out of your harvest. With these recipes, you’ll be able to enjoy your harvests from the growing season during the winter months.
By Roberta Bailey Hallelujah! We made it to the longer days of spring and the much yearned for warmth of the sun. I hope you are all faring well and that along with the sunshine comes an unlocking of our tightly bound, weary hearts. Throughout the pandemic I have marveled over how I barely noticed
By Roberta Bailey In the last two years, seed companies experienced record sales which translates to new gardeners turning ground for the first time, some veteran gardeners increasing their plots and farmers planting more acreage to meet the growing demand for local, fresh produce and value-added specialty items. Food security is on people’s minds. This
By Roberta R. Bailey The Common Ground Country Fair is far more than the sum of its tents and activities. It is donkey brays at dawn, manure pitching of presidential magnitude, grass matted down by so many footsteps, cardboard sliding on a hill, the shush of a scythe through oats in a demonstration plot, Sweet
Illustration by Toki Oshima By Roberta Bailey Kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut, fermented vegetables, kefir, yogurt, sour beers and ciders – live probiotic ferments are all the rage these days. Add hot sauces to that list as well. As a condiment lover and, particularly, a fan of hot peppers, I am excited. I love the full pepper
Toki Oshima drawing By Roberta Bailey Another fall has come, time to give up the quest to keep the garden watered and weeded. Many of the plants have faded to golden hues already. The brown of skin fades. We welcome a sweater and jeans. It is a time of surrender, yet it can be the
Many fruits grow in Maine and can be preserved easily. Grow your own or purchase produce at farmers’ markets or at the Common Ground Fair for making low- or no-sugar jams and jellies. English photos. By Roberta Bailey From spring through fall, Maine cranks out the fruit. Our winter weary palates get shocked awake with
Find inspiration for how to enjoy local, organic meat with these recipes.
By Roberta Bailey Lately the word currency has been rolling around with my thoughts. I like to think of money in terms of currency. A current is a flow of energy. In the case of money, it is compensation for human energy expended. We make products. We use our bodies and minds to complete tasks.
This meal, which includes several dishes including a vegetarian platter and a chicken platter, is based entirely on what John could harvest fresh at his farm during the first week of September. Every vegetable used to make these dishes was grown by John, with the help of his family! John runs Yanga Family Farms, located
Toki Oshima illustration By Roberta Bailey Maine and Vermont have two of the fastest growing local food movements in the country. That is apparent in the number of new farms and people trying to figure out how to get onto a piece of land; through the health of the seed industry; in local farmers’ markets;
Shad bushes bloom at Acadia National Park when the shad are running up Maine’s rivers. Art by Jean Ann Pollard. By Jean Ann Pollard Each spring when the shad bushes bloom – those beautiful white-flowered shrubs that are the first to blossom (like snow on bare branches) – my grandmother, who was a coast woman,
A Duckweed-Tilapia-Vegetable Cycle Grows in Washington, Maine From the outside, the garden and greenhouse at Home Grown look just like those at any other small farm enterprise. The ordinary exterior hides a unique self-sufficient system of raising large quantities of fish and vegetables in a small space. Alice Percy photo. by Alice Percy On a
For over 30 years, Roberta Bailey has been a regular contributor to MOFGA’s quarterly publication, “The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener.” She’s written a vast collection of personal stories mixed with tasty recipes.
By Roberta Bailey Every food has an optimal way for preserving it. Much of that depends on how you like to eat each food. Berries can be canned as jam or in syrup, made into juice, dried as leather or slices, or frozen in bulk. Greens are better frozen than dried or canned, but maybe
Drawing by Toki Oshima By Roberta Bailey Well, we have made it this far in the pandemic. It is a time of such extremes: the extreme pain of missing people, of not being there for holidays, birthdays, weddings and deaths. Some businesses are thriving and some have closed their doors; some had to temporarily shut
Toki Oshima illustration By Roberta Bailey I have been thinking about cycles. Maybe I am always thinking about cycles. As soon as the weather turns colder in September, I start to crave winter squash. And late June has me watching the baby summer squash, balancing my urge to pick it and eat it with the
By Roberta Bailey Many magazine or periodical journalists write their pieces for the readers of the future. With my Harvest Kitchen column, for example, I write in April for the summer issue of The MOF&G. Normally I don’t know in April whether summer will turn out to have been dry or whether we will have
One way to deal with the challenges of farming and gardening is to plant a variety of crops. English photo By Roberta Bailey As farmers and gardeners, we are all well acquainted with impermanence and resilience. The well-weeded row quickly becomes ragged. The peas mature and go by. A petite zucchini quickly swells to the
These shiitake mushrooms grown by Toshio Hashimoto of Rumford won a judges’ award in the Exhibition Hall at the Common Ground Country Fair. English photo By Roberta Bailey Mushrooms have come into the spotlight lately. They are strutting their stuff. Once they were thought of as just another white food, flavorful and filling but void of much
By Roberta Bailey Blackberries are the cruel temptresses of the berry kingdom. They promise sweetness yet they can make you bleed. The berries are so delicate. The thorns leave scars. There are always stories to tell, clothes to be mended. And yet, the berries can be divinely sweet and delicately flavored. The promise of more
By Roberta Bailey After last year’s rainy growing season, I spent the winter thinking about strategies for this growing season. We had standing water in garden rows numerous times throughout the growing year. Do I make raised beds and rows in all the gardens and field plots? If so, how high? What if we have
By Roberta Bailey Happy 50th birthday to The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener. You have grown so much! Look how tall you are now! I see that you have matured into such a refined newspaper! So much poise, such eloquence! You have shared so many voices, so many stories. You have celebrated great news and
By Roberta Bailey At the end of each year, I evaluate what I have grown and how I will shift strategies for the following growing season. If I had a bumper crop of tomatoes, and the larder is now flush with canned tomatoes and salsa, I know that I can grow fewer tomato plants in
By Roberta Bailey What can I make for the potluck? How much extra time do I have? What is in the refrigerator? What do I have a surplus of in the root cellar? How far do I have to travel? Will that dish travel well? Can I make it ahead? Does it need to be
By Roberta Bailey Lately the word currency has been rolling around with my thoughts. I like to think of money in terms of currency. A current is a flow of energy. In the case of money, it is compensation for human energy expended. We make products. We use our bodies and minds to complete tasks.
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