Returning Vendors

Brae Maple Farm:

Updates from Absent Vendors

New Beat’s been taking advantage of the sunshine and we've been planting strawberries, broccoli, and tomatoes, all bound for the Belfast Farmers Market this season. The grass is growing and our lambs are happy to be out to pasture. Our organic strawberries will be in short supply this spring so sign up for our market share to get on our preferred customer list for first dibs. You can sign up for our market share here. We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks! 

suecakes! will not be at market again this week. I need a little more time before I get back in the kitchen. I anticipate seeing everyone next week with lots of goodies in tote. Hope you understand. See you soon!

Sweet Henry's -- Happy Spring, all! I hear some of you are missing your weekly baklava fix (or lemon cake, or lavender shortbread...) and I wanted to let you know- we miss you, too! Sweet Henry's jumped on a chance late this winter to move into a space much better suited for what is has grown into- tons more counter space, better storage, room for bigger equipment. We are very excited for our new set-up but it takes time and we are still working with the carpenter and plumber and ME Dep't of Ag licensing to get all set up so please be patient a little longer. We hope to be back the first Friday in June.

Sol Farm is patiently waiting for greens to be ready for harvest.  We were hopeful that things would be ready for the end of May, however it looks as though we will have to hold out till the beginning of June... But here is a photo of some beautiful napa that will be coming with us to market when we return! 



Savage Oakes Vineyard
Our two new wines! Blushing Moose and Entwined. We are proud to say, these two, like many of our other wines, are both from our estate grown grapes. Blushing Moose, from our Frontenac Gris grapes, has wonderful semi-sweet tropical flavors like mango and pineapple with a crisp refreshing finish. Entwined is our semi-sweet Riesling like wine from a blend of our LaCrosse and St. Pepin grapes with apple and pear flavors. We will be back at the market in June but in the mean time, feel free to come visit our tasting room, sample our wines and visit our farm.

And more from our regulars:

Spring at Carol's Collectibles:  Rhododendron Dreamland and Magnolia Butterflies

Where's the knife guy?

From the Officers' Desk: Each winter, the members of the Belfast Farmers’ Market meet to discuss the past season and plan for the upcoming season. With our beautiful new newsletter, we finally have a platform to let you in on some of this “behind the scenes” action that makes our market happen. Of course we talk about advertising and the logistics of port-a-potty placement, but what is probably of greatest interest to you is how we figure out what’s going to be offered to you each year!
 
30 years ago, the decision was dictated by  “Whoever is brave enough to get their hands dirty and show up each week to entice the locals to try something new!” Some of those first members, Half Moon Farm, Appleton Creamery, Peacemeal Farm were there way-back-when and deserve much of the credit for making the market the success it is today. Mark Guzzi of Peacemeal (which was then owned and operated by Tom Roberts, now of Snakeroot Farm) will tell you about sitting in the truck on rainy day after rainy day hoping any three of his five regular customers would brave the weather to come buy a bag of spinach in Spring or tomatoes in August. Now look at the bounty Peacemeal sells out of every week! All of these Old-Timers can tell you great stories - ask them!
 
Today, determining who will be a part of the market is a much lengthier process. The success of farmers’ markets across the county, and especially in Maine has led to a boom of young new farmers who are coming up with all sorts of innovative new ways to provide people with great locally-produced food!
 
As a well-known, respected and long-running market, the Belfast Farmers’ Market gets more than its fair share of  applicant farmers and food producers. We would love to take every single one of them under our canopy. Every one has something that is new and different that we know our customers would love. Realistically, though, just like in managing a farm, or any business, we have to consider our capacity and the needs of our existing members. This year, we had only one member not returning. We would like to extend our very best wishes to Treble Ridge Farm who has determined that wholesaling is where they’d like to put their focus. If you loved their stuff, you can still find them at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Treble-Ridge-Farm/320121560451?sk=timeline - they’d love to hear from you!
 
We also came to the difficult conclusion that an experiment that we had tried was not working out ideally. In 2013 we were approached by Neil of ACE Blades and asked whether he could set up at the Belfast Farmers’ Market where he would offer his services to our customers for free to see how it would go (and, we assumed, to get the word out about his own business). We decided to give it a try and he was not charged a market fee or dues while we tested this out. Neil attended the 2013 summer and winter markets, as well as the 2014 summer and winter markets. Ace Blades proved to be a successful venture and he began charging standard and fair rates for his services and paid dues to the Winter Market for the 2014/15 season.
 
The Winter Market and the Summer Market, while still all the Belfast Farmers’ Market, are at very different stages in their existence and have very different needs so are managed as two separate entities: the Summer by the entire body of vendors and the Winter by only the Winter vendors with some input by the non-participating vendors.  At our 2015 annual meeting the BFM members needed to address several issues stemming from reaching a limit for space in the Summer Market at Waterfall Arts. One of those issues was whether we could continue to offer space to Ace Blades. Unfortunately, even with Treble Ridge Farm exiting, we have had changes to our layout that require more space, most notably a few long-standing members that have grown over time and require more space and our new EBT tent that not only allows us to process credit card payments for you but also provides the support necessary to make it possible for our low-income community members to use the electronic benefit cards they must use now (oh, technology, making things easier and harder all at the same time!) After a long discussion, the  BFM members agreed that while the knife sharpening service was certainly a success, we simply did not have the physical space to offer him a full time membership at this time.  We have provided him with contacts for an alternative and hope to have good news on this front soon. In the meantime, his stones are still at the ready and you can reach Neil at 207-505-5587 - he’d be happy to put a fresh edge on your blades!
 
No one is more aware of the pressure on us to find ways to offer you more and varied goods than we are so please know that we are brainstorming ways to fit more vendors, to always offer you fresh new stuff. There is a survey circulating at market on this very subject - please take a moment to fill one out as it’ll help us determine what our next best steps will be.
 
In the meantime, be on the look out for these very exciting NEW products at market:
 
Toddy Pond Farm is adding pork and lamb sausages, ground lamb, chickens and eggs.
They are currently transitioning to a Certified Organic farm, this means they are engaging in organic practices and working with MOFGA to make sure they meet all Organic standards.
 
Highland Blueberry Farm has been harvesting chaga in the wild and has added a D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. expansion of teas to her line. We’ll also be seeing the first of a line of skin care products made from all-natural ingredients and beautiful blueberry wreaths.
 
Savage Oakes can now provide you with your wine and your steak! They will be bringing prime cuts of beef as well as ground meat.
 
Meadowsweet Farm has a new cook in the kitchen and will be making sauerkraut and kimchi from their own produce to bring to market.
 
Plymouth Pond Bakery has proven a huge success and is greatly expanding his breads and pastries! If you’re a lucky one who can handle the gluten, he’s your man! My favorite is the chocolate croissants but he also makes these orange and anise bearclaw thingies I can’t pronounce...
 
Springdale Farm is milking her cows these days and bringing the market’s first-ever cottage cheese and cream cheese as well as a triple-cream brie.
 
Maine Meals is always fun to check out for what’s new but would like to point out especially that this year will bring frozen pizzas and some gluten-free selections!