Derek DeGeer, of Hootenanny Breads, serenades shoppers at the Damariscotta Farmers’ Market. (Courtesy photo)
The black flies are biting, mosquitoes hatching, and bees a-buzzing; nature has come alive. I don’t appreciate bugs as much as I should, and tend to forget their contributions to our ecosystem when they’re swarming in my face while I’m trying to get from the dooryard to my car. This past weekend they were out in full force, but I managed to see a silver lining to their arrival. Their arrival coincides with all the things I love about spring: planting, farming, gleaning, and our topic of the week, farmers markets.
The Goranson Farm sign at the Damariscotta Farmers’ Market shows many options for shoppers. (Courtesy photo)
Here in Lincoln County we don’t have a winter farmers market, which means that our local farmers travel to the nearest winter market to continue selling their goods throughout the cold season. That means packing up their harvests and trucking over to Bath each week to sell at their winter market. We are fortunate to have such a successful winter market a few towns over, but it’s always nice to be able to sell in the county that you’re growing the food in.
In the spring/summer, we have four active farmers markets in our county, located in Boothbay, Damariscotta, Waldoboro, and Wiscasset. The markets in Boothbay and Damariscotta opened up last week, and I just got word that the Wiscasset market will be opening in the first week of June. I’m waiting to hear when the Waldoboro market is launching, and will publish that launch date once it’s finalized.
New vendors were at the Damariscotta market last week, such as Lakin’s Gorges Cheese, and Cupacity, to name a few. In addition to breads, baked goods, vegetables, meats, and dairy offered by a variety of vendors, there were seedlings available through Morning Dew and Goranson Farm.
Paying with a card is a breeze, as most vendors accept cash, check, and card, and you can even sign up for a CSA directly with the farmer at their booth. In a few weeks EBT cards will be accepted at that market, and yours truly will be running the welcome booth and helping with those transactions.
To keep up-to-date on the market locations, hours, and start dates, check out the Farmers’ Markets section of this column. And as always, please reach out to me with any updates or comments at jbreithaupt@healthylincolncounty.org.
