Lincoln County Gleaners share table items. (Photo courtesy Michaela Stone)
The Lincoln County Gleaners is a program run by Healthy Lincoln County in Damariscotta. The group was formed in 2017 and has grown since then. We harvest produce from local farms, rescuing food and then distributing it to folks who would otherwise not receive or have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The gleaners distribute fresh produce via designated drop-off sites (such as libraries, child care centers, and apartments), and at multiple share tables, where people can choose what they want to bring home at an unstaffed, farmer’s market-type display of free and fresh produce.
But what about this time of year when the ground freezes and the weather turns cold? How do we keep food going at our share tables/help yourself areas with our collaborative partners? We get creative, with a lot of help from our community.
On Fridays, we drive to Goranson Farm, where we are greeted by happy, barking dogs announcing our arrival. We back the van up to one of the barns, carry our crates in and begin going through bins of vegetables.
Right now, there is still a lot of squash, including butternut and delicate, bins of potatoes and sweet potatoes, onions, parsnips, and some odds and ends like radishes and beets. When I was there this past Friday, a person donated their community-supported agriculture box to us. This added fresh leeks, gorgeous carrots, greens and other produce along with fresh thyme and rosemary. I left Goranson Farm with 161 pounds of produce for our community!
Our volunteers gather at the beginning of the week to prepare the totes for the remaining winter share tables/areas. They divide up the produce we receive from Goranson’s and add in veggies from other farms such as the microgreens we receive weekly from Morning Dew Farm (which is picked up and brought to us by one of our volunteers). Recently we added in lovely cabbages from Twin Village Foodbank Farm, gorgeous green pears from Rising Tide Co-op, and big, plump blueberries donated by a local food pantry.
To keep the food totes full for our partners to stock the free food tables/areas, we add in lots of dry goods this time of year. There is peanut butter, jelly, pasta, tomato sauce, canned veggies, canned meat, beans, rice, and other dry goods. Our recent food drive with Rising Tide allows us to keep these share tables going throughout the winter. When the produce is low, we can still provide nutritious food for people all winter long, thanks to our generous community.
Help-yourself share table locations
Bristol area – 24/7 pantries at the Bristol Mills and New Harbor fire stations
Damariscotta – CLC YMCA, the Watson Center at LincolnHealth’s Miles Campus, and Skidompha Public Library
Newcastle – Faith Baptist Church
Wiscasset – Morris Farm
