Farm Fresh

Because my co-workers are borderline socially-retarded (a quote from Matt), and the social calendar of my only family friend in Maine (who BTW is 75 y.o.) is booked solid through July, I take delight in the smallest of social interactions. That's why I love my friends the farmers so much. They're always pleasant, always chatty and seem to delight in the simplest of life's pleasures.

Haight Farm is across the road from my cabin and the patriarch Court is just as sweet as his hydroponic tomatoes. My predecessor, former cabin dweller, and a MIAP alum, Sean gave me a head's up back in May about the tomatoes, claiming they're the best he's ever tasted. For me, they're definitely up there.

A recent discovery was the Homewood Farm, where I was lucky enough to buy a huge bag of super-sweet sugar snap peas for half the prize of what they're going for at the local store. The drive to this farm is quite precious, as you pass baby goats and lambs along your way. And their strawberries are to die for!
Last week, I also made it over to the Belfast Farmers' Market. There, I bought some great golden beets, summer squash, and the real coup de gras was the garlic scapes. Maybe you saw the recent NYT article that discussed these graceful guys, which are young stalks of garlic? (They're not green garlic, which usually emerges in early spring with tiny little bulbs on the tips.) I've yet to actually cook with them, as I'm so taken with their striking beauty. Their wild unwillingness to conform comforts me as they stand pseudo-erect in their temporary mason jar home.

My weekend was filled with solitary delights, like the discovery of blueberry barrens along my hike on Caterpillar Hill. This city girl was elated to pick her own wild blueberries. I may just have enough to get baking... I want to make a pie but lack a food processor for crust-making. Oh, well...vamos a ver.