Our 5th Annual Backyard Locavore Day will be held on Aug. 10 in various communities within Cumberland County. Events in Brunswick, Falmouth, Freeport, North Yarmouth, Portland, Raymond, South Portland, Scarborough and Windham begin at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. Registration is $15 in advance, $20 day of event and children under 12 are free. This is a rain or shine event.
Tickets can be ordered online: http://umaine.edu/cumberland/programs/locavore/ More information is available by contacting 207-781-6099 or (800)-287-1471 in Maine, or email: Lois.Elwell@maine.edu.
Registrants will receive a booklet in July describing each site and a map showing specific locations. Locavore Day is designed to educate members of the public about learn do-it-yourself strategies for becoming a locavore, who is someone who eats food grown or produced locally. Every year more and more people grow, raise, harvest and preserve foods in a sustainable way to meet individual food needs.
Each backyard will have a Master Gardener volunteer to answer your questions on gardening methods, including vegetable and square-foot gardening, backyard composting, root cellars, greenhouses, beekeeping, backyard poultry. Specific food-preservation methods such as drying, hot water bath canning, making herbal vinegars and jam making may be discussed with a Master Food Preserver volunteer. There will be complementary food samples.
This event raises funds for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Cumberland County Food Preservation Programming at the UMaine Regional Learning Center in Falmouth.
University of Maine Cooperative Extension Educator, Kathy Savoie, offers food safety training to occasional volunteer quantity cooks called “Cooking for Crowds”. These workshops meet the Good Shepherd Food-Bank safety training requirements. If you volunteer at local food fund-raising events, you may want to attend. The cost is $15.00 per person. Register online.
In April 2013 separate workshops are offered at UMaine Regional Learning Center, UMaine Extension, 75 Clearwater Dr., Suite 104, Falmouth, ME.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
1:00 PM — 5:00 PM
Register by April 3
Thursday, April 25, 2013
1:00 PM — 5:00 PM
Register by April 18
For more information e-mail: lois.elwell@maine.edu or call 781.6099 or 1.800.287.1471 (toll free in Maine)
University of Maine Cooperative Extension Announces March & April 2013 Cooking for Crowds workshops.
March 26 (register by March 19)
April 10 (register by April 3)
April 25 (register by April 18)
Volunteers learn up-to-date methods for safely preparing, handling and serving food for large groups such as churches, club affiliation fundraisers, PTA, food pantries, Granges, and others. This workshop meets the Good Shepherd Food-Bank Food Safety training requirements. The cost is $15.00 (scholarship available). All workshops offered at 1pm-5pm.
You may request a specific Cooking for Crowds workshop for your group.
Register online: http://umaine.edu/food-health/food-safety/cooking-for-crowds/ or call 781-6099 for more information.
Strawberries are ready! Come learn how to preserve low sugar strawberry jam at the Preserving the Harvest─A Hands On Food Preservation Workshops being held in June and July.
Kate McCarty, Program Aide, Food Preservation and other Master Food Preservers of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension will teach you the basic steps for canning and freezing.
Low Sugar Strawberry Preserving Workshops using Hot Water Bath Method of canning are being offered at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, 75 Clearwater Dr., Suite 104, Falmouth, ME 04105.
Call 781-6099 to register for either workshop:
June 26 5:30PM-8:30PM $10.00 materials fee (scholarships available)
July 10 5:30PM-8:30PM $10.00 materials fee (scholarships available)