2 weeks Ago
Some costumed participants in the Garden Parade at the 2022 Common Ground Country Fair in Unity. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel, file The 48th annual Common Ground Country Fair kicks off Friday in Unity for a three-day celebration of agriculture and sustainability. The event typically draws tens of thousands of visitors to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association’s Common Ground Education Center in Unity.
This year’s fair features hundreds of educational presentations, including keynote talks from speakers Annie Watson, organic dairy farmer at Sheepscot Valley Farm in Whitefield; Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, scientist and author of “What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures,” and Melissa Law, farmer and co-owner of Bumbleroot Organic Farm in Windham and agriculture representative to the Maine Climate Council. Fair attractions also include more than 500 exhibitors and vendors selling hand-made goods and tools for sustainable living, along with 40 food vendors serving food made with local, organic ingredients. Fair organizers said Tinder Hearth, Brooksville’s lauded wood-fired bakery and pizzeria, is new to the Common Ground’s food lineup this year.
They highlighted offerings including vegan donut holes from Dō Donuts, local seafood from Nor’Easter Oyster Co. and sweet and savory hand pies from Portable Pie Place. The fair also features cooking events and demonstrations on topics ranging from canning and lacto-fermentation to harvest preservation, making herbal tonics and mastering the art of Vietnamese pho.
Additionally, the event offers two organic farmers markets, located at each gate, so fairgoers can stock up on seasonal produce, meat, cheese, ferments and more as they leave. Common Ground also includes nearly 80 local music performances and children’s activities including a Garden Parade and hay jump. Advance tickets, available through Wednesday, are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and youths 13-17, and free for kids 12 and under.
Starting Thursday, tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and youths, and free for kids 12 and under. Buy tickets or find more fair information online at the MOFGA website . FOURTH ANNUAL MAINE LOBSTER WEEK The fourth annual Maine Lobster Week is set for Sept.
20-29, giving lobster lovers a chance to satisfy their cravings at more than 50 participating venues around the state. Unlike Rockland’s annual Maine Lobster Festival, Maine Lobster Week doesn’t have one set location. Instead, Lobster Week is organized more like the annual Maine Restaurant Week; both events are organized by public relations specialist Gillian Britt.
Britt said that although Maine is practically synonymous with lobster, the iconic crustacean isn’t regularly on as many local menus as people might think. “It’s funny, you think you’ll find lobster everywhere (in Maine), but you don’t actually. You find it at lobster shacks and then periodically as specials on other restaurant menus,” she said.
“This is a really great way to support the lobster industry and try a whole bunch of different lobster dishes at the same time.” Britt highlighted offerings this year such as a special lobster menu at Bite Into Maine’s Diamond Street location in Portland; a spaghetti alla diavola special with lobster at Nina June in Rockport; a six-course prix-fixe lobster dinner for $120 at The Knotted Apron in Portland, with courses highlighting every part of the lobster; and a fried lobster kebab at Red’s Eats in Wiscasset. “There’s a lot of variety, and that’s one of the interesting things about how the chefs approach this, because lobster is an ingredient that is fairly versatile,” Britt said.
“It’s fun to see what kinds of creations they come up with.” For more information on participating venues, specials and menus, visit the Maine Lobster Week website . GOLDEN LOTUS CLOSES After 10 years in business, downtown Portland Chinese restaurant Golden Lotus announced on social media Monday that it has permanently closed.
“Thank you all so much for the last ten years,” a brief statement on the restaurant’s Facebook page reads. “We truly appreciate all of the love and support you have given us. We look forward to some much needed rest with family and friends.
” Located at 511 Congress St., Golden Lotus launched in 2014. Chef-owner Joe Tang was an industry veteran who had previously worked at Wok Inn and Empire Chinese Kitchen.
HONEY MENU AT UNION Union restaurant at The Press Hotel on Exchange Street in Portland is celebrating National Honey Month with a special menu featuring honey harvested from the hotel’s own rooftop beehive. The rooftop beehive at The Press Hotel, which supplies Union restaurant with honey and honeycomb. Photo courtesy of The Press Hotel/Kari Herer Running from Sept.
20-27, the three-course $85 prix-fixe menu includes an artisanal cheese plate with green tea-infused honey; honey-brined whole Spanish sea bass; and lavender-honey panna cotta with smoked hot honey and honeycomb. Union has kept a beehive atop the hotel for seven years, in partnership with The Honey Exchange , which helps care for the bees and the hive, and harvests the honey and honeycomb for the restaurant. MAINE’S GARLIC FEST RETURNS The sixth annual Maine’s Garlic Fest is set for early October at Lake George Regional Park in Canaan.
The event, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5-6, features local produce, food and drink, crafts, art, live music, activities for kids and, of course, plenty of garlic. Tickets, available at the park’s east side gate, are $10/day or $15 for both days for adults, with kids 12 and under admitted for free.
For more festival information, visit the festival’s website . VERTICAL HARVEST WORK CONTINUES Construction on Vertical Harvest Farms , the four-story indoor hydroponic farm being developed in Westbrook, continues apace, with company CEO Nona Yehia saying Monday she expects to launch in early 2025. Workers recently installed production elevators, conveyor lines and towering growing racks at the 51,000-square-foot facility.
Yehia said when it opens, Vertical Harvest will employ about 50 workers. The facility is expected to produce roughly 3 million pounds of lettuce, petite greens, herbs and microgreens year-round. Newly installed product elevators in the atrium at Vertical Harvest Farms in Westbrook.
Tim Cebula/Staff Writer Construction on the site began in 2022 and was delayed by funding snags. Still, Yohia said Vertical Harvest’s indoor farm in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, took eight years to complete. “If we do this in a quarter of the time, we’ve done a pretty good job,” she said.
NEW DOWNEAST FOOD MAP A new “Eat Downeast!” food map, plotting the location of more than 140 food-based businesses in Washington County, makes its debut at the Common Ground Country Fair this weekend. The map highlights farms, farm stands, seafood suppliers, bakeries, retailers, eateries and food pantries. It’s available in digital form or in print copies that can be picked up at Smithereen Farm’s booth at the fair.
The Eat Downeast! campaign, spearheaded by Smithereen Farm in Pembroke and its sister organization, the nonprofit publisher Greenhorns, is a local food promotion program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service.
MAINE HOTELS WIN MICHELIN KEYS The esteemed Michelin Guide this month gave eight Maine hotels its prestigious “Key” award. While Michelin’s restaurant guide bestows one, two or three stars for the world’s best restaurants, the relatively new hotel guide offers one, two or three keys for the most outstanding hotels. In 2024, the second year of its key award program, Michelin named in the United States 16 Three-Key hotels (for an “extraordinary” stay), 70 Two-Key hotels (an “exceptional” stay) and 207 One-Key hotels (a “very special” stay).
Maine’s winners, which all received One-Key awards, were AWOL Kennebunkport; two Blind Tiger properties in Portland, one on Carleton Street, the other on Danforth Street; Camden Harbour Inn; Cliff House Maine in Cape Neddick; Kennebunkport Captains Collection; The Lincoln Hotel in Biddeford; and White Barn Inn & Spa, Auberge Resorts Collection in Kennebunkport. Guide reviewers consider five criteria when selecting hotels: excellence in architecture and interior design; quality and consistency of service; overall personality and character; value for the price; and a significant contribution to the neighborhood or setting. We invite you to add your comments.
We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use . More information is found on our FAQs .
You can modify your screen name here . Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe . Questions? Please see our FAQs .
Your commenting screen name has been updated. Send questions/comments to the editors. « Previous Next ».
