Welcome to Mary Margaret's Blog

Do I Need To Harden Off My Seedlings Before Planting?Yes and Here's How I did not grow up farming. Not even close! (Suburb outside of Austin, Texas) I had no idea what “harden off” meant as a kid until I started working on a vegetable farm in my early 20's. Now that I've run my own organic vegetable farm with my husband for over 15 years, I do know a thing or two about hardening off plants (and what happens if you don't!). But, if you're like I was and you're not sure what I'm talking about, no worries! I'm here to help because I want you to have success the first time! And rest assured, it's easy, and you can do it!! What does “harden off seedlings” mean and why do you do it? Let's face it, your little seedlings have lived the definition of sheltered lives. Warm and… Read More

Have you ever been stuck inside cooking for your family when you'd rather be outside enjoying the weather, gardening, or playing with your kids or grandkids? That's happened to me and here's an important part of how I tackle and overcome it without sacrificing serving good food.   I serve home cooked food exclusively at our house, heavy on the veggies, of course! Yet, I spend very little time in the kitchen, relatively. I don't run to the store all the time. (We've all got better things to do, right?!) I love trying new things, recipes, and making up things with what veggies I've got in my fridge from my year-round CSA shares. I especially love to have guests over and cook fun new meals to celebrate friendship and home grown food. When I see a recipe that a CSA member shares or is in my email box, I first quickly scan it… Read More

Do you have plans to do a garden this year? I imagine that your memories of last year's gardening season are still in your mind as you plan for another year. With record rainfall in 2023, I have heard from so many home gardeners (and farmers) that it was a hard garden year with big disappointments. And as you well know, gardening is hard work. It's one of the most satisfying things you do, and at the same time, one of the most challenging. Did your cucumber seedlings die? Did you have to replant four times? Did the weeds take over everything? As we all learned from last year, it is frustrating when you don't get what you want from your hard work. That's why it's important to maximize your efforts when you garden, right? While we can't be in control of the weather, of course, there are some great… Read More

One of the most used veggies at our house is a humble one.   It is borne out of the earth with dirt clumped on it's roots and smeared on it's skin. It's pungent, even smelly at times, and not really one you eat straight out of the garden. But none the less, it's just about the most used vegetable at our house! Clue: I think it even competes with carrots! Can you guess? Yes! Onions are ubiquitous and valuable for adding flavor to just about everything, which is why they get used/eaten every single day at our house. All that glorious praise being said, it is understandable that onions can be overwhelming if you've got too many of them laying around from your garden or your CSA farm share. I'm here to help you with that! After you go through the basic must-know info about onions, cooking ideas for all… Read More

As the colder weather and darker days set on, you're already dreaming of spring, right?  Of course! And of all things greeeeeen!!!  Well... We know what it’s like! If you love garden fresh taste, and can't wait for green things to start growing before your garden gets going or your Summer CSA starts, we can help! Join our Spring CSA, and we’ll set aside part of our early spring greens harvests combined with the sweetest of the winter's storage vegetables for you so you can put freshness on your table during the hardest part of the year to have real garden taste.   What is in the Spring CSA? The Spring CSA runs 3 months (April 3, 2024-June 12, 2024) with veggie pickups twice a month on Wednesdays. Exact dates can be found here. For each of the 6 pickups we will pick out a unique mix of 7-9 kinds of fresh veggies… Read More

That's right. Lay your fears and disappointment aside. It's not too late to plant garlic. In fact we feel good if we're getting ours in by the end of October. To be honest, the fall harvest season on our farm is so busy that some years it's well into November before we get our garlic planted! So, yes, you can still plant garlic now!         Why plant garlic? Because garlic is so delicious!  Having your own fresh supply of garlic is unbeatable for taste.  In fact, it is one of the things that people say tastes the most different farm fresh as compared to the grocery store (in a good way!). And guess what it's easy and rewarding to grow and harvest!  Garlic is a feel good crop that comes up super early in the spring and reminds you of the green life returning after a long winter.  If… Read More

Despite this warm summery weather, with October upon us we are decidedly headed towards winter here in Central Maine. Booooo, I hear from the crowds... And that means bye, bye to most of our favorite garden stuff like tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, basil, lettuces, and more. It also means hello to the hearty fruits of our labors that will carry us on through the fall and winter. You know what I'm talking about: The stuff with substance. The stuff that makes up the term “comfort food”.       If you're straight up excited, like me, yay!!! But, if you struggle with root vegetables, I'm here to help! Here's how to love them!     Struggle with root vegetables? Here's how to love them I understand. The “storage crops” also known as root vegetables, winter squash, cabbage, onions, and more just aren't as high profile as fresh ripe tomatoes. When I… Read More

It’s warm August and you’re spending time in the lake, in the kayak, and outside picking berries… Winter is the furthest thing from your mind. Everywhere you go, people are talking about the humidity--and this year, the rain. You join in, but you have a nagging feeling in the back of your mind reminding you that soon things will change. Soon enough we’ll all be complaining about the cold and snow. Late August and early September are peak season for your Summer CSA farm share.  And you're loving the farm-fresh bounty from the box each week. You’re not looking forward to the days when it will be over, because it all tastes that much better. Or maybe you're a home gardener during the summer. You love to see the abundance that grows from your work. Your “gardening” time now is taken up with harvesting the fruits of your labor. And that… Read More

Tomatoes are one of our favorite veggies to grow AND one of our most popular seedling and veggie order items. There is nothing quite like harvesting a tomato fresh off the vine and taking a bite. Warm, sweet, and savory, and nothing beats it. Mmmm...I just can't wait until the fruits are here again! I bet you can't either.     But how to take care of your plants for best success? Enough waxing on about how good tomatoes are. Let's get down to reality. Maybe you've had your plants melt into the ground in a wet year leaving you with not very many fruits? Or you've had your tomato plants form a huge sprawling mess in your garden that's hard to harvest and takes up a lot of space? Or your plants grow taller than your tomato cage and spill back over breaking off? If you're wondering how to… Read More

The fact about gardening and farming is that the weather is everything. Right? The fact about the weather is that it is fickle. Always changing. And the fact about this season is that we've had some not so favorable conditions for gardening the past couple of weeks. Thursday we assessed the “damage” on our winter squash crop that we seeded right before the downturn in the warm weather. It wasn't as depressing as we thought it might be, actually.  There is only a small percentage of plants that we had to replace, thankfully.   What about you?  How did your garden plants fare?  I imagine you have assessed your garden's status, as well. Did the cold and wet weather get your cucumbers and/or melons? Did you forget to order lettuce plants or something else that's your favorite? Do you want to try the salad turnips this year in your garden? But,… Read More