Welcome to Mary Margaret's Blog

When it comes to our diets, there is little agreement about what we should be eating. There are vegans, vegetarians, Keto-fans, and everything in between. Then of course there's the "Kaleman Diet":     But seriously, people can get adamant about their opinions on diet! Maybe you’ve experienced this? On social media, perhaps? I’m certainly not going down THAT rabbit hole! (Here’s where you sigh with relief.) But, interestingly, almost all diets do have something in common. The one thing that they DO agree on is the necessity of vegetables to a healthy diet. Especially leafy greens! Recently I realized that I needed to get back on track eating a diversity of veggies, especially greens. This spring was pretty tough for us die-hard local eaters, because normally we have our hoophouse that overwinters greens for us to eat, but we had to cut the plastic in December. So that option… Read More

Joining a CSA can be new and overwhelming. I get this. Totally. You might not know my story, but I am personally attached to CSA because it is very much part of my growing up into an adult. I joined my first CSA when I was 21 and still in college. Um, yes, I joined my first CSA right literally at the same time I had my own kitchen for the first time… And had to cook for myself. No dining hall meal plan.  No mama. What? Cooking? Okay, some salad or mac and cheese or hotdogs etc. But lots of veggies? Not exactly my forte to say the least. But, I was game for CSA. I loved the idea and wanted to make it work. So bad that I stuck with it every week all summer long. Then that winter. Then the next summer… And through it all I… Read More

Yeah, I know. What language is that?? So what are they? I was just asked this question the other day. And actually, I had to think about how to describe them. Since I have been making them for years now I forget they are likely new to many people! Kombucha, beet kvass, and kefir are non-alcoholic fermented drinks loaded with probiotic healthy goodies. They’re commonly thought of as health tonics or alternatives to popular beverages like soft drinks etc. And actually they are quite traditional dating back at least hundreds of years in Eastern Europe and Russia. I think of them as kind of like the precursor to modern sodas, sports drinks, and sweetened teas. Two of them (kombucha and kefir) are commercially available at most grocery stores, and the third (beet kvass) is available in specialty stores and online. All three of them can also be easily made at… Read More

This was a big question for me when I got interested in eating better during college in my early twenties.  I lived in an apartment and couldn't have my own garden.  Then, I learned about local food, and thought, 'Hey, I want to do that!  I want to support local farmers and get fresh, healthy veggies from them.' But, how?  Easier said than done in the slow-recovering atmosphere of Lewiston/Auburn, Maine in the early 2000's.  At that time, there was a small local Farmers Market starting up and two small organic CSAs on the outskirts of town.  Okay, CSA vs Farmers Market?  How to figure out which was going to meet my needs best? My goals were: get more veggies into my diet, have them be the freshest and healthiest veggies I could get, ideally organic, and feel like I was really helping farmers by being a customer.  Sound familiar? … Read More

We're back at it: another year of harvests!  As we begin our ninth year of harvesting what we grow, it is still amazing to see the beauty and strength of the plants that are our food.  We love what we do and are excited to share it with all of the people who support our farm and eat the produce that grows here. Lucky for us that we have an aspiring-professional photographer working on the farm this year!  I'm so excited to share with you the scene of the first harvest through the lens (mostly) of Rachel Whitten.  In addition to helping us bring in our largest CSA harvest ever, she also stepped back to capture the goings on throughout the process.  Gene did get his hands on the camera long enough to snap one shot of Rachel herself harvesting scallions (see below).  The 2017 farm crew pulled it all… Read More

"What do you do in the winter since you can’t farm?”  This is the most common question we get as vegetable farmers in Maine.  Sure our growing season is short with a frost-free period between the end of May and the middle of September.  Zone four, I believe it is called. With highs in the single digits in Dover-Foxcroft in February this week, I wish I could show you pictures of us on the beaches of the Caribbean taking the winter off… But actually farming is a full time job year round even on a vegetable farm in Maine! In reality, one third of our sales of veggies happen during the winter months of November through March.  We grow and harvest a large fall vegetable crop each year in preparation for these important planned sales.     We then spend the winter months packing orders for our 40 Winter CSA members… Read More

What does CSA stand for?  C-ommunity S-upported A-griculture!  Those three words mean a lot to us at Ripley Farm... They mean local people coming together from Greenville to Hampden to Lakeview Plantation to Corinth and everywhere in between to support our farm.  They mean friendship, smiles, warm hugs, and uplifting conversations week after week, year after year.  They mean sharing good food with people who appreciate the hard work that goes into producing it.  They mean a positive financial base for our farm year after year, helping us make a living doing what we love.  We started our farm with only a few years experience farming and have built it from a very small business in 2009 to one that now supports our family in 2017.  We were only able to acheive this dream with the amazing support of our friends, family, and customers.  Over half of our business in… Read More