Welcome to Mary Margaret's Blog

Gardening is fun and relaxing… that’s why so many of us do it, right?! It's the same reason we love farming! But let’s face the facts, like most things, if a little thoughtful planning goes into it, it usually goes much better! That’s certainly been true for us over the past 14 years of running our own farm. Here are our top tips and tricks that we’ve learned along our way of organic gardening that can help you make the most out of yours!     How to grow a great organic garden   Tip #1: Don’t plant too early! I promise it’s worth waiting! When to plant what in Central Maine There are two steps to the "not planting too early" thing: Don’t plant your seedlings before they’re ready to be planted (aka hardened off): Harden off seedlings before planting outdoors. The process of gradually adapting young plants to increased light,… Read More

The end of winter is here, and, no beating around the bush, you're ready for it to be over! And, of course, it's not quite time for lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers fresh from the garden... yet! I bet that I love that kind of classic salad as much as you do, especially when it's all garden fresh. But why grumble about what's not here yet, when you can celebrate the glory of the hearty early spring salad full of what IS in season from your root cellar and/or local farms?? And guess what? I have the best way to dress that “whatever you have in your fridge” salad to make it really pop and say “I love this!” and “I want to eat more of this!” It has a secret ingredient that I'm going to introduce to you today, which can help you overcome your reluctance to the boringness of “plain”… Read More

It's finally winter and we can all take a sigh of relief after the hard work of the summer and fall growing veggies, right!? With the solstice and other holiday festivities right around the corner I know for sure we are looking forward to days of rest, reflection, and renewal with family and friends. We are also thinking ahead of next season, remembering what we want to improve upon or try new in the coming year. Is it true for you, too, that as soon as you finish a season you start to get excited about another year coming? As everyone starts looking ahead to spring, a common question we get asked as organic farmers is: Where do you get your seeds? And I'm here to answer it for you!     What kind of seeds do we buy? There are sooooo many options out there, and it's sometimes confusing… Read More

It’s only November and doesn’t it feel like winter has finally come? Eeek! What with temps down into the 20's this week, howling wind-chills that freeze-dried our poor White Russian Kale (RIP), and a snow/sleet/rain storm that impacted our CSA pickup to add insult to injury, I’m ready for some bonafide warming comfort food!  How about you? And a bowl of hot soup hits the spot, right? Definitely for me! And, to be honest, I would like to have a soup pretty much every day of the fall and winter if I had my act together to do it. Because they taste soooo good! If you're like me, you already know that taste, seasonality, and warmth are great reasons to make more soups for your meals.  But there are a few other reasons that soups are one of the best things that you can do with veggies and why you might… Read More

Fall and holidays are classic times of year for serving mashed veggies. Mashed potatoes and/or sweet potatoes anyone? I know my family is always as eager to dig into those as they are the other fixings at holidays and family meals. Because that's the point, right? Eat those veggies, too! (Not just the bread and/or meat.) But, hang on, why stop at the well known mashes? Mashed veggies can be made with many kinds of roots in endless spicing and flavor combinations to satisfy any occasion, mundane or fancy. That's why I'm here today with this fun formula for making your perfect mashed veggie combos. To help inspire you to try a few new things and liven up your winter tables with delicious healthy root veggies! To ultimately eat more veggies in interesting ways!     The steps to making any root veggie into a scrumptious mash everyone will love… Read More

“What do I do with this big squash?” A common question that we get from CSA members after a few weeks of fall squash distribution. And I understand. Sometimes I can look at a pile of uncooked/unprocessed veggies… like squash… and feel at a loss, too. Ugh! I only have so much time and creativity! So one thing that helps me a ton is to just get the stuff cooked and into the fridge. What? Yes! Having a fridge full of cooked veggies is like gold to me. Because when mealtime rolls around I can quickly prep up a veggie dish rather than completely starting from scratch. And one of the veggies I like to have cooked and in my fridge the MOST is winter squash. Winter squash, any kind really, is a versatile veggie that shines in so many ways in the kitchen. Especially when you cook it this… Read More

It’s September and your garden is cranking out harvests that taste so delicious that you want to hang onto everything as long as possible. Or maybe your CSA farm has peppers ripening like crazy this time of year. We certainly have them by the bucketful here on our farm!     They taste soooo good and sweet that maybe you’re like me and looking for an easy way to preserve that amazing pepper flavor for winter. If you’re not looking to get set up pressure canning pickled peppers right now, why not try freezing some? I find it unfortunate that frozen veggies have a bad rap. And I understand, as I’m sure you’ve had frozen veggies from the store that were, to put it nicely, not that great. Plus you have limited freezer space, so you just can’t fit it all. And what would you do with them? I know… Read More

It’s September and your garden is cranking out harvests that taste so delicious that you want to hang onto everything as long as possible. Or maybe your CSA farm has peppers ripening like crazy this time of year. We certainly have them by the bucketful here on our farm!     They taste soooo good and sweet that maybe you’re like me and looking for an easy way to preserve that amazing pepper flavor for winter. If you’re not looking to get set up pressure canning pickled peppers right now, why not try freezing some? I find it unfortunate that frozen veggies have a bad rap. And I understand, as I’m sure you’ve had frozen veggies from the store that were, to put it nicely, not that great. Plus you have limited freezer space, so you just can’t fit it all. And what would you do with them? I know… Read More

Pesto used to be an intimidating word to me. I didn’t grow up hearing it often, except occasionally at an Italian restaurant. And even then I had no idea what it meant. Just that it sounded fancy. This week I had some leftover turnip greens, carrot tops, and basil in my fridge that were, well... needing to be used up. And not wanting to waste anything… I dove in and made my first batch of pesto of the year. Then, I remembered that pesto is super easy to make, and not intimidating at all anymore! Anyone can do it!  And the flavor is so worth it, no matter what you put in!          How making pesto can help you use up extra greens in a tasty way The traditional way to make pesto is with basil.  But the truth of the matter is that you can make pesto… Read More

The busy summer can have you constantly running from this to that, right?  And it is hard to find time to slow down and do something spontaneous. I understand. I’m a farmer and full-time mama.   But, who doesn’t love slowing down to enjoy the beauty of nature and picking some gorgeous flowers along the way? I know that I always find joy in picking flowers. Even just a small handful. Something about being outside and seeing all of the pretty blooms gently blowing in the breeze persuades me to be an authentic part of it. And cutting flowers does that for me. It centers me and brings me back to a peace. And it seems to do the same thing for kids!  I can't tell you how many times my two girls have already begged me to go pick flowers this year (and they are juuuuust starting!)   No… Read More