Senator Deb Reynolds, chair of the Milk Producers Emergency Relief Fund (MPERF) Board, invites legislators, farmers, conservationists and consumers to a public informational forum on the Keep Local Farms initiative. The forum will be held in Representatives Hall of the State House in Concord on Tuesday, December 8 at 10:00 am. Keep Local Farms is a new voluntary program that is a joint effort of New England dairy farmers and the six New England state departments of agriculture, with the goals of stabilizing New England’s dairy farms and ensuring residents of a continuing supply of fresh, locally produced milk and dairy products. The December 8^th forum will explain how the program works.

The forum is for anyone interested in New Hampshire’s milk supply and where it comes from, and where it will come from in the future. It is also for all those interested in maintaining the dairy farms that provide additional benefits of the scenic working landscape and rural character to New Hampshire communities, protect ground and surface water supplies, wildlife habitat and open lands enjoyed by outdoors enthusiasts of all kinds.

While the MPERF Board has determined that the state’s dairy industry is in need of assistance due to the depression of farm milk prices throughout 2009, (where farmers have been paid half of their costs to produce milk), the state’s revenue and budget shortfalls have left the fund established by the legislature in 2006 unfunded. The MPERF board is hosting this public forum on the Keep Local Farms initiative to raise awareness of the situation caused by the unprecedented, low milk market prices, and of this new opportunity to compensate farmers more fairly for what they produce and contribute to their communities and region.

The Keep Local Farms program connects consumers with dairy farmers through education and direct support. This is an opportunity for consumers who are interested in purchasing local foods to support local dairy farmers, their community and the local economy. For more information or to contribute, go to the website: www.keeplocalfarms.org

From our friends at Seacoast Eat Local comes the following request. We hope you can take part!

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The Portsmouth Farmers’ Market is open through November 7 and the Kennebunk Market will be open through November 14, and indoor winter farmers’ markets are coming soon!

Seacoast Eat Local has organized a total of 11 winter farmers’ markets for the 2009-10 season, ensuring you can buy local food from your farmers all winter long. The first market is just three weeks away, on November 21 at the Wentworth Greenhouses in Rollinsford from 10am-2pm.

We’re looking for volunteers!

Volunteers play an important role during our winter farmers’ markets. From helping unload and carry foods, to making sure the customers coming in know about the next markets and have answers to their questions, to clean up, volunteers make sure the markets are the best possible for farmers and customers.

Some of the volunteer roles include:

In addition to these jobs, we’re also looking for a volunteer who might want to take on a larger, organizing role. We’d like to set up a simple area for families to take a break and relax with their kids and we’re looking for someone who has a vision for what that might look like, to be implemented with volunteer support.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact Erin Ehlers at erin@yogaonthehillkittery.com. Mention the date(s) that you are available, and preferred volunteer role if you have one.

Market dates/locations: (All markets are Saturdays with hours of 10am-2pm)

November 21 - Wentworth Greenhouses, 141 Rollins Rd, Rollinsford, NH
December 5 - Wentworth Greenhouses
December 12 - Exeter High School, 1 Blue Hawk Drive, Exeter, NH
December 19 - Wentworth Greenhouses
January 9 - Exeter
January 23 - Wentworth Greenhouses
February 13 - Exeter
February 27 - Wentworth Greenhouses
March 13 - Exeter
March 27 - Wentworth Greenhouses
April 10 - Exeter

No matter your availability to volunteer, we hope to see you at the markets!

Sara Zoe Patterson, on behalf of Seacoast Eat Local
sarazoe@seacoasteatlocal.org
blog.seacoasteatlocal.org
www.seacoasteatlocal.org

Seacoast Eat Local welcomes donations in support of the winter farmers’ markets. Your donation supports the growth of these markets, enabling a more sustainable, self-reliant food system in our region. Donate online via PayPal, or contact us to send a donation by mail.

Pie makers and pie eaters alike will not want to miss the New Hampshire Farm Museum’s fall fundraiser, The Great New Hampshire Pie Festival on Sunday October 4, noon to 4pm.

Professional pie bakers will be offering samples of their signature pies—festival goers will pick the People’s Choice awards! An amateur pie making contest will take place simultaneously; judges include John and Jennifer Forsyth, creators of americanpieways.com with prizes donated by King Arthur Flour and sponsors including Ray Beaudoin & Sons oil company in Rochester. The event will be held under tents, rain or shine.

Activities throughout the afternoon include a children’s pie eating contest, tours of the historic Jones Farm, hayrides, and popular farm animal tours.

Advance tickets to the festival are $10 ($12 at the door; $6 for children under 12) and are available at the Farm Museum Country Store or by calling 603-652-7840. For more information on entering the contests email at info@farmmuseum.org and put “pie contest guidelines” (indicate amateur or professional) in the subject line. (30)

Slow Food Seacoast’s “Time for Lunch” eat-in was actually a teach-in/workday. An enthusiastic crowd met at the Dover, NH, High School greenhouses to initiate a greens growing project that will supply the district cafeterias with salad mix once a week.

Shawn and Sarah Stimson, organic farmers from Sustainable Farm Products, volunteered their time to give a demonstration and answer questions. Afterward, we all piled into the greenhouse to plant 36 trays for the school. It was a fantastic morning!

More pictures on our Flickr page.

The Barrington Heritage Commission and the Barrington Farmers, with the sponsorship of the Barrington Recreation Department, are pleased to announce the first annual Natural Heritage and Agricultural Fair to take place Saturday, September 12^th, from 10am-4pm, at the Warren Farm, off of route 4, in Barrington, NH. The fair is a collaborative effort of local farmers and conservationists to celebrate the beauty and agrarian utility of our local natural resources.

Arrive in style on a mule-drawn hay ride, shuttling you to the day’s events.

The farmers’ market is open with many area farms offering vegetables, fruit, corn, potatoes, local meats, and heritage poultry. NH Crafters bring their wares, jewelry and yarns. Come and taste the goodness of local foods, sweet and savory, prepared by our own NH chefs.

The barnyard brims with heritage animals raised by NH farmers, working for NH food security. Cows, hogs, alpacas, rabbits, goats, sheep, and herding dogs, turkeys, ducks, geese, and chickens will all be accompanied by their farmers for your questions, ideas, and curiosity. Discover how to homestead and create your own farm.

Come and learn about the many area initiatives to preserve and protect our natural resources for our health, enjoyment, and local food security. Learn about our water, our soil, our flora and fauna. Learn about bees and honey, worms and organic gardening. Find out what you can do to bring nourishing local food into our schools and how to preserve farm lands for future generations. Meet your NH experts, whose goal it is to partner with the community to transform our state into a sustainable haven.

Dance and take in the folk music of bands and fiddle jams. Learn to contra dance, and watch the spectacle. Listen to old-fashioned story telling and the history of our local farms. Go back in time to the Revolutionary War and see the routines of our earliest Americans and junior militias.

Join the celebration and conversation about what we can do to reclaim the greatness and wonder of our New Hampshire natural heritage and agriculture.

Don’t miss this great piece in NH Mag about the new seafood brand, “NH Seafood Fresh & Local,” an initiative of the Portsmouth Fishing Industry Committee with partners across the seacoast, including Slow Food and Seacoast Eat Local.

From the BeerAdvocate website: http://beeradvocate.com/events/info/27553

Back on the New Hampshire Seacoast by popular demand, the NH Brew Fest is the premier event in NH for craft brewers from the entire NE region and beyond to showcase their talent. The Master Brewers Association of America New England Chapter will be hosting this event, with proceeds going to Prescott Park Arts Festival and the MBAA’s scholarship fund. This is a beer fest put on by brewers for craft brew lovers.

Redhook Brewery has kindly donated space for approximately thirty breweries to setup outside in a natural grass amphitheater. All breweries will be tented over in case of poor weather. Foliage season should be in full swing by this date.

Here’s the deal:

Date: October 3, 2009
Location: Redhook Brewery. Portsmouth, NH
Time: Two Sessions: 12-3 PM and 5-8 PM Maximum 1500 tix per session.
Breweries: 25-30 New England/North East Breweries
Beers: 90-100 different craft brews
What else: Live Music. Food. Unlimited samples with admission price (3-4 oz samples)

Price: $25.00 in advance/ $35 at door.

Click here for the full list of participating breweries and more details!

There’s a new fair in town! We’re delighted to note that Warren Farm (site of Slow Food Seacoast’s first-ever Farm Picnic, in 2006) will be thost of the Natural Heritage Agricultural Fair on Saturday, September 12, 2009.

The fair runs 10 AM - 4 PM and includes lots of wonderful offerings:

• Farmer’s Market with lots of great, fresh, local food
• Crafts and Specialty items made by local artisans
• Educational Displays and Information about Agriculture, Land Conservation, Sustainability and Living Local
• Animals accompanied by their owners who can answer questions about the purpose each animal serves on the farm as well as in our healthy local diets.
• Musicians, Country Dancing, yummy local food cooked up fresh, Revolutionary War re-enactors in authentic garb, Jr. Militia, Mule Team Rides, and Old Fashioned Storytelling

Help Out! The festival welcomes you as an attendee….or as a volunteer! Volunteers are needed on the afternoon of September 11 for setup,or on the day of the fair for parking and breakdown. To volunteer, please callCharles Tatham at charles.tatham@aphis.usda.gov

Directions to the Fair:

Two miles west of the Lee traffic circle off route 4.
From Lee Circle (where Rt 4 and Rt 125 intersect) head West on Rt 4 for 2 miles. Warren Road is on the Right hand side. The farm is down Warren Road 1/3 rd mile.

Contact for Questions, or to be a Vendor:  nh.ag.fair@live.com, or call Jessica at 603.335.2605

Premiere Craft Beer and Food Pairing Culinary Event To Be Held
At Historic Strawbery Banke Museum, Saturday, August 22^nd

– Event Is Benefit for Strawbery Banke Museum and New Hampshire Public Television  –

Regional craft beers paired with delicious local culinary creations, served at beautiful, historic Strawbery Banke Museum on the Seacoast – it’s the menu for a very appetizing summer collaboration that will benefit the Museum and New Hampshire Public Television. Presenting…Passport: A Craft Beer & Culinary World Tour, August 22 from 5:30 – 10 PM, featuring over a dozen carefully designed pairing stations at which guests can sample and learn about many of the world’s leading beer styles and the cuisines they complement, presented by numerous Seacoast fine dining establishments.

Special features of the event include a beer aged in barrels made by the Strawbery Banke cooper, “Brewing in NH” author Glenn Knoblock, and the beautiful, historic museum venue. A list of pairings and brewers’ notes, detailed event information and tickets are available at www.nhptv.org/passport.

“This event is an opportunity to showcase Strawbery Banke’s setting, while offering a fundraising opportunity for the museum and NHPTV,” noted Larry Yerdon, president of Strawbery Banke. “For those who enjoy learning about our regional beers and foods, and who appreciate the museum and NHPTV, this is an excellent way to further support both our organizations.”

Supporting brewery partners include: Smuttynose Brewing Company, The Portsmouth Brewery, Allagash, Moat Mountain and Tuckerman brewers. Participating restaurants and food purveyors include Black Trumpet, The Common Man, Popovers on the Square, The Galley Hatch, Four, The Dunaway, Blue Mermaid, Terra Cotta Pasta Co., Philbrick’s Fresh Market, Three Chimneys Inn, Tasty Thai, Lindt Chocolate, North Country Smokehouse and Cabot Cheese. Visit www.nhptv.org/passport for information about our beer and food partners, and the pairings.

About New Hampshire Public Television: NHPTV engages minds, connects communities, and celebrates New Hampshire with programs that entertain, educate and enrich. Beyond its award-winning local and national PBS television programs, New Hampshire Public Television is a leader in education and community outreach. www.nhptv.org