Next Adventure Series – How to eat and drink like a locavore in Midcoast Maine
Locavore is defined as a person whose diet consists only or principally of locally grown or produced food.
The Pemaquid Peninsula and Damariscotta/Newcastle areas are a locavores dream. With numerous farms, both on land and in the sea, as well as those that harvest from the wild, the local markets and restaurants/eateries offer phenomenal foods in keeping with the locavore movement.
Let’s tour the area….
High Hopes Farm, in Bristol on Route 129, raises pigs, lamb and cattle, plus has extended its seasonal produce offerings with large tunnel greenhouses. You can find freshly picked produce, canned goods, honey, meats, and eggs from chickens they raise in their farmstand. We buy most of our produce, lamb, and pork, for the restaurant here. We have sat down with the owners during their seed buy in the winter to provide input of the types of produce we would like to the restaurant. It was super fun, we sat around their dining room table, sipping homemade wine and picking out seeds.
Julie’s Greenhouse and Farmstand, in Round Pond on Route 32, carries farm picked produce as well as flowers and plants. There have been times that we needed more of something, and they have gone out to the field to pick more…talk about fresh.
Stop by The Hub Market and Oysteria, on Route 130 near Bristol Mills, for fresh fish, Pemaquid Oysters and Mussels. The business, owned and operated by Kaylee and Smokey McKeene, offers gifts, pantry items, fresh seafood to go and house made foods to enjoy in their onsite alfresco dining space. Smokey founded Pemaquid Oyster Company on the Damariscotta River in 1986, the area’s pioneer oyster farm. Pemaquid Oyster now raises over a million oysters each year that are shipped around the world. You, however, can enjoy them right at the source or at The Bradley Inn. We have been working with Smokey for years, purchasing his Pemaquid Oysters as well as local mussels and seafood.
Broad Arrow Farm, which is just up from the swimming hole in Bristol Mills on Benner Road, raises pigs and poultry with a market that boasts many house-made products and meals, as well as other area items you can pick up for a fabulous picnic. The newly added Rooting Pig, a charcuterie bar, sits outside the market on the hill overlooking beautiful fields and pigs in the distance. It is a great stop for fabulous small plates and a drink in the afternoon or early evening.
Drive into Newcastle to stop at the Shuck Station for a taste of the many different oysters farmed in the Damariscotta River. You can sample varieties on tasting platters along with other menu items and drinks.
Make your way up the road to the rural farmhouse Oxford Brewery to sample their rotating beers on draft and in bottles in a rustic tasting room. You can walk around the farm’s orchard where they grow fruit for their beer and raise their pigs.
Don’t stop there, experience and learn about the food we eat. Enjoy a wine and oyster tasting cruise and learn all about the oyster farms on the river, on the Damariscotta River Tripper. Take a tour of Glidden Point Oyster Farm which is located just outside of Newcastle in Edgecomb. Go to Shaw’s on the Wharf on New Harbor to eat lobster and steamers while watching the lobstermen offload their catch.
At the end of the day make your way back to The Bradley Inn and Restaurant to enjoy a made-from-scratch meal utilizing many of these local products. Ross Moskwa, Head Chef, and I make our way around the area on shopping day, picking up our produce, meat, fish, oyster, and lobster orders. These relationships have enabled us to showcase the locavore movement in our beautiful slice of Midcoast Maine and to share a taste of it with you.
