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= Maine Foods =

January to April

 * Apples
 * Dry Beans
 * Beets
 * Cabbage
 * Carrots
 * Celeriac
 * Leeks
 * Onions
 * Parnsnip
 * Potatoes
 * Turnip
 * Winter Squash
 * Garlic

May to June

 * Rhubarb
 * Asparagus
 * Radishes
 * Salad Turnips
 * Scallions
 * Peas
 * Fiddleheads
 * Chives and Parsley
 * Greens

July to August

 * Berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
 * Plums
 * Peaches
 * Earliest Apples
 * Melons
 * Beets
 * Broccoli
 * Cabbage
 * Carrots
 * Cauliflower
 * Celery
 * Cucumber
 * Eggplant
 * Fennel
 * Green Beans
 * Greens
 * Leeks
 * Onions
 * Scallions
 * Shallots
 * Peas
 * Peppers
 * Potatoes
 * Radishes
 * Salad Turnips
 * Summer Squash
 * Zucchini
 * Tomatoes
 * Garlic - scapes and bulbs

September to October

 * Apples
 * Pears
 * Cranberries
 * Melons
 * Raspberries
 * Broccoli
 * Broccoli Raab
 * Brussel Sprouts
 * Cabbage
 * Cauliflower
 * Kohlrabi
 * Celeriac
 * Celery
 * Sweet Corn
 * Cucumbers
 * Fennel
 * Greens
 * Leeks
 * Onions
 * Scallions
 * Shallots
 * Beets
 * Carrots
 * Parsnips
 * Potatoes
 * Rutabaga
 * Sweet Potato
 * Turnips
 * Radishes
 * Salad Turnips
 * Green Beans
 * Shell Beans
 * Soy Beans (edamame)
 * Summer Squash
 * Zucchini
 * Eggplant
 * Peppers
 * Tomatillos
 * Tomatoes
 * Winter Squash
 * Pie Pumpkins
 * Garlic

November to December
By this time of year, most local produce is coming from cold storage although you may be able to find some fresh greenhouse-grown products at your winter farmer’s market.
 * Apples
 * Pears
 * Dry Beans
 * Beets
 * Brussel Sprouts
 * Cabbage
 * Carrots
 * Celeriac
 * Late season greens (like kale and spinach)
 * Kohlrabi
 * Leeks
 * Onions
 * Parsnips
 * Potatoes
 * Radishes
 * Rutabaga
 * Sweet Potatoes
 * Turnips
 * Winter Squash
 * Garlic

Maine-produced foods that are in season all year long:

 * Fruits: Blueberries & Apples
 * Vegetables: Potatoes, Carrots, Beets and Beet Greens, Garlic, Salad & Braising Greens, Tomatoes, Winter Squash, Cabbage, Onions
 * Dairy: Milk & Cheese
 * Protein: Eggs, Ground Meat, Seafood, Dry Beans
 * Grains: Wheat

History
"'And surely by reason of those sandy cliffes and cliffes of rocks, both which we saw so planted with Gardens and Corne fields, and so well inhabited with a goodly, strong and well proportioned people, besides the greatnesse of the Timber growing on them, the greatnesse of the fish and the moderate temper of the ayre…who can but approove this a most excellent place, both for health and fertility?' – Captain John Smith, 1616"Maine's geography, recourses, and location have helped turn the state itself into products for both local and distant uses, converting its rocky coast into granite for building political, religious, and educational institutions across the country; harvesting lime for brick-making and fertilizer; river ice for refrigeration down the East Coast and in the West Indies; blueberries, potatoes, and fish for food; and timber for ships, housing, and myriad other uses. The rivers, harbors, and pine coalesced into premier logging and shipbuilding industries, affected the colonial fortunes of England and the national fortunes of the United States, and converted mass quantities of raw timber into private wealth and commercial transport.

Farming and gardening have been enduring elements of the Maine survival strategy. Martha Ballard, who lived in the Hallowell area at the end of the 18th century, recorded details about her vegetable gardens, fields, and herbs in her journals, "Planted squash, Cucumbers, musk and water melons East side house" punctuated her diary and her life along with those of a larger scale, such as "Son Jonathan ploughing our field." Wabanaki peoples had taken advantage of the area's bounty summering near rivers and coasts for their fish and shellfish, and moving inland where they could hunt for the winter.

Maine's relatively remote location, uneven soils, and short growing season, make commercial agriculture a challenge. Settlers were shipping hay to the Boston area in the 18th century, and colonial neighbors regularly traded or sold produce in localized markets, and raised crops to feed themselves, their neighbors and their livestock.

Maine's long practice of diversified subsistence agriculture gradually shifted in the 19th century as it consolidated, specialized and modernized in response to regional and national markets. Sometime in the mid 19th century wild blueberries were converted to marketable commercial crops, being shipped to Boston and beyond. Soon, canneries sprang up, increasing the market for the crop. Once canning became practical at the end of the 19th century, Mainers started marketing their vegetable crops; more than 100 canneries opened in the state, many specializing in corn, but entrepreneurial farmers and canning factories canned other vegetables farmers grew in large quantity.

As railroads penetrated further north late in the century, Aroostook County's loamy soil proved suitable for commercial potato farming. Maine potatoes have been widely marketed, used for starch, and sold for processing into French fries. While the potato has declined in production and economic importance in the last few decades, it remains a staple of Maine agriculture.

Small dairy farms have been found in all parts of the state since early settlement. The Maine Agricultural Society, organized in the first decades of the 19th century, and its successors sponsored agricultural shows so farmers could learn about different breeds of dairy cows and new farming techniques.

Fishing represented the first truly commercial pursuit in the region, and, along with furs and lumber, ranked among the earliest and most profitable European economic activities in Maine. Experts at salt-water fishing, Maine's people were also skilled fishers of the inland waterways. Fishery stations replaced annual voyages for the Europeans, and coastal trade supported fledgling settlements as stations grew into villages, and fishing became a sustainable economic activity along the coast of Maine by the 18th century. Cod, herring, and mackerel soon were joined by salmon and alewives from tidal rivers, and eventually by lobster, clams, periwinkles, sea urchins, and scallops as well. Lobsters once were seen as food for the poor, but changing tastes and marketing changed that. Urban seaboard restaurants and Maine resorts generated sufficient demand over the closing decades of the 19th century and the opening of the 20th to make commercial lobstering worth the physical and economic risks. The lobster now ranks as haute cuisine around the world, and is among the pricier entrees on most menus.

"Must Try" Foods
A blog on Spoons University, written by Sayuri Sekimitsu writes about the must try foods in Maine that aren't Lobster Rolls. She writes a list of seventeen foods to try:
 * 1) Butternut Squash, Ricotta & Cranberry Pizza from OTTO Pizza
 * 2) Lobster Diavolo from Street & Co.
 * 3) Half Dozen Damariscotta Oysters from J’s Oyster
 * 4) Maine Blueberry Smoothie from Maine Squeeze
 * 5) Full Lobster from The Lobster Shack at Two Lights
 * 6) House Smoked Pork Belly Sandwich with Kimchi, Pickled Asian Pear & Steak Fries from East Ender
 * 7) Maine Wild Blueberry Jam from Stonewall Kitchen
 * 8) Malted Cold Brew from Tandem Coffee Roasters
 * 9) Baklava from Emilitsa
 * 10) The Peacemaker and Fried Pickles from Po’ Boys & Pickles
 * 11) Maple Bacon Donut from The Holy Donut
 * 12) Homemade Sausage Sub from Spring Creek Bar-B-Q
 * 13) Ol’ Blue Eyes Donut Bites from Urban Sugar
 * 14) Vanilla S’mores from The Marshmallow Cart
 * 15) Sauerkraut from Morses’ Sauerkraut
 * 16) Poutine with a Sunny Side Up Egg from Duckfat
 * 17) Brown Butter Lobster Roll from Eventide Oyster Co.