THE MAINE MARKET BASKET

 A weekly news service for promoting 

 Maine's healthy, local and seasonal

 foods.

Featured crop: Strawberries

Maine strawberry lovers owe a debt of gratitude to Peter Chase and Moses Smith.  It was Chase and Smith who in 1805 organized what many consider to be the state's first strawberry festival in a field located about 30 miles northwest of Bangor. 

According to the "The History of Garland" by Lyndon Oak, Chase cleared land in 1802 for his homestead and planted grass seed on it for pasturing animals.  By 1804, wild strawberries began appearing on Chase's land and became so abundant in 1805 that he and his nearest neighbor, Smith, invited the scattered residents of Garland township together to share with them a feast of berries with cream and tea sweetened with maple sugar.

  (high definition copyright-free photo available here)            

While much has changed in Maine over the course of the past two centuries, the pleasure of biting into a "just-picked" strawberry at the peak of its sweetness can be as pure and simple as it was in 1805.  Be sure to get your fill of these healthy and delicious treats while you can: the joy of ripe local strawberries might be timeless, but Maine's fleeting strawberry season isn't.

Shopping info:

Strawberries should be plump, firm, and red.  Pale, greenish, or yellowish fruit is unripe and will be hard and taste sour. The leafy caps should look fresh and green.

Don't buy berries that are withered or crushed. Damaged strawberries can go bad within 24 hours.  When you bring home a box of berries, wash them carefully and remove any smashed or moldy ones.

The best way to insure your strawberries are ripe and fresh is to pick them yourself at a local "pick your own" farm.

Nutritional info:

Fresh strawberries are a healthy snack.  Ounce for ounce, strawberries contain more vitamin C and anti-oxidants than oranges.  They are also naturally low in calories and fat.  One serving of strawberries (1 cup) contains only 50 calories which is roughly one-quarter the calories found in a large chocolate chip cookie.

Featured Recipe:

Strawberry Crumble

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh strawberries
½ cup "old fashioned" or "quick" oats
¼ cup white or whole wheat flour
¼ cup frozen orange juice concentrate
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into small pieces

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 375 º F.
2. Combine the berries and orange juice concentrate in an 8-inch square baking dish. Set aside.
3. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar in a bowl; cut in butter or margarine with a pastry blender
(or two knives), until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over berries.
4. Bake for 30 minutes.
 

Did you know?

75% of the strawberries sold in the US are grown in California.  A single strawberry contains about five calories. To get that strawberry from a field in California to a plate in Maine requires 435 calories of non-renewable fossil fuel energy. 

What else is in season?

Seasonal availability of produce in Maine varies from week to week and from one farm or farmers' market to the next.

Strawberry season in Maine runs from mid June into mid July.  

The following items are also considered widely available statewide as of this date: asparagus, radish, salad greens, broccoli, carrots, spinach, beet greens, and scallions.

For more info on the seasonal availability of Maine produce, see the chart posted here.

Where to buy fresh, Maine-grown foods in your area:

       Find farmers markets in your area here

         Find farmstands in your area here

        Find CSA farms in your area here

     Find local "pick-your-own" farms here

For more info about the availability of Maine food and farm products, please see: http://www.getrealmaine.com

Click here for a camera-ready version of the "get real. get maine!" logo

About the Maine Market Basket:

The Maine Market Basket is a service of the Maine Nutrition Network and the Marketing Department of the Maine Department of Agriculture and paid for with funds from the US Department of Agriculture.  Coordinating partners include  the Eat Local Foods Coalition of Maine and the Fairfield Farmers' Market.  Texts and/or images from this bulletin may be reproduced.   For more info contact Roger Doiron: 883-5341 or e-mail marketbasket@eatmainefoods.org