The closing of Maxwell’s Farm this year - our local strawberry picking spot in Cape Elizabeth founded in 1973 - was a difficult and glaring reminder of the hardships that small family farms are facing across Maine.
The results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture revealed that “Maine has the lowest number of farms and farmland acreage since 1997. Maine lost 564 farms and 82,567 acres of farmland since the last census in 2017.” With this knowledge, and the arrival of apple and pumpkin picking days, there’s no time like the present to pay your local farms a visit.
I’ve groomed my ever-growing list of farms I’d like to visit by making notes on which items I’d like to secure from where in an effort to spread my patronage around. I’ve been slowly ticking through them, enjoying newly harvested fruits and veggies and chats with hardworking farmers.
And Bumbleroot Organic Farm, a certified organic vegetable and flower farm in Windham, Maine, beckoned me with innumerable crave-able items. Just 25 minutes from downtown Portland, this place is a little dream.
On Saturdays from 9AM-1PM, now through Thanksgiving and potentially beyond, Bumbleroot opens up for their Saturday Farmstand. When I pulled up Saturday around 9:15AM, their parking lot was already half full. Soft music poured out of the barn filling the surrounding flowers fields.
Every Saturday looks a little different: sometimes there is live music, there are rotating food trucks, and throughout the summer, they hosted Makers Markets on the second Saturday of each month. What you’ll always find is an abundance of seasonal Bumbleroot grown veggies, unbelievably gorgeous flower bouquets, and lots of local products. There are picnic tables to snag, a swing for littles to play on.
Though 9:15AM was a touch too early for me to partake, the supremely delicious Maine Maple Creemee Truck was parked onsite for the day I visited. Flavors like Maine Maple and Chai Latte were available - along with some apple crisp on the side. Be sure to check Bumbleroot’s social media to know what’s on tap for each Saturday.
Once I was able to pull my eyes away from the various exquisite dahlia bunches that greeted me, I turned my attention to the bounty of bright red radishes, enormous fennel, shiny shishito peppers, and just pulled carrots among dozens of other fresh veggies overflowing from their boxes. Near checkout I also found freshly baked sourdough loaves from Night Moves Bread plus cheese and yogurt from Winter Hill Farm.
I left with bags of crisp lettuce and a perfect bunch of pink dahlias. By the time I made my exit, the parking lot was nearly full. A woman parked to my right, loading up her trunk with fresh finds, whispered softly to her partner as she closed the trunk door. “This is my happy place,” she said as she tucked into the passenger side, him nodding in agreement.
With dreamy dahlias resting on my passenger seat while I started my engine, I gave a quick nod too.
Check-out Bumbleroot’s Fall CSA which will be on sale soon! It runs for 6 weeks (Wednesday, October 23rd - Tuesday, November 26) with pickups every Wednesday from 2:30pm-5:30pm. It’s $168 for 6 weeks of veggies - and they aim to give you 10%-15% more produce than you paid for in your box each week!