Strawberries and Peas: Maine Foods for June

Contact: Kathy Savoie, (207) 780-4205

ORONO — University of Maine Cooperative Extension publishes information to help consumers find, grow, use and store in-season fruits and vegetables in Maine. Visit extension.umaine.edu to order or download bulletins to fit the season, including June favorites such as "Let’s Preserve Strawberries," "Let’s Preserve: Jams, Jellies and Spreads," and "Vegetables and Fruits for Health: Peas."

Extension Educator Kathy Savoie from the UMaine Extension Cumberland County office cautions that consumers should get up-to-date information before canning food. Over the years there have been changes in scientific expertise as well as canning equipment, so there is new information on the best methods, canners,j ars, and seals to use to ensure a safe result. Updated recommendations are available local UMaine Extension offices, with locations available at extension.umaine.edu or by calling 800-287-0274.

Freezing berries in season and making low sugar jams and jellies will increase access to a year-round supply of local foods, cut back on sugar and reduce grocery bills.

UMaine Extension programs are open and accessible to all in accordance with program goals.

Renewal for Teachers/Aroostook County Workshops

Contact: Douglas G. Babkirk, (207) 712-1414

Portage, ME—University of Maine Cooperative Extension has extended its deadline to May 29 for accepting applications for its first Courage to Teach® series. The weekend retreat workshops are scheduled for five weekends at Hewes Brook Lodge in Portage, beginnin Oct. 23. The series, which will bring continuing education credits to those who participate, is open to 13 K-12 teachers and college faculty members from anywhere in Maine.

It represents an opportunity for educators ands chool administrators to renew their personal and professional lives. UMaine Cooperative Extension, which is organizing the program, has chosen Aroostook County as the first site for the series. The University of Maine at Fort Kent and the University of Maine at Presque Isle are partners in the effort to market the program to educators throughout Maine. Registration deadline is May 29. UMaine Cooperative Extension and the University of Maine System chancellor’s office are sponsors of the program.

Total cost for each educator accepted into the Courage to Teach® program, including meals and lodging, is $500. Efforts are now underway to attract additional funding from local school districts, area businesses and foundations to underwrite the balance of costs for running the program. The three facilitators are University of Maine faculty members affiliated with the National Center for Courage & Renewal – which developed the national Courage to Teach® initiative. They are Shirley Hager of Chesterville, Richard Ackerman of Brooksville and Portland resident Doug Babkirk.

Teachers, school leaders and university faculty members interested in the Courage To Teach® Aroostook County program can visit www.extension.umaine.edu/courage2teach or contact Doug Babkirk at University of Maine Cooperative Extension at dbabkirk@umext.maine.edu or 712-1414. For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine County. UMaine Extension programs areo pen and accessible to all in accordance with program goals.

UMaine Sponsors Tree Tour of Clifford Woods

FARMINGTON, ME—University of Maine Cooperative Extension will be offering a tree tour of Clifford Woods off Titcomb Hill Road in Farmington, on Friday, May 29 from 10 a.m. to noon. Patty Cormier, district forester with the Maine Forest Service, will lead the tree identification walk and discuss basic forest ecology in Clifford Woods. This event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is requested: please call the UMaine Extension office in Cumberland County at 800-287-1471 (in Maine) or 207-780-4205 before Tuesday, May 26.

This tour is an organized outing of the Maine Tree Club, an educational outreach program established by UMaine Extension, the Maine Forest Service and the Pine Tree State Arboretum. The club is designed to teach people young and old how to identify 50 trees of Maine over a two-year period; to teach participants how to best care for trees on their property and in their community; and to help people to better understand the importance of trees to Maine, their ecosystems and their economy. UMaine Extension programs are open and accessible to all in accordance with program goals.

Contact: Amy Witt, 207-780-4205, awitt@umext.maine.edu

UMaine Cooperative Extension to Offer Cheese-making Safety Session

Contact: Melissa Potts, (800) 287-7170 or (207) 581-2788; Aimee Dolloff, (207) 581-3777

ORONO, Maine – Recognizing that it's crucial to be aware of proper sanitation practices and ensuring the safety of Maine artisan cheese, University of Maine Cooperative Extension is helping the Maine Cheese Guild by promoting food safety awareness, proper sanitation practices and an introduction to incorporating food safety plans at their farm and/or cheesmaking facilities.

UMaine Cooperative Extension will offer a sanitation training and introduction to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) for cheese makers on Monday, May 11, at Buchanan Alumni House on the Orono campus.The program is free for Maine Cheese Guild Members, and $10 for non-members. Lunch will be provided.

The schedule for the day is as follows:
-10 a.m. Registration
-10:30a.m. Beth Calder, Extension food science specialist: Bacteria, bacterial growth and food safety.
-11:15a.m. Gary Anderson, Extension animal and bio-sciences specialist: Farm and milk room sanitation, cleaning equipment, recommended water temperatures, appropriate cleaning/sanitizing products and how to use them, quality testing and thoughts from a dairy inspector’s perspective.
-12:30 p.m. lunch
-1:15 p.m. Anderson's presentation continued.
-1:45 p.m. Barbara Brooks of Seal Cove Farm in Lamoine: Sanitation from the farm/cheese processing perspective; what has worked for her and problems she has encountered and what she has done to correct the situation.
-2:30 p.m. Calder: Recommended cleaners/sanitizers for the cheese room and U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommendations at what level to use the products.
-3 p.m. Calder: Brief description of HACCP principles and how to incorporate HACCP into your cheese-making process along with worksheets to take home.
- 4 p.m. Questions & answers.

To register, call Melissa Potts at (800) 287-7170 or e-mail mpotts@umext.maine.edu. The event is limited to 30 people. Registration will close when all spaces have been filled. Directions to campus are available at www.umaine.edu/locator.

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UMaine Summer Camp May 9 Open Houses Will Highlight New Family-Friendly Programs

LINCOLNVILLE—University of Maine Cooperative Extension will host open houses at its Tanglewood and Blueberry Cove summer camps on Saturday, May 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The open houses will help families learn about new convenient and affordable summer camp options. Snacks will be provided. Families are encouraged to bring picnic lunches and Frisbees and explore camp trails, fields and shores, as well as dining rooms, bath rooms and cabins. “We want families to ask all the questions they want about summer camp,” said Jon Downing, the new director for Tanglewood’s Blueberry Cove Camp, “as they make decisions about the summer to come.”

“To help families, we are offering more family-friendly policies and activities this year,” Tanglewood camp director Jessica Decke said. These new options include low-cost “Before and After Care,” designed to provide parents of day campers with convenient drop-off and pick-up times; income-based camp fees; financial aid “Camperships”; and sailing day camp for older youth. “We piloted income-based camp fees last year, using the honor system,” said Decke. “It works! Some parents even sent extra money to help other families.”

Tanglewood occupies 940 forested acres on the Ducktrap River in Lincolnville, including a swimming area, pond, playing field, an extensive network of trails, and canoeing access. Blueberry Cove overlooks Tenants Harbor and features 1,400 feet of protected beach and salt marsh. Find directions to both camps at www.extension.umaine.edu/tanglewood or by calling 877-944-2267.

New 2009 program details:
· Before and After Care: provides supervised care from 7:30 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. ($40 per week). Families who reserve 5 or more day-camp weeks at either camp qualify for free before and after care for the entire summer.
· Income-based camp fees: campers are offered three different levels of fees based on household income.
· Camperships: applications are online and in the camp catalog.
· Programs for older youth: day camp at Blueberry Cove for ages 9–12, including a two-week “Learn to Sail” program.


Contact: Sandy Neily, 207-789-5807, sneily@extension.umaine.edu

UMaine Extension Offers Trip to Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge

PORTLAND, ME—University of Maine Cooperative Extension will offer a trip to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Friday, June 5, 2009. Mount Auburn Cemetery is a National Historic Landmark and one of the most beautiful landscapes in America. Participants will be lead on a guided tour of the 175- acre grounds which include over 5,000 trees, thousands of shrubs and herbaceous plants, hills, dells, ponds, and woodlands. For a glimpse of the grounds, go to the Mount Auburn Cemetery Web site www.mountauburn.org .

The cost of the trip is $40 per person which includes bus transportation and tour fees. Participants are asked to bring their own lunch. Contact Colleen Hoyt at UMaine Extension Cumberland County at choyt@umext.maine.edu or 1-800-287-1471 (in Maine) or 207-780-4205 for more information and to register for the tour. Registration deadline is Friday, May 15, 2009. UMaine Extension programs are open and accessible to all in accordance with program goals.

Contact: Amy Witt, 207-780-4205, awitt@umext.maine.edu