Maine Women's Fund Luncheon

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to speak at the Maine Women's Fund Leadership Luncheon in Portland, ME.

Though I generally consider myself to be a behind-the-scenes kind of a person, I was honored to be asked to represent Women, Work, and Community for the event and to speak about our (Madder Root's) experience in receiving a mini-grant through the Maine Women's Fund.

Plus, it was a chance to get dressed up - a rare occurrence these days!

Here I am with Jane Searles, my friend and mentor. She's the regional manager for the Bangor Region of WWC.

Janyce and Jane Searles of WWC

Here are some of the women from WWC at our table. Jane won the table prize, which was a coaster from the artist Ann Taintor. Darn! I missed it by one seat!

Front: Karen, Jane, Janyce, Gigi; Back: Alyra, Gilda, Jenn, Cyndi

The mini-grant we received helped us purchase advertising space in the MOF&G, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's newspaper to let people know we were going to be at the Common Ground Fair. We blogged about it, briefly, here.

I'm learning about how to make an MP3, so if that turns out well, I'll record my speech and post it.

In the meantime, I'd like to thank Jane Searles and Eloise Vitelli of Women, Work and Community for asking me to speak and Sonya Tomlinson of Maine Women's Fund and Peter Munro for helping me with my speech and supporting me through the process.

This post doesn't even touch upon how inspiring the event was. I'll save that for next time. I will say, though, I was honored to share the stage with many powerful, courageous, and creative women.

We also sent out packages to our friends at Minka in Kennebunkport, ME, Treats, in Wiscasset, ME, and Under The Dogwood Tree in Southwest Harbor, ME this past week. We hope, if you're in any of these areas, you'll stop by and say hello for us!

You can also follow us on our facebook page or contact us through our Etsy shop.

Hope your week's a great one!

Pizza Palooza

After a few months of slacking off making homemade pizza, it was on the menu twice this week. The first was kale pesto pizza with tomatoes, onion, and kalamata olives. Gotta love that green-green kale!

Kale Pesto Pizza Ready for the Oven

Fiddleheads (tips of ferns) are in season for just a short time in Maine and are a sure sign of spring. Got some at the Orono Farmer's Market on Saturday.

Fiddleheads

BF and I grilled them with just a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and onions. Everything tastes that much better on the grill!

Fiddleheads and Onions on the Grill

 Then we topped the pizza dough with a homemade red sauce, the fiddleheads, onions, and some feta cheese. Simple, but so yummy!

Pizza Topped with Fiddleheads, Onions, and Feta

Here's the pizza fresh out of the oven. (It didn't last long). The fiddleheads look dark, but they had a nice, grilled taste, with a crispy freshness that's hard to describe in words. Simple ingredients. Big flavor!

Fiddlehead Pizza Fresh from the Oven

Got a favorite pizza recipe to share? Let us know about it in the comment section or on our facebook page.

Last week, we sent a couple packages of tea towels, napkins, and produce bags out to Casual Interiors, in Boothbay Harbor, ME and Lisa-Marie's Made in Maine. Her stores are in Bath and Portland, ME. You can also find us online at our Etsy shop.

This week, Janyce will be speaking at the Maine Women's Fund Leadership luncheon in Portland, ME on Thursday. Should be a fun time! More about that in next week's post.

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Peaceful Bike Ride

Something peaceful about starting the day with a bike ride. I always love the fog lifting off the river.

Didn't see any deer this morning. Usually, they're in the fields or on the bike path. I've learned to "snort" to get them to move out of the way. Otherwise, they just stand there staring.

Nothing much new in the gardens. Still waiting for the lupine to bloom.

 Anyway, off to do some sewing. We're getting ready to send out some orders this week. We'll post those on our facebook page, once they've gone out. You can also find us any time at our Etsy shop.

Hope your week's a good one!

Vibrancy

The word for the day: vibrancy. It's spring. The sun's out and warm. The plants are growing in leaps and bounds. Some have bloomed, adding color to the yard's palette. Bees are buzzing. Lawn mowers are revving up. Gardens are being dug (at least at my house!). Nice to be able to get some yard work done this weekend before the mosquitoes and black flies join in the fray. Here are some pictures from the week:

Bleeding Heart's bloomed.

Herbs from the local greenhouse.

Shallots are in the ground.

Astilbe's gaining foliage.

We sent a big package of towels, napkins, and produce bags to Conklin's Maine Mercantile last week. We also heard that Lisa Marie's Made in Maine has expanded their Bath store, so we hope you'll stop in to say hello for us. Janyce was also invited to speak at a Maine Women's Fund leadership luncheon on May 23, 2013 so stay tuned for more news about that.

If you'd like to know more about us, please check out our facebook page or stop by our Etsy shop.

Hope your week's a good one!

Sun's Coming Up

The sun's coming up on the container garden.

The kale's looking strong.

The basil's looking and smelling yummy.

The shallots are ready to go into the ground some time this week. It's tough taking a good picture of those, so here are the daffodils instead! They'll be in full bloom this week as well.

We got tea towels out to Betsy's Sunflower in Brooklin, ME last week. She's opening shop on April 30th. We also sent a bundle of towels to Bowerbird and Friends, in Peterborough, NH, a package of towels and produce bags to Archipelago (The Island Institute Store), in Rockland, ME, and stopped by Conklin's Maine Mercantile in Belfast, ME with some whale tea towels (we'll be shipping Garry more items this week). If you're in any of these areas, we do hope you'll stop by and say hello for us!

If you'd like to check out our Etsy Shop or like us on facebook, that's cool, too. We'd love to hear from you!

Hope your week's a good one.

2013 Show Schedule

Our 2013 show schedule is shaping up. We'll be at the following events this year:

June 22-23 - Vintage Bazaar at Pettingill Farm, Salisbury, MA
July 27 - Artisan Bread Fair, Skowhegan, ME
August 17-18 - Gilsland Farm, Falmouth, ME
September 20-22 - Common Ground Fair, Unity, ME
November 16-17 - Maine Harvest Festival, Bangor, ME

We'll post more information about the shows on our facebook page as we get closer to each event.

New Design for 2013 - Allium

Allium Tea Towel Printed in Violet Purple

We're starting to list new items in our Etsy shop. It's always exciting when a new design makes it from sketch to screen!

Hope your week's a good one!

Finicky Spring

Spring's been a bit finicky this year. Sunny and warm at the start of last week, snow toward the end. (Boo). But, let's just skip quickly past the white stuff and on to what's new in the gardens. Found some buds on the peony.

Peony 4/15/13

And the daffodils are looking luscious and green. Buds, soon? (Let's hope!)

Waiting for this to flower so I can remember what it is!

The cold frame experiment's going strong. Basil, shallots, and kale outgrew the seedling trays, so I put those in bigger pots over the weekend. Parsley and hot peppers are still rather small. Never heard from the ace peppers. I think the temperatures in this low-tech seed experiment were too variable for them. I'll just get some pepper plants from the local farmer's market in a few weeks.

Northern Tides, in Lubec, Maine, is hosting a book signing with author Ron Pesha. It'll be held April 27, 2013 from 1-3pm. Ron will be talking about his new book "The Great Gold Swindle of Lubec, Maine." If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello for us!

For more news, please check out our facebook page or our Etsy shop. We've started printing our new designs for spring and should have them available soon.

Hope your week's a good one!