The Blue Hill Co-op Community Market and Café
On Sale Now!
Check on August sale items at the Co-op. Lots of great specials for both owners and non-owners. Click here to see the new Owner Bonus Buys specials!
Meet Your Farmer Film Screenings
Blue Hill Public Library will be hosting a series of short films commissioned by the Maine Farmland Trust on Tuesday, August 31 at 7:00 p.m. The series of shorts, by Maine filmmakers Cecily Pingree and Jason Mann of Pull-Start Pictures, is called Meet Your Farmer. The films tell the diverse stories of eight Maine farms: from Aroostook to York, from potatoes to dairy, and from large commercial operations to small farms that sell directly to local people. Blue Hill’s own Horsepower Farm, and farmer Paul Birdsall, are featured in one of the eight films.
Other farms featured in the films are Bell’s Tide Mill Farm (vegetables, chickens, turkeys, pigs, and beef cattle), Broad Turn Farm in Scarborough (vegetables), Sandy River Farm in Farmington (dairy, beef, grain), Ayotte Farms in Hamlin (potatoes), Chase’s Farm and Restaurant in Freedom and Belfast (vegetables), Lakeside Orchard in Manchester (apples), and Reed Farm in Windsor (dairy).
The films were recently shown at the Strand Theatre in Rockland to a packed house of over 350 people, and received a standing ovation. For more information contact the Library at 374-5515.
Other Film Screenings:
•Thursday, August 26th, 7 p.m. at The Grand, Ellsworth
•Saturday, September 11th, 7 p.m. at Rising Tide, Damariscotta–OUTDOOR SCREENING (rain date Saturday, September 18th)
•Tuesday, September 14th, 7 p.m. at College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor
•Saturday, October 2nd, 2 p.m. at Reel Pizza Cinema, Bar Harbor
Film screenings will be followed by additional commentary by MFT Executive Director John Piotti or Anna Abaldo and a Q&A session including local farmers.
Jacob from Palmer Hill Farm, Thorndike, shows off our newest local farm-fresh produce! Check out his family's corn, tomotoes, canteloupe, and cabbage. Jacob especially loves the melons!
Farm Tours All Summer Long
Join us for the next “Sowing Seeds” farm tour at Gravelwood Farm, East Blue Hill, in September.
Hackmatack Farm Tour in July
Farmer’s Markets
Refresh your memory about the local Farmer’s Markets that abound in the summer here in Maine. Our listing gives you a place to start.
MOFGA Pest Report
This report focuses on late blight, potato leaf hoppers, imported cabbage worms, scarab beetles, spider mites on cucumbers, and hornworms and their parasitic braconid wasps. Click here to view the latest pest report of the 2010 growing season or go to mofga.org.
Experience the “Owl Stool” at the Co-op Cafe
Geoff Warner wanted to offer something more. After years of constructing beautiful, high end, handcrafted furniture from his Stonington studio, he decided to create something more accessible to his friends and neighbors.
In the winter of 2009 as the economy was plummeting, Geoff was spurred into action to design a stool that would provide the answer. Named for the two postural support holes which make the seat resemble that of an owl, the Owl Stool is a functional piece of furniture that most of us can afford. It’s not just a stool that is easy on the eyes, however. An early prototype of the Owl Stool was brought to local chiropractor Dr. Michael Aker, who worked with Warner to tweak the sitting angles of the seat. The result, according to Dr. Aker, “is an ergonomically designed, doctor evaluated postural support, which eases both spine tension and sitting pressures.”
In addition to designing the Owl Stool, Geoff has found a way to reduce its price further. He offers the stool fully finished and in kit form from 17″ to 32″ high. Workshops are offered on the first Wednesday of each month in which he assists students in building their own stools. “In six easy hours, everyone takes home a stool completely finished with a first coat of oil,” Geoff explains. After the idea was conceived, Geoff admittedly “embraced guerrilla marketing tactics.” He wanted everyone to sit in the stool who might be interested in owning one. Consequently, Owl Stools can now be found in Dr. Aker’s office in Blue Hill, a chiropractic office in Belfast, at the Belfast Co-op, and in the Blue Hill Co-op Café. In this way, Geoff hopes to encourage his community members to own, and perhaps even build, their own Owl Stool.
For more information on upcoming workshops, contact Geoff at his studio at (207) 367-6555, e-mail him at info@geoffreywarnerstudio.com, or go to his website: www.geoffreywarnerstudio.com.
- Geoff Warner assists students in creating their own Owl Stools.
- Crafting the stools.
June/July Issue of the Blue Hill Co-op News
Download a copy of the latest edition of the Co-op newsletter here. Hot off the press!
Summer Hours
The Blue Hill Co-op Community Market and Café is open from 7 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. daily this summer. Enjoy a morning coffee and breakfast special or a late evening deli dish or dessert.
About the Co-op: Our Mission
Through a thriving cooperative enterprise, we encourage a vibrant, healthy community and a sustainable local economy.
The Blue Hill Co-op Community Market and Café is open seven days a week and everyone is welcome! We are located in downtown Blue Hill, Maine. For more information, call or send us an e-mail at (207) 374-2165 or info@bluehill.coop.
Founded in 1974, the Blue Hill Co-op Community Market has been a gathering place for the Blue Hill Peninsula community for over 30 years. We are more than a grocery store and café. The Co-op is a community gathering place, providing the feeling of an open-air market where you see friends and neighbors. Our staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and always ready to help. What sets us apart is our commitment to healthy, high quality, local-when-available products at affordable, competitive prices. Read more.
Blue Hill Co-op Community Market and Café