From a very young age, Sharon expressed her creativity through the visual arts. After graduating from Boston University’s College of Communication, her first career began in documentary filmmaking and proceeded to online media. After 15 years in the industry, she longed to engage directly in social change efforts. Sharon left media, traveled around the world, became a Hospice Volunteer at Hospice of Southern Maine and earned a Masters in Social Work degree at Boston University with a focus on aging. For the next 15 years she worked on large scale, federally funded multi-stakeholder projects in the fields of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation across Maine and nationwide; followed by health care navigation with the Immigrant and Refugee communities living in Maine. As a working mother of a son on the Autism Spectrum, Sharon also started an Autism Parent Support Group. She maintained her practice of numerous artistic endeavors including experiential sculpture, bead weaving and photography. Sharon now combines her entrepreneurial spirit with her artistic talents to run a mission driven business. Her collections can be found in museum and gift shops and boutiques across the U.S. She is a winner of the SCORE Maine Woman Owned Business of the Year. She works in her home studio in South Portland, Maine with her husband and teenage son.
Wicked Joe Organic Coffees
Posted by Bob & Carmen Garver & filed under .
Wicked Joe is a family-owned company committed to producing exceptional coffees using sustainable business practices from crop to cup. Our organic certified roastery is a state-of-the-art and energy-efficient facility. We work directly with farmers and cooperatives to build lasting, collaborative partnerships. Your purchase of our Fair Trade and Organic Certified coffees ensures that farmers get better prices, directly supports farming communities, and protects the environment. We are proud of our delicious coffees and thank you for choosing Wicked Joe.
In becoming a certified B Corp company, we proudly join a community of companies committed to using business and economic success as a force for good in the world. At Wicked Joe, we’re constantly examining and reexamining every aspect of our business to make sure we’re operating in the most efficient and sustainable ways possible. Our mission is to roast epic coffee in a manner that is kind to both the earth and to the farmers who painstakingly grow our tasty beans.
Balfour Farm LLC
Posted by Heather Donahue & filed under .
Balfour Farm has grown from a large family homestead to a thriving dairy business in Maine. We started in the dairy business in 2000 with 1 cow and have operated up to a 50 cow dairy over the years. We now are ‘right sized’ at 15 cows and all of our milk is made into cheeses and yogurts. We are self taught and have attended many workshops over the years as well as found great benefit in being a member of the Maine Cheese Guild. We are always seeking new opportunities to continue to learn and grow in our craft. We appreciate the seasonal changes that are reflected in our products’ flavors and textures. Each season growing and caring for our animals brings us new challenges and opportunities to develop our skills in animal husbandry and cheesemaking. The dairy is the heartbeat of our farm. We participate in the Portland farmers’ market year round. You can find our products at various farm stands, specialty grocery stores, and co-ops throughout Maine and other states. Our Facebook page is very active with daily updates of life on the farm. Our website offers online ordering for the farm store and preorders for farmers markets pickups. Visitors are welcome to tour the farm on Open Farm Day, Open Creamery Day and during other scheduled events.
Good Land Pottery
Posted by Kristin Dennison & filed under .
Kristin grew up on Cape Cod where she discovered her love of clay in a high school art class. She went on to apprentice with a local potter and studied ceramics at UMass Dartmouth. After managing the ceramics studio at a local art center for a few years Kristin went on to raise a family and eventually move to Montville, Maine where she was able to set up her studio and pursue her dream as a full time studio potter.
Lakin’s Gorges Cheese LLC
Posted by Allison Lakin & filed under .
My original recipe cows milk cheeses are a product of my love for the taste of milk. They are unfussy cheeses that you you can eat at your coffee table or at your wedding reception. I have developed them with a range of flavor profiles to appeal to a wide range of palates.
The cheeses range from fresh ricotta to blue cheese. They can be shipped nationwide and I offer a variety of cheese board options as well, such as The the Cheese Gift Box which contains 3 cheeses, Maine Crisps and local honey.
In 2022, my Rockweed cheese, which has a ribbon of dried seaweed, win a gold medal at the World Cheese Championship.
Looking for a unique dining experience? Reserve the Summerhouse for a you and up to 5 friends for a Private Cheese or Fondue Party. Offered Saturdays at 11:3 or 5, year round. In the winter, you’ll be plenty cozy next to the woodstove.
I want to encourage you to cook with my cheese, so visit the facebook page and website for recipes. The cheeses are sold throughout New England in specialty food stores and coops, as well as served at restaurants. Nationwide shipping is available through the secure website.
Traveling to Maine? Come see where the cheese is made at my farm, East Forty Farm in Waldoboro. There is a Farm Store and you can see my growing dairy herd of Jersey cows. We also breed and raise forest grazed, whey fed pigs and sell the pork.
Ledgeway Farm
Posted by Sarah Perkins & filed under .
My name is Sarah, and I was blessed to be born into not one Maine generational farm family, but two . Both of my parent’s families were generational dairy farmers, and both farms are still owned and operated by family members today. I grew up in 4-H showing Ayrshire dairy cattle on the Maine agricultural fair circuit, and loved every single minute of it. As kids, my siblings and cousins (who are as close as siblings) were taught to respect our land, take great care of our animals, and work & play hard.
After high school I married, had two children and established a home on the woodlot of the farm. I was widowed at 29 years old, and worked hard at a career in finance to keep the kids and I going. But now, 22 years later, the kids are taking care of families of their own, and I have put away my business suits and dusted off my overalls.
After getting remarried 4 years ago, my new husband came home from work one day and said “Let’s get livestock and do a little farming”, I said “heck yeah” and prepared in my head to raise some more calves – but instead of calves – he brought home goats! So began our love affair for goats, and everything goat milk! After taking some soap making classes, doing a boat load of research, and making alot of test batches, I developed a wonderfully moisturizing all-natural recipe for goat milk soap. Within the first year of production the soap was supporting our farm, and within 3 years I was done my work in corporate America, getting back to my agricultural roots, and making soap full-time.
Ward’s Boards
Posted by ANDREW WARD & filed under .
We are Andrew & Jeanne Ward who live in Bridgton, Maine, which is the heart of western Maine’s lakes region. We love living here and being able to enjoy the beautiful mountains and lakes.
Our woodworking journey began shortly after we got married in October 2002. At that time, we lived in Waldoboro, Maine, and resided in a small mobile home. We needed a storage area for our lawnmower and garden tools, so bought a skill saw and a drill to aid in the construction. This progressed into building steps for a family member and helping with miscellaneous tasks. Little did we know that this was the beginning of our woodworking journey.
Hallett Paintings
Posted by Bill Hallett & filed under .
I have lived in mid-coast Maine since 1983. I began painting in 1981, and full time in 2005. Having spent 2019 many years in Mexico as a child and young adult my original acrylic paintings tend to interpret Maine in unusually colorful ways. I have sold several hundred paintings locally over the past several years. Last year I began to produce prints of my originals and found they were extremely popular.
Raye’s Mustard
Posted by Kevin And Karen Raye & filed under .
Raye’s Mustard, one of Down East Maine’s oldest small family businesses invites you to visit our website to learn more about a Maine tradition that dates back to 1900, and that we are proud to carry on as the 4th generation of the Raye family to own and operate Raye’s Mustard Mill.
Our historic Eastport mill is a working museum, and the Nation’s only remaining traditional stone ground mustard mill. The authentic cold-grind process we use to make mustard preserves the taste qualities of the natural seeds and spices and results in a uniquely flavorful product.
That is why Raye’s Mustards have won over 40 prestigious national and international awards in the past decade. We are especially proud that Raye’s Down East Schooner Mustard (our signature flavor) has repeatedly won the Gold medal in the Classic American Yellow category at the World-Wide Mustard Competition held annually in Napa Valley.
Kevin Moffatt Art
Posted by Kevin Moffatt & filed under .
Graduate of Maryland Art Institute. Fine art reproductions through silk screening, NYC. Pastel Artist. The coast of Maine and the ocean is my inspiration.