Anna and Jim Babiarz, have four children and have diverse backgrounds beyond their farming endeavors! Anna practices Family Medicine as a physician assistant, while Jim has worked in various fields but in addition to maple farming has a passion for youth and adult ministry.

Native Mainer, Owner/Operator of popular Pine Tree Seafood & Produce Co. in Scarborough, Maine for 12 years, serial entrepreneur, proud Dad of 2 and husband of extremely understanding wife, Maribeth. Love everything small business and all things from and about Maine.

In 2018, Katherine and Ato Swann decided to sell everything they owned and leave their suburban lifestyle to farm in Nova Scotia. – They didn’t make it. – Ato had gotten into a horticultural program, but two weeks before they were supposed to leave, their visas were denied. In their original plan, they were going to visit some friends in Southwest Harbor on the way to Canada. So they packed up the kids and headed north. They stayed in a campground in Ellsworth for the summer while they hoped to find their future farm. Serendipitously, they found a beautiful old farm in Pembroke on the coast Downeast. It had everything they were looking for, just not in the place they expected.

Katherine had always been fascinated by foraging and the idea that collectively we have forgotten how to recognize and use the abundance that nature provides. So she set out with her phone and an app, determined to find everything edible growing on their property. Exploring their land through food was a true joy.

Together they were farming and foraging and enjoying all the delicious food when they realized there was potential to make products with both farmed and foraged ingredients to share all the flavors of Downeast Maine with the world.

Red Kettle Foods makes really good kimchi and Asian-inspired spice blends crafted from local Maine ingredients.  Beginning from our owner’s humble roots as a chef aboard traditional sailing ships in the Caribbean, we put all our love into each small batch, showing every customer the warmth we’ve experienced passing homestyle dishes around the dinner table with family, shipmates, and friends. We are an Asian and woman owned brand. We champion East Asian cuisine and support Maine farms, producers, and businesses through our food, cooking classes, and hosted dinners. You can find our kimchi and other products at coops, specialty grocery stores, farm stands, and restaurants across the state of Maine.

Your Barters Island beekeepers and honey lovers are Donna and Denny Denniston, residents of Barters Island, Maine. Denny started with 3 hives in 2020. He loved working with the bees and turned out to be pretty good at beekeeping! Soon neighbors were also bitten by the bee bug, and Barters Island’s bees now live in hives around the island. The Dennistons and their beekeeeping neighbors are committed to providing the bees with the healthiest environment possible… one avoiding harmful pesticides, providing lots of wildflowers and giving them the protections that we, as humans, can provide. Donna says, “Our bees are pretty lucky to live in a place where even the neighbors look out for them. They also can fly a short distance across the water to enjoy a gourmet feast at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens!”

Donna is responsible for the creation of the products sold. She’d enjoyed ‘honey butter’ growing up in Tennessee, but noticed that you don’t see it much in Maine, She decided to try ‘creaming’ some of the honey herself and the product called ‘Maine Mousse’ was born! The creamed honey is available plain as ‘Honey Butter’ but is also available infused with organic Blueberry-Lemon, Cinnamon, Orange Cranberry and Gentle Ginger. These mousse-like pure honey products have turned out to be as popular as the original honey! You are warned that Donna experiments with other addictive flavors that might just be on the horizon!

Donna and Denny both say that the bees allow them to do something positive and creative. When they decided that this endeavor might be a business, they knew they wanted to give back. “Food insecurity and the welfare of bees are two causes that we both care about very much. Our bees help us make a difference in both areas” said Denny. They support bee welfare organization and Veggies to Table, a non-profit farm providing healthy food and beautiful flowers directly to those in need in Lincoln County. As Donna said, “We love the idea of providing the flowers along with the food raised on their farm… something for the body and the soul. Nature at its best!”

Learn more about us in this video produced by Merrior Seafoods, one of our vendors.

Denny Denniston