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10 things to know about foraging according to tom seymour

7/25/2018

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​Foraging is a popular pastime among rural residents of Maine, including Tom Seymour, author of Wild Plants of Maine. We talked with Tom recently and asked for some pointers about foraging in Maine. According to Seymour, a law was introduced to Maine’s local government which would ban foraging altogether, due to issues caused by malicious or unlearned individuals. Thankfully, that law was overruled, which means foraging is still allowed
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Here are ten things to know so you don’t hurt the environment or make anyone angry.
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1. Prepare to harvest by knowing the right time. Each plant has a perfect time of availability, the “window of opportunity.” Since plants come ripe in a regular succession, knowing when to expect your favorite wild edible puts you in the driver’s seat.
2. Collect and transport your harvest in baskets (my favorite method), brown paper bags or canvas bags. Never collect in plastic because it causes the harvest to sweat and wilt. They lose flavor and can mold in the wet plastic bag.
3. Be aware of plants that cause irritation to the skin when foraging. Poison ivy, virgin’s bower (wild clematis, a vining plant of edges and woodland trails), often mistakenly called “poison oak” and several other plants can cause mild to severe reactions in people. Know how to identify these plants. There are many great photos on the internet so as to allow you to identify these the first time. Watch out, since some people are affected just by being in the same vicinity. They don't even have to touch the plant to have an extreme allergic reaction.
4. Become familiar with botanical names in addition to the common names to prevent mix-ups in communications. Scientific names for plants are called “binominal nomenclature.” The first name is the genus, or general family and the second name tells something specific about the plant. Don’t be afraid to use these names and don’t worry about proper pronunciation. Others will know what you mean. The danger in only using common names is that some plants often share the same common name. For instance, “pigweed” is the common name for several totally different plants.
5. Cook or prepare the plant according to suggestions from a trustworthy source. Wild Plants of Maine offers dozens of recipes in the back of the book. Within the section for each plant, I offer suggested preparations for each edible. You might find a few other recipes in other cookbooks. I particularly like fiddleheads with butter and salt and pepper.
6. When a wild edible plant is harvested, harvest extra then freeze, dry or can according to suggestions in Wild Plants of Maine. One example: I love goosetongue, or seaside plantain, Plantago juncoides. When home-canned, these have the same flavor and a similar texture as when fresh. Nothing says “summer in winter” like a jar of seaside plantain.
7. Here in Maine, plants have a short growing season. This means they change size and appearance in a short time. Get to know your favorite wild edible plants in all seasons. That way, you can locate groups of colonies of great, edible plants in the off-season and harvest them later, when they are ready for picking.I
8. When learning a new plant, note carefully every detail of the plant’s description in the book. If a plant matches everything else except for one detail, it is not the plant in the book. Each plant must match every, single thing in the plant description section. Take no chances, since there are some toxic wild plants out there. Don’t let this keep you from trying wild edible plants, though. Instead, know that you are safe when the plant in hand perfectly matches every item in the description.
9. When harvesting wild plants, never pull a plant up by the roots. Most wild plants are perennial, some are biennial and only a few are annual. Uprooting a plant kills it and takes it out of production. On the other hand, don’t worry about taking a good haul by snipping with clippers or cutting with a knife, since these plants come back year after year.
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Dame's Rocket
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Queen Anne's Lace
​10. Have fun foraging and eating your wilds.
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10 Festivals to attend in maine

7/18/2018

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Maine summer is filled with fun things to do, both on weekends and weekdays. First among many are festivals. It is time to go out and have a good time with friends and family while eating food and enjoying events unique to each festival. Here's our list of ten festivals to visit, and check out the links in the titles for more information.
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​1. Maine Potato Blossom Festival - Fort Fairfield - July 14-22
Enjoy the 71st year of this family-friendly celebration that lasts for nine days. The main events are happening from the 19th to the 22nd. Magic, music, a parade and fireworks are a few of the spectacular things going on at this festival.
2. Central Maine Egg Festival - Pittsfield - July 9-14
Enjoy an egg-cellent weekend full of food, crafts and fireworks, and don’t miss the Famous Big Parade.
3. Yarmouth Clam Festival - Yarmouth - July 20-22
“Always the third Friday in July”, the clam festival hosts a parade, fireworks, music across three stages, races, crafts, and delicious food.
4. Maine Brewers' Guild Beer Festival: Summer Edition - Portland - July 28
(21+ event) This is the best chance of the summer to try Maine's best craft brews and listen to great music. Enjoy the sun and relax while munching on tasty food from area food trucks.
5. Redneck [Blank], Pig Roast and Music Festival - Hebron – August 2-5
Enjoy a great, lighthearted festival with mud runs, beer, camping and great food in its eighth year.
6. Maine Lobster Festival - Rockland - August 1-5
Held every year in the first weekend of August, there’s lots of lobster to enjoy at this festival--a seafood cooking contest, arts and crafts, a parade and lots of great music.
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​7. Maine Highland Games and Scottish Festival - Topsham - August 18
Celebrate all things Scottish with music, dancing, games and savoury food from 8:00am to 5:00pm.
8. Great Falls Balloon Festival - Lewiston/Auburn - August 17-19
Take flight and see the vistas surrounding the Lewiston/Auburn area from the sky, either at dawn or dusk.
9. Camden Windjammer Fest - Camden – August 31 and September 1
Celebrate Camden's maritime heritage at this weekend full of schooners, races, history and plenty of other maritime activities.
​10. Common Ground Country Fair - Unity - September 21-23
It's not your typical fair. It is a world of sustainability, environmentally-sound living products with organic agricultural demonstrations, arts & crafts, nonprofit that better our world and lots of livestock enjoy and experience.
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Is your favorite festival not listed here? Tell us what it is.

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Nancy E. Randolph operates Just Write Books, publishing Maine books by Maine authors telling Maine stories. Randolph quickly developed a reputation as a publisher of quality Maine books. An active community member along with two others she founded and serves as a member of the board of Save Our Swinging Bridge.Org to ensure the maintenance of the historic Roebling-designed and -built bridge connecting Topsham and Brunswick. ​​
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Author Talk: Vance Bessey, author of awk the awkward penguin

7/12/2018

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Vance Bessey brings penguins to Maine
 
I’ve known Vance Bessey for years.  He has provided illustration in a few books over the last several years. We’ve talked about his writing. In addition to his children’s books, he writes young adult fantasy. I was very happy to consult and cheerlead his publishing efforts for his Orphans of the Storm soon to be published by Dreaming Big Publishing. Vance is a fine illustrator, an enthusiastic teacher of script writing, illustration, cartoons and more. We have become friends. We talked about Awk the Awkward Penguin for a couple of years before I said, “Oh, Vance, let’s do this book through Just Write Books.” Now Awk the Awkward Penguin is published and Vance and I are marketing it while Vance is on the road with little Awk.
 Author Q&A

​JWB: Tell us a little about Awk?
 
Vance: Okay. Awk the Awkward Penguin is a story about being different — that is something I think nearly every kid feels at some point. Little Awk is born with flippers that are too darn long and they hamper his swimming (very important for a penguin) as well as causing him to trip as he waddles along in his penguin world. His community notes his clumsy nature and dubs him: Awk the Awkward Penguin. Awk tries to deal with his awkwardness despite some criticism and bullying. He has a good friend and that helps but eventually he begins to wonder just how he is supposed to fit in. 

​His adventures begin as he gets separated from his penguin colony and meets some friends along his journey. They help him to see that different isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes different can be wonderful. Awk discovers great benefits to his extra-long flippers and returns home to save the day, finding his place in the world at last.
JWB: What are some of the themes that you return to regularly in your writing?
 
​Vance: I love the Redemption theme, but many of my stories are about honor, sacrifice and doing the right thing. Classic heroism. I believe these themes, although a bit out of vogue, still echo as good and true in most of us.
JWB: What is one event that has shaped your children’s book writing?
 
Vance: Becoming a dad. I have always loved storytelling but when I became a father it really took off. I used to read a lot to my kids but what they liked best was when I would weave a story for them directly from imagination. I did that a lot with them. And parenting opened up a whole new world of experiences to draw from, no pun intended. Having children helps you to remember how it actually was being a kid. How the world appears to fresh eyes. This is a gold mine of ideas and inspiration both for children’s books and young adult novels.
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JWB: What are three of your favorite children’s books to read to children?
 
Vance: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak and The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg.
JWB:  Any advice for young authors?
 
Vance: Yes. Go out there and live a lot. Have experiences, take risks. Learn first-hand about all the things you are interested in. Pay attention to your inner growth. Hold on to your awe and amazement as you get older and really think about the people in your life. Try to understand them and know them as you do yourself. Write about what you know but dig deep into your experiences and feelings and write about what matters to you. Make interesting well-constructed stories with amazing characters and plot twists but put in themes underlying all that that will create pathos in your readers. To do that, the themes have to move you as you write them. That’s all there is to it.
​​JWB:  What is the most difficult part of putting together a children’s book?
 
Vance: Like with any story, the ending. Character development, story construction, pacing - It’s all relatively easy in a children’s book. Bringing all the storylines together at the end so that you have a neat tidy package with a solid moral, that’s a trick.
​​JWB:  Why penguins?
 
Vance: I like penguins, they’re funny. People like them. They stand up on two feet, like us. They congregate together, like us. They are easy for kids to relate to, I think. Plus, they are fun to draw.
JWB:  What do you hope that children take away from the story?
 
Vance: That’s easy. This was my whole reason for writing “Awk”. Different isn’t a bad thing. Different is good. In fact, different can be a marvelous and beautiful thing. There’s a lot of intolerance in our world – about skin color, religion, cultural differences, sexual affinity and gender, appearance, and even physical and mental challenges. I hope to reach children at a young age with the idea that differences of all kinds are not scary or somehow ‘wrong’. Everyone is different, in some way, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It can be a source of curiosity and wonder if not looked at with distrust or preconceived ideas. That is my message and when I read my book to grade schoolers, they all get it easily.
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​​JWB:  Does “Awk” address the way we should treat others who may appear to be “different or odd”? Do you think that kids can see that we could each be like Flo?

Vance: I hope so. There are two separate issues here. I think most young children are naturally accepting of differences. Think about it: at their age many things in their world are new and different, they haven’t had many experiences yet. Kids have to learn to be distrustful of differences, and that’s where parents can have the most success, but children are still very subject to social pressure within their peer groups, and it only takes one scared or angry young person to start mocking or bullying. Its sometimes risky to ‘not join in’ when someone is being made fun of, and even riskier to stand up to those poking the fun. It takes a sense of honor. The need to do the right thing even if it is harder than doing nothing. That’s a difficult theme to put in a children’s book without sounding preachy but I’m working on it.
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​JWB: What are you currently working on?
 
Vance: I am putting together an Anthology of short stories written by the students in my Advanced Storytelling Class. These are all written within the genres of: fantasy, science fiction and mild horror and all have their roots in Maine. I am very impressed with the caliber of work done in this class for this project and look forward to getting this book published. I am also submitting a short story of my own within this collection and all stories will be fully illustrated.
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Vance Bessey is a published author, illustrator and cartoonist as well as an inventor with registered patents. A graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Narrative Art, he learned much of what he knows about storytelling from industry greats like Joe Kubert and Greg Hildebrandt. Bessey is the author of the young adult novel, Orphans of the Storm, soon to be released by Dreaming Big Publications. He authored Only in Maine and the comic strips The Edge and Only in Maine as well as comic books that he illustrated. In addition, Bessey, an award winning graphic designer, teaches courses in script writing, narrative art and storytelling. For more information about the author and his works go to Vance Bessey's website.
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    Author

    Nancy E. Randolph operates Just Write Books offering consulting and coaching for writers.

    An active community member she co-­chaired the rehabilitation effort of the Androscoggin Swinging Bridge and guided the planning and creation of two riverside parks at each end. Along with two others she founded and serves as a member of the board of Save Our Swinging Bridge.Org to ensure the maintenance of the historic Roebling designed and built bridge connecting Topsham and Brunswick.

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Just Write Books
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Topsham, ME 04086

Phone: 207-729-3600

What our Customers say

Nancy E. Randolph, JWB owner, markets my titles on a wide scale. She also sets up book signings. I find it infinitely more enjoyable and rewarding to work with this Maine-based publisher than to deal with national publishers from out-of-state.
Finally, JWB does not publish just any aspiring author. Randolph is very selective, accepting only material that she is convinced will sell. I highly recommend JWB to any author. 
Tom Seymour, author of Wild Plants of Maine and many other titles.

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