Meanwhile, in #CamdenME...

#Midcoast town sues manufacturers over #PFASContamination in #wastewater

by AnnMarie Hilton
January 22, 2026

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/midcoast-town-sues-manufacturers-over-210937794.html

#ForeverChemicals #PFAS #Maine #Dow #3M #BigChem

#BathME - #SharingTable

Tuesday, March 31, 2026
12:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Library Park Gazebo, #PattenFreeLibrary

"Free fresh vegetables gleaned from local farms provided by the #MerrymeetingGleaners and #MidCoast #HungerPrevention Program. Find the Sharing Table outside the Children's Room from September-May and in the Gazebo during the summer.

"Sharing tables are open to anyone, there is no income or residency requirement and they are 100% anonymous. The tables are stocked with fresh produce as well as some prepared items, processed using any surplus gleaned food. Take what you need and leave the rest for your friends and neighbors. Produce will vary depending on what is available from the farms and gardens. Please bring your own bags. Learn more about this terrific program."

http://www.merrymeetingfoodcouncil.org/merrymeeting-gleaners

#SolarPunkSunday #FoodInsecurity #Maine #MainersHelpingMainers #FreeVegetables #FoodSecurity #BuildingCommunity

#CamdenME - #SeedStarting Workshop

#MerryspringNatureCenter
April 4 @ 10:00 am - 12:30 pm

"Have you wanted to grow plants from seed but were not sure how to do it? This hands-on workshop will teach you how to work with different sized seeds, what materials you might need, and seed treatments. Saving your own seeds and testing their germination rates will be discussed.

"Following a step by step slide show, each participant will plant one flat of 6 six-packs in Merryspring’s Greenhouse to take home. You can choose flowers, vegetables, and herbs from seeds provided. Merryspring Program Director John Fromer will offer many pro tips and answer any questions. Fromer, a Maine Master Gardener Volunteer and professional grower has raised tens of thousands of seedlings over forty years.

"Meet in the Ross Visitors Center

"Pre-registration is required. Limit 10 people. Cost is $35 non-members, $30 for Merryspring members including materials. To register, please call 207-235-2239 by Wednesday, April 15th. Registration fee non-refundable.

"Merryspring is your community nature center offering walking trails, cultivated gardens, wildlife, and ecology and horticulture educational programs all year round. The park is located at the end of Conway Road, just off of Route 1 in Camden behind Hannaford Shopping Plaza."

FMI and to register:
https://merryspring.org/calendar/seed-starting-workshop/

#SolarPunkSunday #MaineEvents #Midcoast #Maine #Merryspring #GYO #GardeningForPollinators #GrowYourOwnFood #GardeningWorkshops

#RockportME - 2nd Annual SEED FEST

April 11 @ 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM

"The #RockportPublicLibrary will host its second annual SEED FEST on Saturday, April 11. This free, family-friendly event will take place on the upper and lower levels of the library. From 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., visitors can browse educational exhibits and activities covering #SeedStarting, #pollinators, #SoilHealth, #Composting, #NativePlants, #HeirloomVegetables, growing #rice and #grains in #Maine, #Wabanaki #FoodSovereignty, and much more!

"At 12:30 p.m., Petra Page-Mann of #FruitionSeeds will deliver an interactive keynote presentation. Page-Mann and her nonprofit seed company are strong advocates of 'gift culture,' which involves giving away seeds to promote food cultivation and community building. This ethos aligns perfectly with the theme of SEED FEST.

"The event is generously sponsored by the Rockport Library Foundation and is organized in partnership with several organizations, listed alphabetically: Herbal Hummingbird Hub, Knox Lincoln County Beekeepers, Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District, Maine Grains and Maine Grain Alliance, Maine Heirloom Seed Network, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association [#MOFGA], #MaineRiceProject at Ararat Farms, #MerryspringNatureCenter, #Niweskok: From the Stars to Seeds, Roots n Shoots, #UMaineCooperativeExtension, and #WildSeedProject.

"The exhibiting partners will provide valuable information, hands-on activities, items for sale, and an abundance of free seeds and seedlings. Additionally, #midcoast artist Katharine Cartwright’s beautiful #BotanicalPaintings will be showcased in the library’s lower level for a month-long exhibition titled 'In My Garden.' "

FMI:
https://www.rockportlibrary.net/event/2nd-annual-seed-fest/

#SolarPunkSunday #BuildingCommunity #GrowYourOwnFood #GYO #IndigenousFoodSovereignty #FoodSovereignty #LibrariesRule #SeedFest #WabanakiFoodSovereignty #SoilIsLife

#RockportME - #PollinatorFriendly Vs. #Ornamental Flowers

April 8 @ 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
#RockportPublicLibrary

"#Birds, #bats, #bees, #butterflies, #beetles, and other small mammals are integral pollinators whose natural activities sustain our ecosystems. However, many people fill their gardens with over-hybridized plant varieties that have been bred for their ornamental value. #DoubleBlooms, exotic species, and other engineered qualities — while pretty — create plants that are difficult for all pollinators and can be detrimental to local habitats when cultivated in large numbers (like pollenless sunflowers).

"Maine Master Gardener Volunteer #JohnFromer will discuss varieties of flowering plants that are both beautiful and valuable to our local pollinators, give examples of non-pollinator friendly flowers, and provide tips for growing these in the #Midcoast region.

"This talk is part of the Rockport Library’s Spring Horticulture Series in partnership with Merryspring Nature Center."

FMI:
https://www.rockportlibrary.net/event/pollinator-friendly-vs-ornamental-flowers/

#SolarPunkSunday #LibrariesRule #MidcoastMaine #GardeningForPollinators #HorticultureLecture #MaineEvents

More of this, please!!!

#RockportME - #Midcoast nonprofits team up to preserve historic #farmland — and build new #housing

Maine Public | By Nicole Ogrysko
Published November 29, 2025 at 8:31 AM EST

"Two midcoast nonprofits are teaming up to preserve a historic dairy farm in Rockport — and build new affordable housing on site.

#MaineCoastHeritageTrust has owned more than 160 acres south of Route 90 for the last 15 years. The #EricksonFieldsPreserve has #WalkingTrails and a #CommunityGarden, where students have learned to grow produce for nearby #FoodBanks.

Recently, the Heritage Trust secured the farm's remaining six acres across the street, where the old farmhouse and dairy barn are located.

When a family member living in the farmhouse passed away a few years ago, Aaron Englander with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust said the nonprofit began to think about how the property could be preserved for community benefit.

Housing, Englander said, emerged as a clear need. The Heritage Trust acquired the six-acre property and plans to preserve five of them. It has donated the remaining acre to the #MidCoastRegionalHousingTrust, which plans to develop one and two-bedroom apartments.

The housing shortage is being felt throughout the region, said Jonathan Goss, president of the housing trust. Knox County needs nearly 1,300 new homes by the end of the decade.

'Services are being cut back or being lost because of a lack of employees,' he said. 'Everybody knows someone who either grew up here or had been living here who is not able to live here any longer.'

The housing trust plans to renovate the old farmhouse on site for rental housing first, and then construct eight new apartments for working families there later on. Goss said these are families with teachers, public safety officers, nurses and others who earn too much to qualify for subsidized housing, but not enough to afford a median-priced home in the region, which now surpasses $450,000.

Housing development is sometimes pitted against land and environmental conservation efforts. But Englander with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust said this project could serve as a statewide model for balancing those interests.

'[This can] show people that yes, you can conserve wildlife habitat, you can conserve farmland, soils and agricultural know-how, and you can create access to public lands and outdoor educational spaces all in one property,' he said."

Read more:
https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2025-11-29/midcoast-nonprofits-team-up-to-preserve-historic-farmland-and-build-new-housing

#SolarPunkSunday #LandPreservation #AffordableHousing #PreservingWildlifeHabitats #Farmland #Conservation #Maine #MainePublic #PublicBroadcasting

#Midcoast #Maine communities participate in #NoKings Day of Peaceful Action

Several events are scheduled around Maine, including in #BathME, #BrunswickME, #FreeportME, #RocklandME and #WiscassetME.

October 14, 2025

"No Kings, a peaceful protest movement against the Trump administration, has recently announced there are now over 2,500 community events scheduled for its Day of Peaceful Action on Saturday, Oct. 18. These events are organized by average Americans across personal, political and geographic demographics in all 50 states.

"There are five event locations in the Midcoast: the corner of Main and School streets in Freeport, 8-11 a.m.; Wiscasset Bridge on Route 1, 10-11 a.m.; 191 Maine St., Brunswick, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Rockland’s Chapman Park, 294 Main St., noon to 1 p.m.; and Sagadahoc Bridge in Bath, 1-2 p.m. Go to nokings.org/#map to see all No Kings Day of Peaceful Action events.

"Building on the momentum of the June 14 day of action, which drew more than 5 million people across all 50 states, the #October18 mobilization is the next chapter in the No Kings movement. According to a prepared release, the aim of the Day of Peaceful Action is to send a unified message: We are a nation of equals, and our country will not be ruled by fear or force.

"Groups organizing the No Kings peaceful protests across the country include #ACLU, #AmericanFederationOfTeachers, #CommonDefense, #50501Movement, #HumanRightsCampaign, #Indivisible, #LeagueOfConservationVoters, #MoveOn, #NationalNursesUnited, #PublicCitizen, #SEIU and #UnitedWeDream, among others.

"All No Kings events adhere to a shared commitment to nonviolent protest and community safety, the prepared release said. Organizers are trained in de-escalation and are working closely with local partners to ensure peaceful and powerful actions nationwide."

Source:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/10/14/midcoast-communities-participate-in-no-kings-day-of-peaceful-action/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/TdPF7

#NoKings2 #MaineResists #ResistFascism #Resistance #NoCrowns #NoThrones #October18th #MaineEvents

Deep into researching and writing my 3rd drop in THE LEAPS PROJECT ("The Biggest Leap: An Ethics of Utopias") and wouldn't you know it---- Sandy and I find a new hike in Belfast Maine (Railtrail) with an actual signpost pointing to towns all deeply resonant with utopic themes -

#Freedom
#Unity
#Hope
#Union
#Liberty
#Friendship
#Midcoast
#Belfast
#Maine