SOMERSET GRIST MILL ~ Skowhegan, Maine

The Smithsonian Magazine profiles regional grain initiatives

2011-12-06T09:00:00.002-05:00

Check out the mention of Skowhegan in this month's Smithsonian Magazine! Click here to read the full article.

Local grains gain traction

2011-11-28T16:19:00.002-05:00

For those of you following the movement toward more regional grain economies, here are two great new articles.
Edible Manhattan features a number of Skowhegan's Kneading Conference alumni, and has renowned chef, Dan Barber, starting to talk about local grains:
“It all comes down to grain,” says chef Dan Barber. “Yes, because it’s delicious—a whole world of flavor that’s been ignored for the past 50 years—but also because it’s a critical missing link in any community’s ability to feed itself.”

In September, I attended the first ever west coast Kneading Conference led by Dr. Stephen Jones. Here's a great piece in the Smithsonian that mentions our pioneering mill project in Skowhegan, and others around the country.

Maine Grains presents at Slow Money Nat'l Gathering in San Francisco

2011-10-20T09:43:00.002-04:00

Last week, I had the honor of presenting in the Entrepreneurs Showcase at the National Slow Money gathering in San Francisco, CA. The conference brought together 750 people from foundations, banks, farm and food businesses, academia, the world of finance, (you name it!) to learn from each other. Inspired by the vision of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing As If Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered, published in 2009, the Slow Money Alliance is bringing people together around a new conversation about money that is too fast, about finance that is disconnected from people and place, about how we can begin fixing our economy from the ground up... starting with food.

Read here, a piece published in greenbiz.com about the conference:
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/10/19/how-responsible-investing-can-change-food-system

Grist Mill investment leveraged for more improvement dollars

2011-10-20T09:35:00.002-04:00

Investments made at the Somerset Grist Mill were recently leveraged by the Town of Skowhegan to secure a $400,000 grant that will improve the walkways and and green space to the municipal parking area next door. Thanks to the Communities for Maine's Future grant program, the Town of Skowhegan, and Main Street Skowhegan for their work to secure dollars for this much needed improvement!

The latest peek at our progress on Channel 2 News tonight.......

2011-09-19T20:42:00.002-04:00

Kneading 2011

2011-08-01T19:33:00.002-04:00

Wow. Hard to believe we have another successful Kneading Conference and Bread Fair under our belts. I am always amazed by the thoughtful exchange of information, the amazing food, and 'progress' people are making tuning in to their dreams and making life changes as a result of lessons learned at Kneading. We couldn't have asked for better weather, or better friends. Thanks to all who came, and all who helped put on another fantastic conference.

Grain Being Grown in Nearby Farmington

2011-07-14T16:22:00.003-04:00

Glad to have joined this crew yesterday for a talk with grain growers in the Farmington area, including dairy farmer, Bussie York.
Dr. Ellen Mallory and research technician Tom Malloy were on hand to answer agronomic (and economic!) questions about growing wheat here in Maine. Their study of bread wheat in Maine is yielding some terrific resources for Maine farmers and can be found at: https://sites.google.com/site/localbreadwheatproject/

Maine Magazine Article

2011-07-13T07:07:00.003-04:00

Check out the Grist Mill project in this month's Maine Magazine!

And, don't forget to register if you haven't already for the Kneading Conference on July 28, 29---- coming right up!
And if you're you're just up for a day trip, come taste some of the best bread in the state at the Artisan Bread Fair July 30, 9-2.

Vital Maine Communities Conference

2011-06-03T10:46:00.001-04:00

A local farmer, Sarah Smith of Grassland Farm, and I will be presenting on June 10 at the Maine Downtown Center's Vital Maine Communities conference in SKOWHEGAN~ telling participants all about what a local 'Food Shed' has to do with downtown revitalization. (The answer: EVERYTHING!) The day is sure to be stimulating, register here:

Another venture supporting Maine farms- a knit shop- opens at the Somerset Grist Mill (click here to read full article)

2011-05-29T17:07:00.004-04:00

As the plans and renovations for milling flour and processing grains at the Somerset Grist Mill continue, our first tenant to lease additional space in the building and open doors for business has us all very happy. Happyknits, occupies a cornerstone of the old jail (the former visitation rooms to be exact). Owner Julie Cooke and her husband, Jason have converted the space into a cozy shop and gathering spot, chock full of Maine yarns and vibrant colors. Julie has a knack for inspiring even the timid beginner knitter and is full of ideas for year round projects to keep us knitting. If you live in the area (and even is you don't), come check out Happyknits!

FAME Awards Food Processing Grant to the Grist Mill (read full article by clicking here)

2011-05-26T22:41:00.004-04:00

We'd like to thank the Finance Authority of Maine for choosing the Somerset Grist Mill to be a recipient of funding under their recent Food Processing Grant program. There were lots of good projects in Maine contending for funding, so we are most grateful for the support. Our grant will be used to continue the mechanical renovations that get milling operations up and running, we're hoping by the August harvest!

How fast can you tell YOUR story?!

2011-04-27T12:52:00.004-04:00

At a recent Pecha Kucha event in Waterville, Maine, organizers asked me to tell my story about how the Grist Mill project came to life. The catch: presenters only get about 6 minutes. That means 20 slides X 20 seconds. I found the event to be a fun way to not only tell people about the Grist Mill project, but hear about all the other creative innovation happening here in Maine. Check out the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHbQZg-xg6c

The Future of Manufacturing is Local

2011-03-29T08:58:00.002-04:00

Allison Arieff recently wrote a commentary for the New York Times on the new culture of manufacturing- more nimble and diversified than the monolithic industry model. “People want to buy stuff that’s made locally. It started with food but it’s permeating fashion, woodwork and the like”.... “it has to do with local pride, with wanting to be an ethical consumer.”

"Growing consumer demand for greener, more ethically produced products, along with skyrocketing unemployment and nervousness about globalization," all work in favor of local manufacturing. Read on.....

A new food manifesto

2011-03-06T20:53:00.002-05:00

As the local food movement takes shape as the largest social movement of our time, writer Carolyn Steel suggests that the issues surrounding food are political, social, emotional, psychological, ecological and economic. In this article, she suggests that "we need a new food manifesto—one that enables us to start thinking not just about food but through it. We need to understand how profoundly food affects every aspect of our lives, depending on the way it’s produced, transported, bought and sold, cooked, eaten and wasted." Food is sociability, connectivity, identity, seasonality, family, craftsmanship, love.

Local Bread Wheat tour of Denmark

2011-03-04T22:07:00.001-05:00

NEW from U Maine Cooperative Extension! Watch this first in an upcoming series of videos highlighting our local bread wheat trip to Denmark.

A Day's Work

2010-12-26T16:36:00.010-05:00

A friend turned me on to this sampler of historic Maine photographs from 1860-1920, A Day's Work, compiled by W.H. Bunting. Turns out that not only did Maine grow and abundance of wheat historically, peaking in the 1830-40's, but two of grain harvesting's revolutionary inventions, the reaper binder, and the horse powered threshing machine were both invented in Winthrop, Maine.

" In 1834, two young Winthrop blacksmiths, twins Hiram and John Pitts, patented an improved horse power which added a second horse and substituted wooden lags for (Lane's) iron rods. In 1837 the brothers patented a combined threshing and winnowing machine with a straw elevator that proved highly successful. The big markets lay west, and in 1839 the brothers departed. Hiram moved to Illinois, and, as "Chicago" Pitts, enjoyed great success manufacturing the Chicago Pitts thresher. John- "Buffalo" Pitts- produced a celebrated line of equipment at Buffalo."

I also learned last summer, on a visit to the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore, ME that two of the largest flour mills in the country were started by Washburn brothers from Maine.

William Drew Washburn
1831-1912
graduated from Bowdoin College in 1857. He settled in Minnesota with his wife where he constructed dams, flour and saw mills. His flour mill eventually merged with the Pillsbury flour company. He founded the SOO Railroad. He also became a Congressman and later a Senator.

Cadwallader Colden Washburn 1818-1882
The first Washburn to travel West and make his fortune. In 1842, he settled in Wisconsin and studied law. In 1855 he was elected to Congress where his brothers Israel, Jr. and Elihu were already serving. During the Civil War, he rose to the rank of major general. Returned to congress for two more terms after the war and was elected governor of Wisconsin. Founded Gold Medal flour.

Somerset Grist Mill in the News!

2010-12-08T20:37:00.001-05:00

Maine, and the Grist Mill Project benefiting from Slow Money in Maine

2010-09-03T10:32:00.003-04:00

Soon, the Slow Money Maine alliance will have a live blog up and running for tracking the movement under foot to get patient capital to Maine's emerging farm and food businesses. If you haven't checked out Woody Tasch's hit book, Slow Money, or visited the website, it's worth checking out. Investors nationwide are mobilizing to keep their dollars in their local communities and support a healthy, vibrant, sustainable food system.
Recently, organizer Bonnie Rukin from Maine spoke about the Slow Money alliance in Maine on WERU Talk of the Towns.

Kneading Conference in the New York Times!

2010-08-26T23:25:00.004-04:00

Thanks to NY Times food writer Marian Burros, the Kneading Conference, and our grist mill project just got excellent coverage in this Wednesday's Dining and Wine section. Check it out!

We are so appreciative that Marian captured the flavor of not only the conference, but the excitement we have in Skowhegan to revive a lost crop, grains. We're proud to be doing our part to support local food systems in central Maine.

Be sure to check out the new photos posted on our website, and stay tuned for more exciting developments with the Kneading Conference in the coming year......

Maine Biz

2010-08-12T23:28:00.003-04:00

Maine Biz magazine columnist, Elizabeth Banwell visited Skowhegan for a tour of our soon-to-be mill building and covers the story of our start up here.

Kneading Conference

2010-07-02T13:47:00.004-04:00

We're just a short month away from our most exciting line up yet for the Kneading Conference in Skowhegan, Maine. The conference will feature keynote speeches from Jeffrey Hammelman, lead baker at the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center, as well as Fred Kirshenman of the Leopold Center and Chairman of Stone Barns in Pocantico, NY. Returning alumni include one of our favorites, Steve Jones, an agronomist from Washington State, and a fleet of accomplished bakers, oven builders, and grain growers. New this year, participants will get to meet Robert and Sofie Beauchamin, from La Milanaise flour mill in Quebec, and their agronomist Elisabeth Vachon. They will bring a wealth of knowledge about the milling side of revitalizing a small grain economy.

Our mill development project, a direct result of the Kneading Conference in 2007, now has renovations underway and equipment ordered. The Skowhegan Farmer's Market, now located on the grounds of the Grist Mill, is a vibrant example of the local excitement to know where our food comes from and support local farming, including grains.

I was delighted to see four farmers from my region at a University of Maine Cooperative Extension Field Day last night to see wheat trials at the Rogers Farm in Old Town, ME. Another farmer from the region, who couldn't make it, is participating in winter grain trials as part of a 4-year grant-funded Bread Wheat Study with the Extension which began last year.

Many of the in-state "movers and shakers" to revitalize bread wheat production in Maine over the last dozen years will attend the Kneading Conference again this year, July 29-30, and the Artisan Bread Fair on July 31, sure to be 'old home' weekend for bakers, farmers, agronomists, millers and oven builders from around the world.

Hope you're all on the mailing list to receive updates from us at the Kneading Conference, and I invite you to be with us over the July 29-31 weekend!!

The Children's Garden

2010-04-30T14:26:00.007-04:00

Somerset Grist Mill is proud to host the 13 year old Skowhegan Farmer's Market on our site starting this weekend. The market will meet every Saturday from 9-1 with live music and special events every week, in addition to the 20 vendors offering all of the best fresh local food from the region.

The children's gardening project is just the next step in a progression of activities undertaken by farmers to make fresh local food available to everyone in the community. As market manager Sarah Smith of Grassland Farm shared: "In order to change our food system, we need to get to a point where one in three people are growing food. Not one in a thousand. If people are concerned with where their food comes from, they should not only support their local farmers but they should simply grow their own food."

The Town That Food Saved, by Ben Hewitt

2010-04-20T22:49:00.003-04:00

I just finished reading The Town That Food Saved by Ben Hewitt. Rooted in Hardwick, Vermont, Ben describes the successes and struggles of a hardscrabble rural town much like Skowhegan, only smaller, as entrepreneurs attract attention to a growing agricultural economy there. We have visited Hardwick twice now, for inspiration and ideas. In the book, Ben asks all the questions we find ourselves asking about how the return to local food systems will happen and fit with the current culture of our town.

I highly recommend the read.

“The Town that Food Saved is among the most engaging, thoughtful, and manure-stained-honest appraisals of local agriculture and edibles since Michael Pollan rocketed to cult fame with a seven-word manifesto about plants…It celebrates the possible and the necessary, it reveals the wonderful relationships and connections borne of an almost-complete local food system, but doesnt shy from the enormity and messiness of the task…Town will resonate with those of us who grasp the enormity of our challenge, those of us who turn soil and try to embrace change, but who still have one foot firmly planted in the cereal aisle at Safeway. An impressive debut.” — Glave.com

Producing Quality Organic Small Grains - Weed Management and Grain Seeding

2010-03-30T22:25:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, April 14th, 9:45 to 3:00pm
MOFGA Education Center, Unity, ME

Organized by UMaine Coop. Extension, in partnership with The Kneading
Conference, Heart of Maine RC&D, and Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Assoc.

Agenda
9:45 Registration
10:00 Weed Management for Organic Small Grains: Setting Yourself Up for Success
Eric Gallandt, Univ. of Maine
11:00 Innovative Weed Management Strategies for Small Grains
Lauren Kolb, Univ. of Maine
11:30 Getting a Good Stand: Planting Strategies
Tom Molloy, Univ. of Maine and Andrew Plant, UMaine Coop. Ext.
12:10 Lunch
1:00 Hands-on Session: Calibrating & Seeding with a Grain Drill
Tom Molloy and Andrew Plant
3:00 Wrap Up & Evaluation

1 Pesticide & 4.5 CCA credits available

Pre-registration required – by April 7th.
The cost is $10 per person and includes lunch.
To register online - go to extensionpubs.umext.maine.edu, and click on "Sign up for workshops"
To register by mail – the attached brochure contains a registration form and mailing instructions.

For question regarding registration, call Phoebe Nylund at (207) 581-2892.

One Pot Project

2010-03-14T23:04:00.005-04:00

This month, we began an exciting project with our friend Wendy Hebb to explore whether a year-round grocery/cafe, where farm fresh foods from the local region can be found year round, could fly at the Grist Mill. In addition to being the coordinator of the Kneading Conference, Wendy has worked as an independent grocery/restaurant consultant to start up and troubled ventures. We love the idea of clustering local food ventures at our site, where grains from the region will be processed, the farmer's market will meet weekly, a demonstration garden will teach children about growing their own vegetables, the commercial kitchen will be reused for artisan baking and cooking classes, and the cellar will be explored as an aging facility for locally produced cheeses.

We aim to learn, through a series of community suppers coined the "One Pot Project", what the community thinks of the grocery idea, how we will best serve the members of our community, and how a business model might be designed to include farmers and community members as stakeholders.

We've heard stories from residents who remember when McCurdy’s Meat Market and Sampson’s Grocery prospered in the downtown. We believe that such a place could serve a vital role, not only in the procurement of healthy local foods, but as a place to gather in the downtown.

Other communities, similar to Skowhegan, are beginning to prove that it is possible to harness a desire within the community for vital businesses and places. We will work with Wendy to apply lessons learned from Hardwick, Vermont where a community-supported restaurant there, Claire’s, garnered $150,000 in micro-loans from community members whose return is distributed in the form of low interest repayment or discounted meals over four years. Hardwick is now home to a cluster of supportive businesses collaborating to make local food more widely available, and is fast becoming known as the Town That Was Saved By Food. We think that similar support can be found within the Skowhegan area.

We'll tell you more about successful business start ups that have mobilized community support at our One Pot suppers. Please be in touch if you, or others you know, might like to attend one.

In the meantime, I'm thrilled with my new 1/2 ton pick up from Hight Chevrolet which will be put to work hauling home our new Clipper Cleaner for the Grist Mill next week! And many thanks to Michael Richard of Red Door Media who has crafted our new logo....... which you will all see soon!

Small Grain Workshop held for Maine Farmers

2010-02-28T11:42:00.002-05:00

Farmers, millers, researchers, and educators came together Friday for a workshop on small grain production and cleaning held at the MOFGA fairgrounds in Unity, ME. Gary Bergstrom, a researcher for Cornell University presented on disease considerations followed by Matt Williams, a miller from Aurora Mills in northern Maine who presented on grain storage. Jack Lazor from Butterworks Farm has been growing grains in a New England climate for over 30 years, and presented on small-scale drying and cleaning. The Somerset Grist Mill timed another visit from our milling consultant, Mark Fowler, the associate director of the International Grains Program at Kansas State University, to be able to share his expertise at the workshop in Unity. Mark presented on the breadth of cleaning technology available for small-large scale grain processors, and was on hand to answer questions from over 35 interested participants in Friday's workshop.

Mark will be helping the Somerset Grist Mill map out the detailed plans for placing and installing our milling equipment in the coming days and weeks. The maple sap running here in Skowhegan is a sure sign that spring is right around the corner, and warmer days are just what we need to resume renovations at the mill!

Getting Muddy at the Jail

2010-02-15T15:42:00.004-05:00

Over 30 participants in this year's Mud Season project gathered in the nippy garage bay of the former Somerset County Jail building last Wednesday to get muddy. That's right. Equipped with tables, tools, clay and space heaters, the enthusiastic crew pounded, threw, and rolled clay slabs to make square plates to sell in support of raising funds for the Skowhegan Farmer's Market. This will be the third year in a row that Mud Season pottery proceeds will sponsor live local entertainment at the weekly Farmer's Market, just part of the free family fun the market is coming to be known for.

We'd like to thank the Quimby Family Foundation for the funds necessary to complete renovations to the doorway of the pottery studio. The Quimby Foundation was the first to take the risk to financially support the creative reuse of the jail and it is already resulting in economic development results in Skowhegan.

Hope you will all come support our local artists and farmers by buying a pottery plate!
Plates will be sold at the Maple Pancake Breakfast at the Tewksbury Hall in Skowhegan, March 27, 10-2.

Great Quotes

2010-01-22T13:33:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to share our two new favorite quotes with you all.

"No other occupation opens so wide a field for the profitable &
agreeable combination of labor with cultivated thought as agriculture."
Abraham Lincoln

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems."
John W. Gardner

Stay tuned for our next post about the "One Pot" project!

First improvements wrapped up for winter.

2009-12-23T10:24:00.003-05:00

For all of you following the development of our project in Skowhegan, you know that this former county jail building will be home to not only our local flour milling operation, but also a community pottery studio, local foods grocery, cheese cave, and farmers market.

This summer and fall, with the help of general contractor Steve Dionne, we accomplished the first improvements to the building- renovated entryways to two areas of the building. These improvements were made possible by a generous 2008 Quimby Family Foundation grant. The $40,000 grant contributed to purchase of the building, as well as improvements which allow improved access to public spaces in the building. The mission of the Quimby Family Foundation is to advance wilderness values and to increase access to the arts throughout Maine.

The new door pictured above, will gain access to the community pottery studio, scheduled to be ready just as soon as we can get heat to the area. I hope the annual 'Mud Season' pottery project can be held here this winter- where we will make 150 slab built pottery plates with volunteers in the community to sell in support of year round outreach, education, and entertainment at the Skowhegan Farmers Market.

Many thanks to the Quimby Family and Board for making these improvements possible.

Happy Holidays to you all~
Amber Lambke

Juiced

2009-11-15T23:41:00.002-05:00

Just back from the the Juice Conference in Camden, I had a chance to connect with leaders of the creative economy to advance the Grist Mill project. Organized by Midcoast Magnet, Juice 2.0 titled “Building Maine’s Innovation Networks”, gathered entrepreneurs, artists and statewide leaders to discuss the power of creativity and innovation in transforming Maine’s economy.

On Friday morning, keynote speaker Nick Spitzer of American Routes reminded Mainers to keep CULTURE strong and to "put pleasure out front" more often in our communities, as our French Canadian ancestors once did, clearing their rooms of furniture for evenings of raucous joyful dance. On Saturday, Liz Lerman of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange told stories of how she uses dance as a tool for collaboration, for it is the collaborators that survive in the creative economy. She encouraged entrepreneurs to strive for INNOVATION by translating what is working in other fields, reviving old traditions and making them new, using current events to inspire ideas, crossing disciplines and making unusual partnerships, stepping out of the studio/office/stage, and riding the new technologies.

I am confident that the Grist Mill embodies the innovation and creativity discussed at Juice, and that lessons learned here will shape our coming months of fundraising and business planning. Hats off to the Midcoast Magnet Board for a superbly organized and very hip conference!

Field Research in Hardwick, VT

2009-09-28T10:21:00.003-04:00

With local pastry chef and business owner, Lisa Veilleux in tow, we travelled and found inspiration in Hardwick, VT (click on this link to read what the NYTimes had to say). This town less than half the size of Skowhegan, has put itself on the map in the last three years with its innovative, collaborative, and bold entrepreneurial business owners exercising new solutions for sustainable agriculture, local food , and building community.

Intrigued by the success of Claire's Restaurant and Jasper Hill Farm and The Center for an Agricultural Economy, we set out to interview some of the founders of these businesses, and of course paid a visit to our KNEADING conference friends Randy and Liza George at Red Hen Baking for some delicious artisan style crusty loaves, the likes of what we hope to feature at the gristmill. While we are still pouring over our notes and assimilating ideas into the gristmill start up, we were left inspired by the example Hardwick sets as a community who is picking itself up by the proverbial 'bootstraps' and using fresh creative thinking to transform the local food economy.

posted by: Amber Lambke

Our first piece of equipment....

2009-09-03T23:06:00.002-04:00

Thanks to a tip from Glen Roberts of Anson Mills, we located and purchased our first piece of essential grain processing equipment for the mill this past weekend. A vintage Clipper Cleaner in mint condition. This 1930's "Super 16B" was rescued from the University of Rhode Island's Ag Department by a flint corn farmer in Exeter, RI by the name of Harry Records of the Harry Here Farm. Safely stowed out of the elements, this cleaner is in beautiful condition and with a little tuning up will soon be cleaning Maine grown grains!