5 Reasons to Attend “A Taste of Tidewater”

August 12, 2016 Horticulture, News

By Lynne Hazelton, UMaine Extension Staff, Administrative Support Specialist

Taste of Tidewater graphic

A Taste of Tidewater is our annual fundraiser to benefit the University of Maine Gardens at Tidewater Farm. The gardens provide agricultural and horticultural educational opportunities to the community, utilizing research-based, environmentally friendly and sustainable gardening practices.
Why do we need to fundraise? In order to grow and sustain the gardens we need to establish an endowment and raise $25,000 a year. This means that private support is critical. With the help of all those who attended our first annual Taste of Tidewater event last year, Cumberland County Master Gardeners and UMaine Extension’s Home Horticulturist, Amy Witt, were able to expand the Gardens and create the new children’s garden area!

So what more incentive do you need to attend? Here’s 5 reasons (in no particular order).

#1 The Food.

The Menu features seasonal appetizers and desserts crafted by several of Southern Maine’s well loved, and well known, chefs. Do you love MK Kitchen in Gorham? Or Milly’s Skillet in Falmouth and Peaks Island? What about The Farm Stand in South Portland and the C Salt Gourmet Market in Cape Elizabeth? They will ALL have chefs at A Taste of Tidewater this year. Is that not enough? Well, the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Casco Bay Culinary Association, will also be sending chefs! The ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States! Lastly, Wayside Food Programs in Portland is sending over their Operations Manager, Don Morrison. Wayside increases access to food for those in need in Southern Maine and for those of you who don’t know Don Morrison, he is also a chef, a Master Gardener Volunteer, and the recipient of the 2015 Friend of Extension Award. But I digress, on to reason number two.

#2 The Art.

You will have the opportunity to view and purchase original works of art, created by local Maine artists, during the evening’s 10″ x 10″ Art Exhibition and Sale. This year’s event will feature 100 pieces, with a wide range of creativity, oil paintings, stained glass, linocut prints and more, by some of Maine’s premier artists. The best part is that purchasing art will benefit the gardens AND the artist! Each 10″ x 10 ” piece will be sold for $200 (plus tax), with $100 going to the gardens and $100 going to the artist that created it.

#3 The Prizes.

17 prizes will be distributed at this year’s event, 12 of them gifted to potentially anyone, for just walking through the door!

 Door prizes include:

  • Allen, Sterling & Lothrop ($25 gift card)
  • Cathy Walton (basket of hair products)
  • Couleur Collection ($25 gift certificate)
  • Essentials ($10 gift card)
  • Estabrook’s ($50 gift card)
  • Fiachre ($25 gift certificate)
  • 2 Flagship Cinema Movie Passes
  • Frog & Turtle Pub ($50 gift card)
  • Good Life Market (gift basket)
  • Janet Glatz (10 x 10″ original painting)
  • Mint Salon Block (an array of beauty products)
  • Wicked Sharp ($25 gift certificate)

Raffle Prizes (tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5):

  • Inn by the Sea (one night stay with breakfast)
  • Granite Bird Bath (Swenson Granite Works)
  • Indoor-outdoor rug with “Pineapple” design  from Company C
  • Variety of 12 gourmet food products from Vervacious
  • Mill stone and Victorian planter from Architectural Salvage

#4 The Music.

Live music will be provided by the local band, the Pinetones. They celebrate music of generations, playing from the 1920s to the 1980s and have been making music for over a decade.

So now we’ve got great food, great art, great prizes and now great music, what else could we need? Well, reason number five.

#5 The Love.

The UMaine Gardens at Tidewater is a Master Gardener Volunteer project that promotes the Harvest for Hunger Program, donating over 600 pounds of fresh produce to Wayside Food Programs during the 2015 season, and hosts dozens of educational events for youth and adults. Without the Gardens we’d be unable to provide the hands-on education, the food, and the love that we grow in this community. Whether you appreciate the gardens for their beauty as a spot to have lunch or take a walk, have participated in a workshop there, or have a child that has been enrolled in a program there, we need to ask you to help us so that we can continue to spread the love. The love of nature, gardening, and life long learning.

Hopefully, at this point you’re willing to attend.  If that’s the case, here’s the where and the how: 

A Taste of Tidewater, Saturday, August 20, 2016 from 5-8pm at the Episcopal Church of Saint Mary Parish House (43 Foreside Road) in Falmouth.

Individual tickets are $75 and may be purchased online (If ordered online, your tickets will be mailed to you) or at one of the following local businesses:

For photos of last year’s event, visit our Facebook page.