April was, and the first part of May will be, marked by the consumption of the last two winter squashes. Then the asparagus and rhubarb takes over. This year our best keepers are scarlet kabochas, with bright orange skins and flesh. They stored beautifully, keeping solid long after the buttercups and butternuts got age spots
Local newspaper anchors the community
Robert Anderson, a man of the sea, stands with feet wide apart, like he’s balancing on swells. The whiteboard in his office reads “fiddleheads, seals, license plates.” Those are ideas, he explains. Perhaps they’ll inspire stories beyond the town news he regularly publishes. The Cundy’s Harbor native has put out the Harpswell Anchor, a monthly
Students fool around with The Cliff School Times
When the recent issue of The Cliff School Times hit a few inboxes at the Island Institute, staffers were excited to see that the one-room, five student school’s publication had been recognized by the Los Angeles Times for being an outstanding student newspaper in the Northeast. Part of their prize was the opportunity to intern at
Internet access grant seeks to help fishermen, farmers and nurses
Caught up
Sandra Dinsmore’s story about the factory closing brought the human dimension achingly to earth (“Closure of last U.S. sardine cannery ends way of life in Prospect Harbor,” The Working Waterfront, April issue).
Fox Islands are benefiting from wind power
I am absolutely amazed at the opposition to the Fox Islands Wind project. In my lifetime, the free and easy lifestyle of Vinalhaven has turned into a constant battle to keep our heads above water. Expenses in all forms have been on the rise, while lobster prices (the bread and butter of the island economy)
Seeking student writers
Long View: Think Locally–Earth Day @ 40
Today, as I write, is Earth Day-a name invented by a marketing genius who thought it memorable because it rhymed with birthday. So let’s take a moment to reflect on how Island Earth looks on the 40th anniversary of America’s collective awakening. A good place to start is with an inversion of Rene Dubos’ famous
Linda Greenlaw writes about return to swordfishing in new book
After five years, during which she wrote two mysteries, Isle au Haut’s Linda Greenlaw is back with a new nonfiction book. Seaworthy, due out June 1, chronicles Greenlaw’s return to swordfishing after a 10-year absence. The 2008 fishing trip described in the book turns out to be fraught with bad luck, poor fishing and a
Field Notes: One day at sea, sustainable shrimp fishing
It is four a.m. and very calm, no breeze. It feels unseasonably warm for a February night on the coast of Maine. I am walking out on the groundfish wharf in Port Clyde, a dim light from the fish house at the end of the wharf reveals only edges between land and water. Looking out