Join us for our April Local Food Community Convening
Tuesday, April 15th from 2:00-4:30 at the Bass Room at Franklin Memorial Hospital
CLICK HERE for more information and to register
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A Community Conversation on Creating Farm-Friendly Municipal Policies in Greater Farmington
Hosted by Maine Farmland Trust and Greater Franklin Food Council
April 3, 2025 12:45-3:00 PM
Please join us for lunch and a community conversation between farmers, municipal representatives, regional organizations, and agricultural land stewards from the towns of Farmington, Jay, Livermore, Livermore Falls, New Sharon, Starks, and Wilton. This event, including lunch, is free to attend but please register here.
This forum aims to build connections and facilitate the sharing of information and ideas in order to help advance farm-friendly municipal policies in the Greater Farmington region. It will offer farmers and agricultural land stewards an opportunity to network directly with municipal leaders and will create space for peer-to-peer learning among municipalities on tools and strategies. Attendees will collaboratively identify local and/or regional municipal policies that support the agricultural community, including working lands conservation, property tax incentives, zoning, land use and access, and more. Following the forum, Maine Farmland Trust will be available to offer municipalities technical assistance to plan and implement policies that support identified needs.
The Greater Franklin Food Council, in collaboration with LEAP’s Stone Soup Community Garden, is excited to announce the third year of the Gather and Grow Community Garden Program. This program will lead a cohort of gardeners through the growing season, from preparing the garden beds and planting to preserving the harvest. The purpose of this program is to build a gardening learning community for people who want to learn how to grow food, don’t have access to land for gardening, or simply want to garden with friends.
The Gather and Grow cohort will meet weekly for open gardening hours with a Master Gardener Volunteer with facilitated workshops throughout the season. Topics will include soil fertility, seed saving, canning, succession planting, and more.
This program includes a LEAP Stone Soup Garden plot, seeds/starts, and all other supplies needed for gardening and food preservation. Workshops and gardening hours will be every Tuesday from 6pm to 7:30pm from May 13th to October 7th at LEAP Stone Soup Gardens, 482 Farmington Falls Rd. in Farmington. Registration is on a sliding scale $5-$50.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Greater Franklin Food Council is to foster a robust food system in Western Maine by bringing people together to: ensure access to nutritious food, promote local farmers, and advocate for food-related programs and policies that strengthen our communities.
