Balfour Farm

The cheese sleigh is on its way!
Doug is well stocked with cheese, pork eggs and some yogurt

We are heading back inside! Beginning 12/3/2022 you can find a great assortment of vendors once again at the Stevens Square Community Center at 631 Stevens Avenue in Portland!

We will be there Every Saturday from 9 am - 1pm throughout the winter (closed 12/24/2022)

Come by to stock up on veggies, meats, dairy, dry beans, grains, fresh greens, eggs, bread and more!

Please plan on making the Portland Winter Market part of your weekly shopping experience!

Counting our blessings today. We hope you have all had a restful and fulfilling day with family and friends🍁

🦃 Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Time to pick up all your last minute provisions!
We will be at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market today 8 am to 1 pm.
We are well stocked with
🧀 cheeses,
yogurt,
🥛 buttermilk
🐖 pork: bacon, sausages, chops, ribs
🥚 eggs- lots of eggs!
Cheese gift boxes 🧀🧀 🎁

This is the last outdoor market of the season - starting December 3, Portland Winter Market begins 9am to 1 pm at 631 Stevens Ave
There is no market on Sat Nov 26.

Do you have a busy week ahead?
Have you been searching for a unique hostess gift?
We can make your gift giving quick and easy.

The party starts when the cheese arrives!

Available at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market weekly through the holidays:
Balfour Farm gift box of cheese: two aged cheeses, a fresh spread and a ripened cheese. Great for enjoying with your friends and family!

Calling it a day and heading home folks. Doug will be back at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market on Saturday.

It’s hoof trimming day! Beverly here seems less than impressed with the whole process, but the cows always saunter off with a little spring in their step!
We will be at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market tomorrow, with loads of cheese, eggs, pork and YOGURT! It is time to start stocking up for the holidays. There are only 3 regular markets left until we switch to once weekly winter market schedule.

It’s ok to be different… unless you are a wheel of cheese! 🧀. Gonna try to straighten this one out during the second pressing!

Doug will be at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market tomorrow- 8 am to 1 pm. Lots of pork, cheese and eggs. Tiny Acres Farm will be with us with lots of tasty veggies too!

It will be a wild day, but we will be there! Just look for us in the Marketplace! Heart of Ellsworth

Limiting antibiotics for cows may create a new dairy market

Concerned about antibiotic use in animal production? Look for U.S. Department of Agriculture certified organic milk products! Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) is the local inspector that ensures producers are following the rules and provides high confidence for consumers for truth in labeling.

There already exists a federally managed program that reduces antibiotic use to 0% in production- it’s called the NOP. National Organic Plan. It covers all animal agriculture as well as vegetable production, food processing etc. Why create another program with overhead costs?

Limiting antibiotics for cows may create a new dairy market ITHACA, N.Y. -- Consumers would be willing to buy milk from cows only treated with antibiotics when medically necessary – as long as the price...

Food morning Folks! We are working on the farm today, so we will not be at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market. We will see you on Saturday!
You can also catch us at the Heart of Ellsworth’s Cider and Cheese Festival!

There are very few perks to being up at 2-3 in the morning. It’s all about the stars!
Catch Doug at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market today 8-1pm!
He pick up our meats from the butcher yesterday, so he is well stocked for pork!
Lots of eggs and cheeses too!
We will not be at market on Wednesday 11/9, so stop and see him today 💫

Life on the farm this morning- contractors- concrete and mason, grain delivery( thank you custom grains), Jack is milking, Olivia is making cheese, Doug is meeting with contractors, cutting firewood, and hopefully picking up our pork from the butcher. Heather is off the farm all day to attend a hands on sanitation class at the University of Maine.

Oh, hello there! It’s nice to see you again! Torrin Tomme is back at market tomorrow! It’s the last market of October- next week, the Portland Maine Farmers' Market will begin at 8am- an hour later than usual!
Doug will also have all the other cheeses, yogurts, pork, and eggs.

When Mother Nature hands you a beautiful day like this, ☀️

We will not be at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market tomorrow. We will see you on Saturday!

Farm jobs, one more done! Last week we set a concrete pad for composting behind the barn- no more muddy space!

Next up is firewood!

We are slowly checking off things on the fall ‘To-Do list’. Here’s a bowl of chicken soup that was 3 months in the making- we processed our chickens on Friday. There are two pressure cookers of canned chicken on the stove now, and about 30-40 more lbs that still need to be done over the next couple days.
Doug gathered up the firewood logs today, so now there is a giant pile in the drive way. That’s what he’ll be working on the next couple days.

There are some rainy days ahead this week- corn chowder with Balfour Farm bacon is just the dish to make you feel warm and cozy.
Pick up some bacon tomorrow from Doug at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market. We are in the park until Nov 23, Sat and Wed. In November, market is opening at 8 am to avoid the cold early morning temps for all the veggies.

Yes, Olivia made yogurt this week! We will also have Buttermilk, eggs and cheeses!!

We are going to miss the Portland Maine Farmers' Market tomorrow! Too many things on the ’ Do in the fall to get ready for winter’ list, and the days are flying by! Doug is going to run up to the butcher tomorrow - they called and the pork is ready! We will be all restocked- so see you all on Saturday!

Catch us at Great Maine Apple Day today! Noon to 4 pm

https://www.mofga.org/trainings/annual-events/great-maine-apple-day/

In honor of National Cheese Curd Day, we had poutine, roasted squash and Balfour Farm garlic sausage for dinner tonight! We are well stocked with sausage at the tomorrow, also eggs and cheese!

We were off last week for some R&R- but we are coming back to the Portland Maine Farmers' Market today with lots of cheeses, meats and eggs!
Doug has been busy since we returned home, working in the drainage for the additiona- ready for concrete!

Maine Cheese Guild – Serving the interest of cheese-makers and cheese lovers in Maine and beyond

Balfour Farm isn’t participating this year, but there is lots to see across the state!

Maine Cheese Guild – Serving the interest of cheese-makers and cheese lovers in Maine and beyond We all know that farming and life in general can be very stressful. With the recent news of yet another member of our farming and cheese making family passing as a result of taking their own life, we want to offer the resources below as a starting place for those in need. If you or someone you know....

Find us at the Portland Maine Farmers' Market until 1 pm today- lots of eggs, cheeses, pork sausages, chops, bacon, and yogurts.
We will not be at market on 10/5- your farmers have scheduled some R&R!

Are you a market vendor looking for a spot this winter? We have openings for a few Temporary Winter Market vendors for the upcoming 2022/2023 season.

These are Temporary spots for this winter only with no voting rights. The Winter Market is held every Saturday from 9 to 1 at the Stevens Square Community Center. If interested please read through the Market Rules and Bylaws, if your farm qualifies send in an application. Find the application here https://www.portlandmainefarmersmarket.org/becomeavendor

Applications are due by the last day of September!

Balfour Farm on Instagram: "Day one of the Common Ground Country Fair was a wowzer! We are hitting the road for day #2! Lots of wind and sun expected today- dress warm if you are planning on attending! We are NOT at the Portland Farmer Market...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ci4pl6njluF/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Balfour Farm on Instagram: "Day one of the Common Ground Country Fair was a wowzer! We are hitting the road for day #2! Lots of wind and sun expected today- dress warm if you are planning on attending! We are NOT at the Portland Farmer Market... Balfour Farm shared a post on Instagram: "Day one of the Common Ground Country Fair was a wowzer! We are hitting the road for day #2! Lots of wind and sun expected today- dress warm if you are planning on attending! We are NOT at the Portland Farmer Market today- we will see you on Wednesday! ...

We are waiting for you at the Ground Country Fair! Catch us here until Sunday. The WIFInis being spotty- so bring cash for vendors if you can😉

We waited and waited for the rain to pass before setting up for the Common Ground Country Fair, and we’re blessed with clearing skies and a rainbow. Good omens for a fantastic fair this weekend!
We have been hoarding cheese all summer in anticipation of this event. It is our most favorite time of the year, and we have missed it so much!! We are looking forward to spreading the love of Maine cheese to all 60,000+ people that attend, visiting with farmer friends we haven’t seen in ages, and just feeling like a normal year.
We will not be at the Portland Farmers market on Saturday- you can find us at the fair in the Rose Gate Farmers Market Fri, Sat and Sun.

Heather is bringing the big truck to the Portland Maine Farmers' Market tomorrow- it'll be stocked up with cheeses, meats, eggs and yogurts. We will NOT be at market on Saturday! You can find us at the Common Ground Country Fair Fri, Sat, & Sun.

A diversion for a rainy afternoon- we took Lou Brown and Brown on a ride up to Monson and visited with our friends Tim and Joy for a bit at their Turning Page Farm. They have a really great little goat farm and brewery experience. We had some farm raised sausage sandwiches and fresh beer while we chatted about farm stuff and admired their Golden Guernsey Goats.
On our way to Turning Page, we stumbled across a very new dairy- Dairy Farm. They make raw butter and bottle raw milk from their 8 Jersey cows. Kyle was kind enough to stop and chat with us for a bit. He’s an enthusiastic young man and has set up a beautiful small scale dairy.

Yogurt is back at market this week!!!

This is is what happens when you send the farmer to get stamps...