rockport to tinder hearth bakery

sunday night i decided at the last minute to join dana, who i had just met at the boat shop, up to rockport, where i could stay at her apartment for the night. when i left carpenter's boat shop i couldn't find the tent i had been traveling with. hope someone else can make use of it!
dana had a hula hoop leaning against the side of her house. one important reason we were brought together was so that i could refresh her memory of how to play some mbira songs she had learned years ago. you should have seen her reaction when i pulled out the mbira! this was a special gift for me to be able to offer.
i made a nice breakfast incorporating bacon, very tasty new potatoes, veggies and greens, sprouts, the last of the sheep yogurt, and one pastured egg each. we collected some of the dried material from a recent mowing of the roadside near her place and used it to mulch around the tomato, squash, and ground cherries she planted. i can tell she is passionate about growing food. i hope she will find a fully encouraging environment where she can express it.

i left after lunch from rockport, rode up to highway 1 on the other side of camden, and caught a short ride up to lincolnville. there i waited quite a while, and was getting a little antsy when i was picked up by a guy who recognized me from the contra dance in belfast! he was on his way back to bar harbor after making some deliveries for his company, harbor bars. as we drove off, my bicycle and most of my baggage in the freezer mounted on back of the pickup, he handed me one of these decadent chocolate/icecream sandwiches. i decided to go for it. not something i really need, but very good indeed. keith was very kind to take the longer way home and drive me all the way to tinder hearth bakery! when we arrived he gave my hosts a small box of his product to share around! i had gone in to see if there was any bread i could give him, but we had arrived just before their baking night, so they were all out. in the back yard, just before being greeted by bill, one of the bakers, i noticed two hula hoops laying in the grass...

the situation in the kitchen provided me a good opportunity to help out. i slowly ate dinner, scraping out the last of a few dishes, as i began to clean up the big mess left after a good meal. i was in heaven! i got to meet micah again, who i had spoken with briefly at the belfast contra dance. he harvests seaweed in the area and lives a little south of the bakery, towards deer isle. throughout the night i had a few good interactions with bill, the young man who was in charge of baking 200 loaves of bread this night. it was a pleasure to watch him work, and to relate over permaculture and urban design. he has the same vision of the transformation of cities into smaller, more self-sufficient populations in close proximity.

tinder hearth is a place i was told about by some folks i stayed with in tallahassee. i didn't think i would take the time to visit them as i was running short on time, but a turn of events led me there. north branch farm was not ready to receive me until the 11th, when they were having their organic certification inspection. anna, of north branch, suggested tinder hearth, which is owned by a friend she used to go to school with. just amazes me how this worked out!

tinder hearth has a bucket toilet, in which i gladly made a deposit. i had the honor of taking out the food scraps from the kitchen, which i deposited in their nearly full, and quite healthy (though a little dry) compost pile.