Interested in learning to be more self-reliant and securing your own sustainable food sources? Want to connect to your food in a more meaningful way, whether it’s wild-caught, hunted, gathered, raised, or grown? Choose your track – hunting and fishing, foraging and gathering, or backyard farming – and sign up for SustainME, a program designed in partnership with MDIFW and the University of Maine 4-H Camp and Learning Center at Bryant Pond. You will gain the knowledge, self-confidence, and practical skills to get started.

Learn more

Here are some of the topics that you can expect to see in future SustainME programs:

Hunting and Fishing

  • Becoming a Hunter: Getting started
  • Choosing the right equipment
  • Field Dressing wild game
  • Finding places to hunt
  • Wild game cooking: various game meats (bear, deer, moose, upland birds, small game).
  • Wild fish cooking: fresh and saltwater fish
  • Bow Hunting Skills
  • Map and Compass navigation
  • Fly Fishing Techniques
  • Surf Casting Basics
  • Wildlife Identification
  • Habits and Habitats
  • Fly Tying
  • Mounting a scope
  • Firearm Cleaning
  • Tracking Wild Game
  • Fishing for various species (trout, salmon, perch, bass, etc)
  • Hunting tactics (specific to various species-turkey, bear, deer, moose, etc.)
  • Smelting
  • Ice Fishing techniques
  • Reading the forest and its various ecosystems
  • Many other specific skills/topics

Foraging and Gathering

  • Foraging for Fiddleheads
  • Mushroom ID and gathering techniques
  • Wild Edibles
  • Chaga: Uses and benefits, ways to prepare
  • Preserving wild found food items
  • Reading the forested landscape
  • Tidepool foraging
  • Various cooking workshops using wild ingredients
  • Foraging for mast crops: uses for nuts, acorns, and other items
  • Identifying Maine’s wild fruits and berries
  • Planning your diet within season
  • Many others focused workshops

Backyard Farming

  • Raising cows for milk or beef
  • Raising pigs for meat as well as various uses such as land clearing
  • Gardening (various themed workshops on fruit, veggies, herbs, etc.)
  • Bee Keeping
  • Raising goats and sheep
  • Sustainable farming practices
  • Irrigation solutions
  • Composting techniques
  • Raising Chickens for eggs and meat
  • Pest Proofing your garden and animals
  • Soil Science
  • Hobby Farm Basics
  • Indoor Herb Gardening
  • Hydroponics
  • Tools and equipment
  • Using a chainsaw
  • Many other garden agriculture topics

More information

Chelsea Lathrop
Education and Outreach Coordinator
Chelsea.lathrop@maine.gov
207-446-8692