The Knowledge Transfer Alliance, an offshoot of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, will put on a free day of business management workshops in Belfast at the Hutchinson Center.
No Sign-up Needed: just show up for the sessions you’re interested in. The computer room will be available in a “Salad Bar” mode — just bring your questions (specific or general) and someone will try to help you.
Topics for this day of workshops devoted to helping Maine agricultural businesses grow include:
–Quickbooks Introduction, and Specific Topics
–Building Your Budget and Record Keeping in Excel
–Setting Your Vision and Sticking To It
–Marketing Tips, including Using Internet Marketing and Social Networking
Download a PDF Document here with the full schedule of workshops.
Sarah Spring invited the Guild to visit her at her micro-creamery in Durham for our February meeting. Her house sits on a sunny rise on a back road and ably accommodate the large group that met there to discuss efforts to get Maine cheesemakers to participate in the ACS conference, info about current and future workshops, the importance of the upcoming 
If all cheese looks and tastes like cottage cheese as it comes out of the pot, what turns that squishy mess of milk solids into cheddar or Camembert or Gouda or Gorgonzola or (even) Kraft(TM) Singles? It’s AFFINAGE, which is the French term for the process of taking curds and just pressed wheels of cheese and turning them into the sublime creations we expect to see in the refrigerated case of our favorite cheesemonger. Once you scoop your cheese out of the pot, it’s often a long way from becoming what you are hoping for, and many different factors will determine its fate: temperature, humidity, handling, molds, cultures, salt, and any extra sumpin’ sumpin’ (like leaves or herbs or wine or beer or cider) you choose to apply to it. Patrick will describe all of these processes for taking pressed curds and turning them into ‘the Feet of God.’