An evening at The Well at Jordan’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Everyone in the country knows that Maine is spectacular in the summer. But locals also understand that September and early October are some of the best times to enjoy Vacationland – especially when eating is involved.

Sure, it’s frustrating to be a locavore in May, when our neighbors to the south start crowing about their fresh peas and asparagus, but what we miss in those early-season days of summer, we gain back as the weather cools.

Glorious tomatoes past Labor Day? Check. Blueberries that cross paths with Delicata squash? Check. Melons that ripen just as the first fall honey is scraped from its comb? Check.

There’s no better location to enjoy this bounty than the place where it was planted, tended and harvested. Unless you’re cuffing your pants and rolling up your sleeves for a trip out to the fields, you’re going to want to find yourself a good barn supper.

The good news is that there are several farms and food businesses ready to host you in 2024. Here are my top picks, plus a couple of bonus spots that approximate a barn meal without the actual barn.

At the time of writing, spaces were available at all of the barn suppers listed here. If any have sold out in the intervening days, celebrate their success and bookmark this article so you can book early next year.

Norlands Farm in Livermore

Running through the third week in September, these farm-to-table barn dinners might be the best bargain in the state. $45 scores you an adult ticket, and $20 buys a place for a child under 12 years old. There’s more than food on offer at the historic, 400-acre Washburn Norlands estate, which in addition to an enormous Victorian mansion built by the Pillsbury and Gold Medal flour magnates, comprises a stone library, a schoolhouse and a network of trails. For an extra $7 on top of the cost of your meal, you can purchase a ticket for a guided, pre-dinner tour of the stately residence and gothic-style library. Feel like spending the entire day on the grounds? $12 gains you admission to Living History Days, fall Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Just in time for the main event.

Washburn-Norlands Living History Center, 290 Norlands Road, Livermore. 207-897-4366. norlands.org

Summer Pappardelle with heirloom tomato, basil pesto, kale and Pineland Farms feta from a dinner at Pineland Farms. Photo courtesy of Black Tie Catering & Events

Pineland Farms in New Gloucester

If a multi-course dinner on farmland that stretches across nearly 5,000 acres isn’t enough incentive to visit Pineland Farms for one of its well-established “Graze” suppers, perhaps a corn maze will seal the deal? Maybe think of it as a reward for having waited until the end of the summer to make your plans. If you attend either of the season’s final two, $90 per person, communal-dining suppers, you might be able pair your meal with an afternoon wander through Pineland’s rambling pumpkin patch and seasonal corn maze. Note that you’ll need an additional two-hour farm pass ticket ($6) for access to these parts of the campus. But if you’re only able to attend the Black Tie Catering-hosted Graze dinners, that’s plenty, considering the scope of each meal: craft cocktails, four courses of small plates and live music. And if you plan to overindulge on beverages provided by Après and Cold River Distilleries or Eighteen Twenty Wines, you can also book a room at one of Pineland’s on-site guest houses.

Pineland Farms, 15 Farm View Dr., New Gloucester. 207-688-4539. pinelandfarms.org

The barn at Toddy Pond. Courtesy of Toddy Pond

Toddy Pond Farm in Monroe

Many barn suppers are showcases for a farm’s homegrown vegetables. But at Toddy Pond Farm, pasture-raised, free-range meat and poultry are the main attraction. Rest assured though, neighboring organic farms supply Toddy Pond with plenty of in-season produce to go along with the farm’s own lamb, beef and chicken. The farm’s barn suppers are also unusual in that they offer an a la carte menu rather than a multi-course, prix fixe meal. Being able to choose your own adventure, from summer radishes with butter to meatloaf and soft-serve ice cream, is a welcome touch (and especially good for diners with food sensitivities). If you visit, be sure to order at least one of the farm’s signature wood-fired pizzas. Summer barn suppers run on weekends through the end of September, and the farm has plans to continue on a different schedule into the winter.

Toddy Pond Farm, 174 Carver Road, Monroe. 207-249-3344. toddypondfarm.com

The barn at Turner Farm on North Haven. Photo by Marina French

Turner Farm on North Haven

Reality television fans may have seen Top Chef winner Kristen Kish travel to North Haven for a 2023 episode of her “Restaurants at the End of the World” program. Ostensibly there to help revamp the barn supper menu, pepping it up with Southern flavors, her visit attracted both eyeballs and a deluge of tourists who snapped up nearly every seat last season. This year, it’s possible to score a ticket once again for a multi-course dinner (including cocktails and nibbles) at this magnificent waterfront, American Farmland Trust-owned property. Tickets for these convivial dinners run $145 per person for adults, $90 per person for those under 21, with an option to book passage on the Equinox from Rockland to North Haven on Thursdays. A better, more relaxing choice might be to stay overnight at the nearby Nebo Lodge (until recently, a sister business of Turner Farm) and explore the picturesque island at your leisure. Barn suppers run until September 20th.

Turner Farm, 73 Turner Farm Road, North Haven. 207-867-4962. turner-farm.com

The table set for diners at Elmcrest. Photo by Jennifer Johnson

Elmcrest Farm in Monmouth

Late summer and early autumn are ideal times to visit Elmcrest Farm – better even than the florid warmth of the summer, thanks to the farm’s sprawling, heritage-variety apple orchard. Right about now is when the trees are drooping, heavy with fruit. The two planned suppers in 2024 also allow visitors opportunities to check out the farm’s peacocks, pigs, sheep and long-horned, delightfully shaggy Scottish Highland cattle. Prix fixe dinners run $135 per ticket and take place in Elmcrest Farm’s 18th-century barn, at a table so long, you can practically see the curvature of the earth as you look from end to end. Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes before the meal’s prompt 5 p.m. start, which will give you time to amble around the historic grounds.

Elmcrest Farm, 127 Norris Hill Road, Monmouth. 207-890-9951. elmcrestfarm.com

Oysters, just a small part of the feast at Big Tree Hospitality’s dinner at Wolfe’s Neck in Freeport. Susanne Peters/Tay Sikes Photo

Wolfe’s Neck Center in Freeport

Farm-to-table dining at Wolfe’s Neck Center’s newly opened Smith Center building isn’t just about food and drink. Each of the Center’s al fresco (weather permitting) dinner events also doubles as a fundraiser for the organization. Meals are co-hosted by Maine-based culinary luminaries, and better still, they run every few weeks until the middle of December, so there’s no rush. Upcoming meals include a seafood tasting with Barton Seaver ($75/person) and two dinners featuring Portland-based chefs Damien Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez from Chaval ($125), as well as one with Matt Ginn from Evo ($TBD). Pro-tip: If you visit from Thursday to Saturday, plan to show up extra-early for a 1 p.m., goat-chaperoned hike through a mile of rambling forested trails (tickets are $8 for members/$10 for non-members). An unforgettable experience.

Wolfe’s Neck Center, 184 Burnett Road, Freeport. 207-865-4469. wolfesneck.org

Dishes at Wander at Longwoods. Photo by Artisan Agenda

No barn, no problem

In nearby Cape Elizabeth, The Well at Jordan’s Farm continues to serve five-course tasting menus on gazebo-dotted grounds through the entire month of September ($90 per person).

Yolked Farm to Table in Windham. Photo courtesy of Yolked

Yolked Farm to Table offers a slightly different approach at its rustic-chic Windham restaurant, featuring a sustainable, nearly entirely locally sourced menu of comfort foods. No barn in sight, but the food truck that evolved into the brick-and-mortar restaurant remains on the property, where you can order a flight of Maine beers to go with a platter of oysters or lobster roll.

And if you just can’t fathom a local, farm-to-table dinner anywhere but on a working farm, you’ll find exactly that in Cumberland, at Wander at Longwoods, where five nights a week, you can book a seat overlooking this newcomer’s bustling open kitchen or one that looks out across the conservation property’s fields, hiking trails and the expanse of the Longwoods Preserve.

The Well at Jordan’s Farm, 21 Wells Road, Cape Elizabeth. 207-831-9350. thewellatjordansfarm.com

Yolked Farm to Table, 868 Roosevelt Trail, Windham. 207-749-4097. yolkedfarmtotable.com

Wander at Longwoods, 36 Wander Way, Cumberland Center. 207-618-5800. wanderatlongwoods.com

Andrew Ross has written about food and dining in New York and the United Kingdom. He and his work have been featured on Martha Stewart Living Radio and in The New York Times. He is the recipient of seven recent Critic’s Awards from the Maine Press Association.

Contact him at: andrewross.maine@gmail.com
Twitter: @AndrewRossME