Quick questions about Maine (transplants, live, storage)

[Kiwiluver]

To my knowledge there are no Costco’s In Aroostook or Washington County. I sometimes go over to Fredericton or Saint John New Brunswick as there are Costco’s at both locations. Be aware of limitations as to what you can bring back into the United States. BJ’s Wholesale is in Bangor. It is somewhat limited in its food selection as opposed to Costco however. You my find this link helpful.

http://www.mofga.org/Home/MaineHeritageOrchard

[quietnights]

I’ll second the Maine Listings site (mainelistings.com) as the official MLS site in Maine. It also has an iOS app called MyMaineApp available in the iOS App Store, but I don’t know whether there’s an Android app for it.

A family member who is a broker recommends this site as well as realtor.com.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I worked in Canada for 7 years. I used to stop at grocery stores and make my own salad for lunch. They were sold by the pound and you could make an awesome salad to go for a low price.

[Maine Writer]

We have a lot of farmers markets and natural/health food stores. Many of the health food stores sell locally produced foods. http://www.getrealmaine.com/page/Farmers-Markets. Quality food is one of the easiest things to find in Maine so you should be all set.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by futuremainer

Does anyone have a reliable website to search for houses other than Trulia or Zillow? They are terrible at locating properties.

I have no idea. When I was shopping for land I had to finally start going through the For-Sale-By-Owner ads.

... If roads are icy/snowed over/etc how do children get to school? Are there bus routes for all rural kids or are parents expected to drive them?

Ice and snow do not have much effect on school buses.

... Are snow tire/summer tire sets really mandatory? Chains too?

It really depends on where you live. Where I am, snow tires are needed. But most Mainers live in cities, and cities have higher taxes to provide better road clearing. City folk do not see the same kinds of road conditions that rural people see.

... What are the organic food selections like in Maine? We are trying to avoid heavily populated areas but we currently need Costco and Whole Foods Market for organic goods. Since those are not very prevalent in Maine, how would one procure these items? (95%+ of our grocery budget.)

Organic food is very common in Maine.

I market farm produce to a buyer's club, my wife in a vendor in a Farmer's Market, there are lots of Farmer's Markets.

... What are average utility rates? We are hoping to be a mix of gas/electric (gas for hot water and stove) as well as wood burning fireplace/stove for winter. The one thing we are terribly naive about are those wall heaters every house seems to have up there. Are those electric or run like a radiator system on a different power source? I am trying to make sure we are never in any danger if the power goes out for any length of time.

We use LPG for our hot-water, and wood for our home heating. We have a LPG stove and a wood cookstove, so we kind of use both now for cooking.

We have been going through $1,200 of firewood each year for home heating and cooking. Though we are making changes to lessen that this year.

I think an electric bill between $50 and $75 a month is about average for most homes.

[quietnights]

It might be worth mentioning that many farmers’ markets in Maine run even in the winter, which you can find on the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets site Winter Markets 2017-2018 - Maine Federation of Farmers' Markets. This listing is nicely organized by county. Lots of other good info on the site too.

Also growing winter crops in Maine has been taking hold for a while and you can search “Maine winter growers” and similar phrases to read news and find related resources.

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by quietnights

Also growing winter crops in Maine has been taking hold for a while and you can search “Maine winter growers” and similar phrases to read news and find related resources.

Market farmers are doing great things with high tunnels. We kept one of our tunnels in production when we stopped going to market. Winter growing stops by mid-December and doesn't start again until mid-February but greens and roots are harvested year round. I have spinach, carrots, beets, boc choi, tatsoi and Swiss chard in this tunnel right now. In February I'll seed a few more vegetables.

[westeasterly]

When I moved to the midcoast area last winter I thought it would be a hard adjustment to live so far from Whole Foods where I used to do all of my grocery shopping. I was wrong. I can get all the stuff I'm used to from the local co-ops and farmers markets, as others have mentioned. I do miss the breadth of selection of fresh organic produce you find year round at Whole Foods but the local organic produce in season here is outstanding. I love that I'm not paying for it to be shipped from afar. I also miss a few favorite items from Trader Joes and always load up when I'm in Portland, a few hours away. Curiously, I never go to the Whole Foods next door.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

We fly grapes in from Chile and they are sold at Hannaford for $1.49 a pound.

I like the new variety of potatoes called Caribou Russet.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

Market farmers are doing great things with high tunnels. We kept one of our tunnels in production when we stopped going to market. Winter growing stops by mid-December and doesn't start again until mid-February but greens and roots are harvested year round. I have spinach, carrots, beets, boc choi, tatsoi and Swiss chard in this tunnel right now. In February I'll seed a few more vegetables.

Amazing what that thin film can do! It's not just the snow and cold - the ground around must be frozen by the New Year? I wonder how cold it gets in there at night?