Jim Cornish was raised on a dairy farm in Bowdoin, Maine. One of 10 children he has worked at a variety of occupations. He was a carpenter for six years, three of which he ran his own business. He has been logging with horses for 24 years and farming with them for five. He is 1/2 owner with his brother of a sawmill located in Cundy’s Harbor. Jim is well read and possesses an education gleaned from a unique perspective and varied experiences.

Mitch and Penny operate a small, family run maple business in Bowdoin, Maine. They tap 700 maple trees to make 125-150 gallons of maple syrup each spring. In addition to their maple business, they also grow organic dry beans, oats and vegetables. Mitch’s many times great-grandfather, Jacob Mitchell settled North Yarmouth, Maine in 1727. A family of carpenters, farmers, and fishermen for eleven generations, Mitch worked for a time as a lobsterman and horse logger. Today Mitch and Penny still work to keep the tradition of self-sustainable living alive on their farm.

While they continue to work off the farm, their hearts and dreams are attached firmly to the land: the fields, the gardens and their sugarbush. Their three grown sons, Lars, Caleb and Luke, off pursuing their own dreams, always return each spring to help "sugar". They gather a few pails and help out as best they can and anyone who has ever lugged a full pail of sap fifty feet through three feet of snow knows what a help that can be.

Michael Patterson earned a BS in Nursing while attending Graceland College in Iowa. He worked as a nurse in the mid-west and New England for 25 years. He has been weaving for 15 years and teaching his art for 8 years at Halcyon Yarn in Bath, Maine. He has been the featured weaver at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Common Ground Fair for ten years. He also teaches how to play the bagpipes. His wife Margaret is a math professor at UMA. Together they have a son.

Maddy has been doing wine-making workshops at the Stone Soup Institute for over five years. Wine-making workshops are scheduled as needed. She provides workshop opportunities during each fruit, flower, and vegetable season. She starts in May with dandelions, and ends the season with cranberries in November. Frozen fruit and apple cider are also great options.