It’s hard to believe there are still people who haven’t heard about Fiddler’s Green Farm, but I know it’s true. Run by two families in Belfast, Maine, this business produces cereals, baking and pancake mixes, syrups, and jams, but they also offer a number of products they don’t make themselves, such as chocolate sauce and coffee. Many items are organic (or mostly organic, like that chocolate sauce); you can even find organic catnip for your favorite feline or organic dog biscuits for that special pooch.
I’m always hesitant to recommend products I haven’t tried, and, not to my credit, I haven’t tried most of the foods from Fiddler’s Green Farm. But I can tell you about some of their cereals, which I like very much. We’ll start with Izzie’s Irish Oats, named after Isabelle, a daughter in one of the families. Steel-cut oats, millet, and toasted almonds combine to form a mild-tasting cereal, but one with some texture, even after cooking. You’ll also find an Organic Oat Bran and Brown Rice Cereal. Despite the name, brown rice is the first ingredient here. This is a light-colored cereal without much texture to it; the company describes it as “a wonderful food for babies”, but I think that sells this cereal a bit short. To my mind, either of the above products would be a great introduction to whole grain cereals for finicky eaters or even older kids. On the other hand, if you know you like whole grains, you might prefer the Organic 12-Grain Cereal, a much more robustly-flavored blend of wheat, corn, rice, rye, millet, barley, and other grains, all GMO-free (woo hoo!). This is a porridge-like cereal, with great textural contrasts from all of those different grains.
Head over to the Fiddler’s Green Farm website www.fiddlersgreenfarm.com, and take a look around. I know you’ll find something you like from this well-chosen selection.