Hello, nice to meet all of you!

[Foodfacts Dotus]

Hello, my name is Dusty Santos. I do have a food blog but I'm not here to get followers. Instead I want to learn and gain inspiration from many of you who have been doing this stuff a lot longer than I have. I believe if my blog is good enough and if I'm doing it right I should be able to get readers without begging for it.

 

For now however, a little about myself. I'm married and I have a 2 year old daughter named Kairi. She is very energetic and clingy and I love her with all of my heart. I'll be 31 next month, August 20th to be exact and I'm wondering at what age can I start lying about my age? Before my blogging days I went to school for computer animation and special effects. (Pixar type stuff) That industry is plagued with corruption and appreciation (just google 'Rhythm & Hues Documentary' if you don't believe me) so I left it for food.

 

I rambled on enough, the point is, I'm happy to meet all of you!

 

 

[cdh]

Welcome!  Glad you came to visit.

 

Jump right in, the forums are full of fun facts about food and cooking... you'd have a hard time not learning something new here.  Bring your questions and your perspective.  Have fun!

[Jaymes]

I, also, am pleased to meet you, Ms. Dotus.  Hope you post about the unique foods of Maine.  It's such a beautiful part of the US and I've very much enjoyed my travels through that region.  I see you've got a toddler.  Although my children are grown and gone now, I enjoyed my travels through that region as well.  So I know I'll enjoy your posts. I'll be watching for them!

[Foodfacts Dotus]

Hope you post about the unique foods of Maine. I'll be watching for them!

 

Interesting you should mention that because I did do some research about blueberries recently and I found out that Maine exports 100% of the blueberries from the U.S.! Over 600 tons worth of them.

[Jaymes]

Interesting you should mention that because I did do some research about blueberries recently and I found out that Maine exports 100% of the blueberries from the U.S.! Over 600 tons worth of them.

 

Wow.  I guess if you're raising blueberries and somebody is willing to pay top dollar to export them, that'd be the wise choice.  Still, seems kind of sad to me.  Are there places where you can go pick your own blueberries?  I remember when we lived in Alaska, blueberries grew wild in a great many of the forests around where we lived.  We'd each tie a transistor radio around our neck in order to make enough noise to scare away the bears, who also love blueberries as it happens, and spend the day picking and eating. 

 

And also, not coincidently, singing loudly along.

 

Do the blueberry farms in Maine that are doing all that exporting allow locals to pick some before they're all shipped off?  Or, are there any roadside stands?

 

Or are the locals SOL?

Edited July 22, 2014 by Jaymes (log)

[Foodfacts Dotus]

Not sure about Maine. I do live an hour away from there but I do my picking at Parlee Farms. I assume Maine has the same kind of farms as Parlee. I had a lot of fun picking this season and even cooked a bunch of recipes for my blog. I kinda didn't have a choice because we picked 4lbs of them.

 

I gotta say that having to ware radios to scare away bears so you can pick berries sounds like the most awesome berry picking story ever.

 

I'm pretty sure that even though Maine exports all blueberries out of the country, the country itself eats as locally as we can.

 

My real name is Dusty Santos btw. I joined another food forum and this one has made me feel much more welcome! Thanks!

[Kim Shook]

Hi, Dusty and welcome to eG!  Looking forward to your contributions!

[Smithy]

Not sure about Maine. I do live an hour away from there but I do my picking at Parlee Farms. I assume Maine has the same kind of farms as Parlee. I had a lot of fun picking this season and even cooked a bunch of recipes for my blog. I kinda didn't have a choice because we picked 4lbs of them.

I gotta say that having to ware radios to scare away bears so you can pick berries sounds like the most awesome berry picking story ever.

I'm pretty sure that even though Maine exports all blueberries out of the country, the country itself eats as locally as we can.

My real name is Dusty Santos btw. I joined another food forum and this one has made me feel much more welcome! Thanks!

I too think the blueberry-picking story is awesome As a rule, when I see a bear in a berry patch, I decide to go elsewhere...back to the truck, back to the house...but I haven't been out where a radio might be needed. :-D

While I'm welcoming you, I'll also thank you for explaining your user name! I was translating it to something preposterous like Dept Of Transportation US (along the lines of the SCOTUS and POTUS sites) and I just couldn't believe I had that right. I'm glad the explanation is simpler. ;-)

[Foodfacts Dotus]

 I'll also thank you for explaining your user name!

 

I created a new facebook page for my business because I didn't want to mix my social account and my business account. So I didn't want to use my real name on that one. I also couldn't put .com on the name so foodfacts dotcom is what came out. I think I'll try to change it again when the 60 days have passed.