Last Saturday, my daughter Shannon and I were out and about. We went to a craft fair at Halldale High School, and after the fair we decided to have lunch at the snappy A1 Diner in Gardiner. We parked the car on the main street, and as we headed for the diner, we noticed a young woman had set up a farm stand on the sidewalk.

Naturally, Shannon and I stopped. We chatted with the young woman—Dalziel Lewis—and found out she was leasing land, growing vegetables, and selling them. She has called her enterprise Dig Deep Farm, and offers a CSA program.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

“Not too bad,” she answered. “But I have to have a part-time job.”

Yes, it is hard for local farmers to make ends meet. In the course of the conversation, I found out that Lewis doesn’t have health insurance, but she hastened to add she was thinking of purchasing some.

That would take care of any profits she might make from farming. Yet again I reflected what a help it would be for local farmers, for all small businesses, if this country had universal health care. While I personally am in favor of a single-payer system like Canada’s, there are other ways of providing universal health care, and, at this, point, any of them would be so much better than what we have now. (I am hoping that Obama’s plan will make a real difference when it finally kicks in.)

However, the day was too fine, and Lewis was too perky for us to brood long about health care. I bought five pounds of carrots—a mixture of yellow and orange—and I’ll soon be making a creamy carrot soup with tarragon and cumin.

Then, it was on to A1 Diner, where I had a BLT on wheat bread—thick and chewy—and a side order of hand-cut fries, crisp on the outside with the perfect amount of give on the inside. The best fries in the area, I think. (Sorry, Bolley’s!)

But best of all is the feeling of community at the diner—the friendliness of the staff, the friendliness of the customers, the view of the street from the booth. This diner not only has good food but a sense of place. Gardiner, like most of central Maine, might not be quaint, but it is certainly alive—a place where a young farmer can sell her vegetables and a place where a diner can eat and watch the comings and goings on the street.

Creamy Carrot Soup with Tarragon and Cumin
Serves four

Oil
4 cups of chopped carrots (about six large carrots). Use a food processor, if you have one.
2 potatoes, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
I medium onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon cumin
3 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, heat enough oil to barely cover the bottom. Add onion and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring pretty much constantly. Add the carrots and the potatoes and cook for three minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the water and spices, and simmer the vegetables until they are tender, about twenty to thirty minutes. Puree the soup in either a blender or a food processor. An immersion blender works well, too. With 3 cups of water, this is a very thick soup. If you prefer a thinner soup, then simply add more water. Season with salt and more pepper, if you wish.