University of Maine at Farmington will host its fourth annual Maine Fiddlehead Festival Saturday, May 2, outdoors at the Emery Community Arts Center.

Tent talks schedule

• Fiddlehead Talk and Walk with Dave Fuller, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, 10 a.m.

Learn about the lore and science of ostrich fern fiddleheads in lecture and then walk to a nearby spot to talk about identification and sustainable harvest. Total session time will last about 1.5 hours. Prepare to walk on muddy ground. Fuller is the agriculture and non-timber forest products professional with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and conducts research on fiddleheads.

• Paul’s Almost-No-Knead Bread Method — Paul Stancioff, 10:45 a.m.

Learn the secrets to minimal hassle bread making. Paul Stancioff, UMF physics professor, has been breaking crusty bread with hosts and guests for several years, and loves teaching people his method.

• Raising Layer Hens and Meat Birds — Gretchen Legler, 11:30 a.m.

Raising chickens for meat and keeping layer hens are both great introductions to the experience of livestock. Legler will share experiences — the successes and the lessons — from many years of raising layer hens. Legler is a professor of creative writing at UMF, and a committed homesteader.

• Some Local Edible Wild Mushrooms — Cynthia Stancioff, 12:15 p.m.

The talk will cover some of the easiest and safest local edible fungi, with advice about where and when they are found in central Maine. While the talk is geared to beginners, it also takes intermediate-level questions about wild edibles and their preparation and preservation. Stancioff is an amateur edible mushroom fanatic, and has foraged locally for 25 years.

• Root Cellars and Sauerkraut for Food Storage — Koviashuvik Local Living School, 1 p.m.

Learn the basics of making sauerkraut. First homage will be payed to the root cellar that stored cabbage and carrots from fall to spring. Next, in an interactive workshop a small batch of sauerkraut will be made, a delicious and nutritious product which will preserve last fall’s vegetables for another year. Chris and Ashirah Knapp, founders of Koviashuvik Local Living School, have gathered, grown, processed and stored food for a family of four for the past seven years in Temple.

• Home Cheese-Making — Laura Grams, 1:45 p.m.

This talk will cover the ingredients, equipment and techniques for a variety of basic cheeses. Cheddar, cream cheese, mozzarella, cottage cheese, ricotta, parmesan and feta will be discussed. There will be samples to taste, and a handout with recipes and resources for supplies. Grams has been making all the cheese her family eats since 2007.

• Fiddlehead Talk and Walk — Dave Fuller, 2:30 p.m. (repeat of 10 a.m. session).