Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 55F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 55F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.

Amid the colorful array of pickled cucumbers, carrots, beets, green beans, asparagus and other preserved vegetables made by Glenburn resident Travis Beaton, aka The Canning Man, there's one variety that's particularly unique to Aroostook County and New Brunswick.

Lady Ashburnham pickles, available at the Bangor Farmers' Market on Sundays and at several stores in eastern and northern Maine, come from a generations-old recipe Beaton learned from his mother, Christine, which she learned from her mother, and so on.

Made with equal parts cucumbers and onions, they're a tangy, savory mustard pickle that Beaton said he grew up eating on baked potatoes around the dinner table in his native Houlton.

"That's how she got us to eat potatoes — salt, pepper, butter and Lady Ashburnhams. We'd eat it just about every night," Beaton said. "It's definitely a staple in kitchens around Houlton."

The namesake, Lady Maria Ashburnham, a Canadian woman who ended up marrying a British man who became the Earl of Ashburnham, supposedly gained fame around the turn of the 20th century for her pickles — though they have largely stayed a regional delicacy in New Brunswick and in border communities in Maine, like Houlton.

Lady A pickles, as they are also known, are far from the only thing Beaton makes under his The Canning Man label, which he launched in 2020. Before moving to Glenburn, Beaton was a classically trained chef at restaurants including the Run of the Mill in Saco and the Salt Hill Pub in Hanover, New Hampshire. About three years ago he and his wife, Aimee, moved home to Maine with their three kids, and not long after, Beaton began experimenting with canning.

"They don't teach you how to water-bath can in culinary school, so it was actually a challenge for me," Beaton said. "I started out with my mom's zucchini relish and just kind of went from there."

Last year, Beaton built a certified kitchen in his Glenburn home and went through the process of having his products tested by the University of Maine food testing lab, so they're all shelf stable. Over the past year, he's added a number of sauces and dips to his lineup, including a whiskey barbecue sauce that he's particularly proud of, as well as various Asian cuisine-inspired sauces and marinades and hot sauces.

"I never would have imagined that this is the path I'd be on. I'd always dreamed of having my own restaurant, but when you've got three kids it's kind of hard to do that," Beaton said. "This really allows me to be creative and try new recipes and mess around with food. That's what I really love to do."

Though some of his recipes are self-developed, like the sweet curry pickles and the barbecue sauces and marinades, some come straight from old family recipes, like the Lady Ashburnham pickles and the pickled beets, courtesy of his Aunt Betty, all of which have been made by his family for more than a century.

Beaton sources the majority of the produce he pickles from local farms, and right now is processing hundreds of pounds of green beans into dilly beans, which he says are his most popular offering overall. Though his products are available at local stores including Tiller & Rye in Brewer, Mainely Mercantile in Bangor, Tradewinds in Blue Hill and the County Co-op and Farm Store in Houlton, he said he really enjoys being at the Bangor Farmers Market each week.

"They have a great thing going there, and everything all those farmers sell is just beautiful. They work so hard to grow such beautiful food," Beaton said. "I feel really lucky to be a part of it."

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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