Eating al fresco brings humans closer to nature and shows jealous animals how much easier it is to pick up snacks with opposable thumbs. Enjoy noshing under the equally thumb-less stars with today’s Groupon: for $35, you get one ticket to the Tastefully Maine: Midsummer Food & Spirits in the Gardens midsummer market preview event held on Thursday, July 21 from 5 p.m.–8 p.m. at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay (a $75 value).

Tastefully Maine: Midsummer Food & Spirits in the Gardens delights eventide eaters with a music-laced soiree catered by more than 30 restaurateurs and artisanal producers such as Gelato Fiasco, Cellardoor Winery, and Azure Café. Once revelers have sated the screams of stomach sirens with myriad tummy treasures, they can scour the just-opened midsummer market for environmentally-amiable wares and wearables to gift to backyard tree-spirits disgruntled about years of forgotten birthdays. Meanwhile, a big-band performance by The Edith Jones Project treats tune-starved ears to a jazz-infused feast and causes shoulders to shake like a maraca in a paint mixer.

Noted as one of Yankee Magazine's top five best public gardens in 2010, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens flaunts 250 acres of verdant surrounds and blossoming landscapes decorated with nature-inspired art installations. The Tastefully Maine event celebrates the opening of its Bosarge Family Education Center, a LEED-certified zero-net-energy building that also plays slide trombone in its spare time.