Organic and Sustainable Agriculture News

Late harvest sows problems for farmers Wall Street Journal - 10/31/2009. By Joe Barrett – Piper City, Ill.: Most years, Larry Thorndyke has his corn fully harvested by Halloween. This year, almost all of his 1,400 acres of corn are still in the field, exposing his farm to crop disease, bad weather and a potential financial nightmare. Conference in Caribou targets pests Bangor Daily News - 10/30/2009. By Jen Lynds – Caribou: An outbreak of spruce budworm during the 1970-80s damaged forests and irked landowners and scientists who fought to counter the damage done by the pests. Despite the devastation it caused, the outbreak taught forest managers, scientists and others a great deal about what to do to prevent a possible recurrence and combat it if one does occur. Dresden: Helping with the harvest Kennebec Journal - 10/30/2009. By Mechele Cooper – Dresden: Elizabeth Lakeman ran her hands back and forth through the rich, brown earth looking for yellow fingerling potatoes. The retired L.L. Bean employee showed up Thursday morning at Goranson Farm on River Road to offer her help. The certified organic farm, owned by Jan Goranson and her husband, Rob Johanson, lost most of their potato and tomato crops to late blight – an airborne, spore-based disease that thrives in cool, moist weather. Now that winter is approaching, they need to salvage 6 acres of seed potatoes. They're short staffed and in need of potato pickers. Ecologies of value Harvard Gazette Online - 10/29/2009. By Corydon Ireland – In the ancient Mediterranean world, tapered ceramic jars called amphorae were used to store and transport fish, olive oil, grapes, grain, and other goods. When these containers were used for wine, Greek merchants stamped them with regional seals. These seals were the earliest sign of what is now known as terroir, the notion that a wine or other food embodies a sense of place. “Field notes: late blight in ‘09, how to avoid it in ‘10” Organic Consumers - 10/29/2009. By Amy LeBlanc – Having late blight arrive in my gardens in 2009 was like adding insult to injury. We managed to miss the early round of blight as we grow all our own seedlings. It did arrive on the wind however, and around July 18th I had decisions to make. Basically I decided I was NOT going to lose my tomato crop. That meant getting an NOP approved copper fungicide formulation – Champ WG. And we bought two new hand-held sprayers. Reasons aplenty for raising, hunting your own meat Portland Press Herald - 10/28/2009. By Avery Yale Kamila – Turns out most people don't like seeing the true face of food. This became clear after the Oct. 7 edition of the Press Herald hit subscribers' doorsteps. When readers flipped to the Food & Dining section they found themselves confronted with the crispy face of a roasted pig. Smaller pumpkins, better pies Portland Press Herald - 10/28/2009. By Brooke Dojny – Fall means mounds of pumpkins – enormous Halloween jack-o'-lanterns in all sorts of phantasmagorical shapes, and the small "baby" or sugar pumpkins, which, because they are sweeter and less fibrous, are a better choice for cooking and eating. Current  Archive     Page: 1 2 3 4 5