7 AM
The Annual Early Morning Meeting of the Mowers:
come early to join a team of scythers! No experience or equipment necessary

8 AM Yoga for Farmers
Join Maria Orlova, Certified Yoga Teacher for morning yoga. This class includes Vinyasa, core strengthening exercises and stretching. Inverse positions and creative variations on the basics. There is a deep relaxation and visualization session at the end. Beginners to intermediate levels are welcome.

Horse-Drawn Farm Equipment Demos
with local horseman Neal McNaughten

Pasture Raised Rabbits and Butcher Demonstration
Cheryl Wixson, MOFGA's Resident Chef and Perly Emery of the Western Maine Rabbit Breeders Association
Methods for raising rabbit colonies on pasture, ideas for housing will be included.

Poultry Exhibitors & Talks
Come talk about raising your own chickens and ducks for eggs and meat. 
If you have your own birds already please bring pictures of your housing!
Diane Schivera, MOFGA's Organic Livestock Specialist

Raising Guinea Fowl & Heritage Turkeys
Join Dana Manchester of Shady Hollow Gamebirds in Morrill to discuss how to get started with guinea fowl an heritage turkeys. He will discuss incubation and hatching as well as brooding day old birds. Dana will also bring along a range house and will discuss housing options for a variety of situations.

Turkey Genetics- Color & Selection for Growth
Bob Hawes, from Central Maine Bird Fanciers, will give an introduction to turkey genetics, specifically turkey varieties and the genetics of color patterns. He will also speak about selection for meat production.


Common Pitfalls of Backyard Poultry Production
How to protect your flock from disease and predation. Dr. Don Hoenig wiil speak about the Maine Department of Agriculture's avian influenza surveillance and outreach to small flock owners.

No-Till Drill Demonstration
Come and see the no-till drill in action. This training is required for
Maine Grass Farmers Network members to borrow the drill.

Beef Raising 101
Come hear the basics from Gabe Clark, Cold Spring Ranch, North New Portland

Wood Lot Tour
Join consulting Forester Sam Brown for a teaching tour of MOFGA's woodlot.
We'll look at the results of MOFGA's ongoing Low-Impact forest management
strategies, cover tree ID and uses, harvest planning and access layout, and
options for small-scale harvest technologies and equipment.

Chainsaw Sharpening & Basic Maintenance
A sharp, well-running saw is key to successful, efficient woodcutting. John
Cullen, Certified Logging Professional, will demystify the wily chainsaw. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own saws, wrenches and files for a bit of hands on work at the end of the session.

Timber Felling Demonstration
John Cullen, Certified Logging Professional, will discuss and demonstrate a
simple, safe and effective method of timber felling. This is a directional felling session, concentrating on safety and efficiency, using a bore cut. Directional felling is crucial if one is going to practice low impact forestry on one's one land.This will be a preview of our Chainsaw Safety Workshop in November.

Sweet Potatoes
Locally grown sweet potatoes are nutritious, delicious, and keep well. Becky Becky Grube, UNH Cooperative Extension will discuss what they know about the best varieties for our area, as well as how to grow, harvest, cure and store sweet potatoes in cooler climates.

MOFGA'S Newly Expanded
Culinary Permaculture Herb Garden
Come and see us, as we expand the existing garden to help fuel our many kitchen programs and serve as a permaculture demonstration.

Back by Popular Demand!
Lacto-fermented Foods
Join Ana & Roy Antaki of Weeping Duck Farm for an informative presentation on lacto-fermentation.

Weed & Pest ID & Management
 By early June gardens should be mostly planted but do not sit back. A successful garden is riding on vigilance. Come walk the gardens at MOFGA with Eric Sideman, Organic Crop Specialist and CJ Walke, Landscape Coordinator and see which pests are there already.

Insects & Diseases
"Be prepared" is not only for Boy Scouts. Gardeners do best when they know what to expect and are ready to manage it. Come see some pictures and discussion about garden problems sure to arise over the summer.

Homestead Metalworking
Alan Clemence will go over a variety of useful metalworking tools, tips and techniques that may be helpful for maintenance and repair--and for getting along with the metal in your life in general. There will be an emphasis on best practices for standard, familiar tools and how a typical small farm operation might economically make use of various metalworking processes. Inquiries about specific needs or problems will also be welcome. Alan has a lengthy background as a machinist and is a longtime MOFGA member.

Baking in a Wood Fired Oven
with Kendra Michaud of Fire Flour Bakery

Edible Herbal, Medicinal Plants Walk
Shana Hanson will guide a walk of the MOFGA grounds.

Dairy Goat Milking Demonstration
Grace Keown of Cloudy Mountain Farm will demonstrate dairy goat milking technique on several of her Alpine does. Alpine kids will also be on display for petting and enjoying.

What To Do When the Vet's Not There
Dr. McEvoy will talk about what you can do before the vet arrives, and information that would be valuable to have before you call them. She will also cover a basic physical exam and first aide.

Blacksmithing Demos
Visit MOFGA's post & beam blacksmith shop to learn the ancient art of the forge, and go home with a handmade work of art.

 Tour of Solar Heating Systems at MOFGA
Mechanical Engineer Jay LeGore will lead a tour of MOFGA two solar heating systems. The first system is a flat-plate air circulating system which uses the sun to heat a sprinkler building that houses large water tanks to provide water to our sprinkler system. Before this hot-air solar panel was installed we were was using propane to keep the water from freezing. Hot-air collectors can also be used to direct heated air into basements in homes or heat to agricultural structures. The second system Jay will present is an array of hot-water collectors which heat water for the space heating at MOFGA's main building. This active water system uses AET copper plate collectors and home-made collector plates to heat water which is transported through a heat exchanger to a large storage tank in the building.

MOFGA Windmill Tour (9:15am Meet at the Windmill)
Vernon LeCount, MOFGA’s Facilities Coordinator, will lead a tour of the 10,000 watt Bergey wind generator on the MOFGA grounds. Vernon will cover site selection, tower-base construction, tower-raising, generator models, and other wind related topics for people considering the purchase of a small-scale wind generator.

Spinning & Fiber Demonstrations
Members of the Wednesday Spinners
meeting together every Wednesday--September through May--since 1975
Spinning demonstrations all day on a variety of wheels, with samples of spinning fibers and handspun yarns. Other spinning equipment on display. Abundant information will be available from our many years of spinning together.

Tool, Garden Supply and Seedling Vendors
Brae Maple Farm
Half Moon Gardens
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Scythe Supply

Lunch available for purchase
by Crosstrax Catering

Plan to spend the last Saturday in May with MOFGA at Small Farm Field Day!