By Sonja Heyck-Merlin “We can’t get close enough to see the calves,” says Keith Radonis. “We use binoculars to investigate, and we think it’s two females and a male, but we’re not sure.” Scientifically speaking, these calves — the first to be born at Flying Boat Farm in Whitefield, Maine — are bison, not buffalo.
On 11 a.m. on Thursday, November 18, 2021, The Maine Organic Marketplace will celebrate its grand opening. The marketplace is located at 55 Main Street in Freeport, Maine, and is a project of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA). “What started as a pop-up store in the winter of 2020 has now grown
It’s an exciting time at MOFGA. We’re celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, and we’re amazed at what this community has been able to accomplish together over the past 50 years. Looking ahead, we’re energized by our ambitious goals for creating a food system that is healthy and fair for all of us.Since 1971, the
The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) is pleased to announce that its new storefront in Freeport, Maine, is now open. The Maine Organic Marketplace, located at 55 Main Street in the old Bartol Library downtown, allows MOFGA to grow its presence in southern Maine. The storefront will support Maine’s producers through the sale
Welcome to the 2021 Daytripping list, an annual feature in The MOF&G. At this year’s farm and garden tours, learn about seed saving, granite splitting, organic vegetable gardening, chicken breeding, growing fruit trees organically, sourdough bread baking and much more. For more farms to visit this summer, please check the event calendar on MOFGA’s website,
By Holli Cederholm Through art, Kathryn Cody Russell of Limington, Maine, finds clarity under pressure: She started sketching her winning design, which reimagines MOFGA’s tree logo with the inclusion of fruits and vegetables significant to Maine agriculture, just days before the 2021 Common Ground Country Fair art contest deadline. “Art, for a very long time,
By Catie Joyce-Bulay Last season the confusion and safety concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic brought on a need for farmers to pivot to new marketing strategies. They worked quickly to build no-contact sales and distribution systems, rapidly changing how they got product out to customers. Many farmers turned to the internet. Although many farms incorporated
By Will Brinton One hears the phrase “soil health” so often these days it seems to be reaching a crescendo. Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) formed an entire Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) division for it. Around the same time, the Soil Health Institute (SHI) was formed, including sponsorship by USDA, agribusiness and
By Holli Cederholm On Thalassa Raasch’s outstretched palm is a rainbow of pollen – yellow, orange, gray, green and even bright blue – reflecting the colors of the early spring blooms that honeybees have collected the grains from. It is a sunny, 60-degree day in April and Raasch, clad in coveralls and a floral-print neckerchief
By Tim Nason Russell Libby wrote editorials for The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener during 1993 and 1994, when he served as MOFGA board president, and from 1996 to 2012 as MOFGA’s executive director. Most of the editorials targeted a specific topic, such as the use of persistent pesticides; the increase in toxins in our
