Category: Farming

Ridge Tillage at Hackmatack Farm

Photo 1 – The ridge tillage system used at Hackmatack Farm essentially means we grow crops in single-row raised beds. Photo 2 – Onions in July. Photo 3 – Forming ridges in the spring. Photo 4 – Ridged soil in the spring Figure 1 – Depending on the crop, either one, two or three rows

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The Multitalented Sidemans

Eric and Becky Sideman in a rare moment of sitting – on a granite boulder in the middle of one pasture. The 80- by 100-foot garden in spring. Vegetables are rotated between this garden and the smaller one near the house. Text and photos by Jean English Many of us know Eric and Becky Sideman

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Young Flower Growers Blooming in Maine

Katie Savalchak, one of MOFGA’s journeypersons, grows flowers for cutting at her Sacred Bough Farm in Hancock. Photo courtesy of Katie Savalchak. By Karen Volckhausen I was interested to read in the spring issue of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers Quarterly the angst expressed by Frank Arnosky, president of the association, over the

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Grange Corner Farm: Growing Grains Suited to the Northeast

Sam Mudge checks on his field of ‘Danko’ winter rye (right) and ‘Sirvinta’ winter wheat (left). Photo by Aube Giroux. By Holli Cederholm Grange Corner Farm, a MOFGA certified organic farm, stretches across 30 acres of old hayfields on a windy crest with panoramic views of the Camden Hills in Lincolnville, Maine. Sam Mudge says

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New American Farmers

New American Sustainable Agriculture Project graduate Jabril Abdi pauses in his corn field. Batula Ismail farms her plot in Lisbon. By Stowell P. Watters Photos by Greta Rybus Here is a nightmare we Mainers can only imagine: A group of men with assault rifles comes barreling across the savannah to demand that we part with

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Many Hands Farm

Nyla Bravesnow of Many Hands Farm in Thorndike picks rose hips. Many Hands focuses on homesteading and permaculture on 2 cultivated acres. Photo by Sue Smith-Heavenrich. By Sue Smith-Heavenrich If you visit Many Hands Farm in Thorndike, the first thing you notice is the abundance of flowers: sunflowers, coneflowers, beebalm and calendula. Lots of calendula.

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Rediscovering the Family Farm

Toki Oshima drawing. By Grace Oedel My husband and I recently moved in with my in-laws with the intention of farming family land. I wish I could say this was a smooth, easy process, but we all struggled. We were unused to what it meant to live together. We had differing expectations about how to

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Atina Diffley

Atina and Martin Diffley with 140 International Tractor. Photo by Laurie Schneider, from https://atinadiffley.com/press-kit/ Organic farmers have a sacred, fundamental, philosophical relationship to the land – a relationship worth fighting for. So said Atina Diffley, author of Turn Here Sweet Corn, during her keynote speech at MOFGA’s 2013 Farmer to Farmer Conference. Diffley’s earliest memories

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Bahner Farm

Mike and Christa Bahner with their now 2-year-old daughter Lizzy. Photos courtesy of Bahner Farm. By Holli Cederholm Bahner Farm’s 37 acres of woodlot and tillable land abuts a busy stretch of Rt. 3 in Belmont, Maine, with just enough road frontage for their farmhouse, barn and, most importantly, their newly built farmstand. When Mike

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Peace Farm

Masanobu (left) and Tomoko Ikemiya cut elderberries at their Peace Farm in Bar Harbor. All photos by the author. By Laurie Schreiber “Well, here we are! This is it!” Masanobu Ikemiya declares in greeting, and then sets out on a tour of Peace Farm, the self-sustaining homestead he’s built with his wife, Tomoko, in Bar

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