By Dusty Dowse Some time back, the topic of bread for the Common Kitchen that feeds the Fair volunteers came up at a steering committee meeting. Folks thought it would be neat to be able to bake bread on site. Turns out there was a way. As a long-time MOFGA member, a bakery owner and
By Roberta Bailey Hallelujah! We made it to the longer days of spring and the much yearned for warmth of the sun. I hope you are all faring well and that along with the sunshine comes an unlocking of our tightly bound, weary hearts. Throughout the pandemic I have marveled over how I barely noticed
Raspberry leaves June 1, 2020 Amid the harvest of tomatoes, green beans, broccoli and other veggies this summer, take some time to harvest the makings for tea. An hour or two spent harvesting the leaves of raspberry, mint and other plants, then drying them, can save several dollars in herbal tea bills throughout the year,
Drawing by Toki Oshima By Roberta Bailey Well, we have made it this far in the pandemic. It is a time of such extremes: the extreme pain of missing people, of not being there for holidays, birthdays, weddings and deaths. Some businesses are thriving and some have closed their doors; some had to temporarily shut
Toki Oshima illustration By Roberta Bailey I have been thinking about cycles. Maybe I am always thinking about cycles. As soon as the weather turns colder in September, I start to crave winter squash. And late June has me watching the baby summer squash, balancing my urge to pick it and eat it with the
Over-mature garlic breaks apart and will not store as well, so it can be dried and ground into garlic powder. Photo by Kindle Bonsall By Will Bonsall I go to a lot of effort to produce food crops, and nothing irks me more than having useable food go to waste. I’ve heard people say, “Nothing really
By Roberta Bailey Many magazine or periodical journalists write their pieces for the readers of the future. With my Harvest Kitchen column, for example, I write in April for the summer issue of The MOF&G. Normally I don’t know in April whether summer will turn out to have been dry or whether we will have
One way to deal with the challenges of farming and gardening is to plant a variety of crops. English photo By Roberta Bailey As farmers and gardeners, we are all well acquainted with impermanence and resilience. The well-weeded row quickly becomes ragged. The peas mature and go by. A petite zucchini quickly swells to the
These shiitake mushrooms grown by Toshio Hashimoto of Rumford won a judges’ award in the Exhibition Hall at the Common Ground Country Fair. English photo By Roberta Bailey Mushrooms have come into the spotlight lately. They are strutting their stuff. Once they were thought of as just another white food, flavorful and filling but void of much
Toki Oshima drawing By Roberta Bailey How strange not to be gathering for a celebration of Common Ground. For so many of us, the Fair has been a place to catch up with friends from afar, to listen to talks and learn how to do it all better, to eat great food, to sell or
