Lemon balm is just one of the garden volunteers that can be used to make jellies. English photo. by Roberta Bailey This was a summer for appreciating volunteers. I didn’t necessarily have a lot of people volunteering to help weed or mulch, and I wasn’t dedicating the summer to all the great efforts of MOFGA
by Jean Ann Pollard Marian Morash, in The Victory Garden Cookbook (Knopf, 1982), gives a perfect (and poetic) description of Brussels sprouts. The tiny “cabbages,” she says, “develop along a thick 20- to 22-inch-high stalk that grows straight up from the ground. The sprouts start at the bottom and circle around the stalk, interrupted occasionally
Illustration courtesy of University of Alaska Fairbanks. by Cheryl Wixson Root-cellaring is a saving technique for ordinary winter storage of fresh, raw, whole vegetables and fruits that have not been processed to increase their keeping quality. The root cellar is a way to hold these foods for several months after their normal harvest in a
Takeshi Akaogi and his wife, Linda, are experimenting with rice cultivation in Vermont. by Cheryl Bruce For the past two years, Linda and Takeshi Akaogi have been experimenting with growing rice on their small farm in Putney, Vermont. In March 2008, they received a SARE Farmer Grant to evaluate the viability of rice production in
Russ Libby, MOFGA’s executive director, opened MOFGA’s 2008 Spring Growth Conference in March by asking, “What are the implications of changing energy prices and changing climate on Maine farmers?” He acknowledged Maine Rural Partners and the Risk Management Agency for underwriting the cost of the conference. Climate Change, Species Change George Jacobson, state climatologist and
Avoiding Ticks 1.Wear long pants, tuck pant legs into socks and tuck your shirt into your pants when walking in woods, brush or tall grass. Ticks attach to clothing and then walk upward. 2. Wear light-colored clothing, to spot ticks more easily. 3. Inspect yourself, your clothing, companions and pets for ticks after a ramble
Black Gold for Soil, Long-Term Carbon Storage for Earth by Jean English Biochar (or agrichar) is the product of pyrolysis – of burning plant material under controlled, low-oxygen conditions (in a kiln, for example) to produce charcoal. Adding this highly stable form of carbon to soils may increase plant yields (especially on degraded soils); reduce
by Marada Cook Thinking about starting a farm? Looking for good land, good markets that are reasonably close, a little (or a lot) of start-up capital, a place to live, a way to pay bills in the off-season, a community of organic farmers, equipment that isn’t outrageously expensive or in disrepair? Maybe you’ve found the
McDougal Orchard in Sanford is one of three farms that Maine Farmland Trust has helped protect. Bridget Besaw photo. by John Piotti When I give presentations on farming in Maine, I usually begin with this true-or-false quiz: • In the last two federal agricultural censuses, the number of farmers in Maine increased. • In the
Allen Smith and daughter Isabel selling apple products at the 2007 Common Ground Fair. Photo courtesy Allen Smith. by Craig Idlebrook When I first met Allen Smith at the end of the 2007 Common Ground Country Fair, he had the tired look of someone who had dished out hundreds of apple cider-sweetened snow-cones for three
