by Mitch Lansky Note: These principles and goals are derived from Lansky’s book, “Low-Impact Forestry; Forestry as if the Future Mattered.” They have not been voted on, so are not the official stance of MOFGA’s Low-Impact Forestry Committee. I. Forests are part of the ecological support system upon which we depend for survival, not simply
Linden leaves, flowers, fruit, twig and seed. From Trees of Northeastern United States, Native and Naturalized, by H.P. Brown, Ph.D., The Christopher Publishing House, Boston, 1938. by Deb Soule In southern Maine, linden trees begin blooming in late June. Their sweet fragrance invites thousands of honeybees to feed upon the abundant nectar that the yellowish-green
“Hops” usually refers to the female flowers of hop vines, shown here growing at Merryspring Nature Center in Camden, Maine. Researchers at USDA Agricultural Research Service in Oregon have developed a new variety called ‘Teamaker’ that is especially good for making herbal tea. English photo. Drinking impure water was once a common way to pick
Elderberry flowers make a soothing tea. Photo by Thomas G. Barnes @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database. by Joyce White Robert Henderson comments in “The Neighborhood Forager” that the elderberry (genus Sambucus) “is a case study in the dramatic conversion of North Americans from largely self-sufficient peoples to consumers.” Because of its variety of uses, elder bushes
Elementary schools in Union 74 in Lincoln County are integrating foods into the curriculum. Through FARMS (Focus on Agriculture in Rural Schools), children taste-test freshly harvested foods and meet the farmers who grow them. School cafeterias are beginning to order directly from farmers in a pilot program that began in the fall of 2007. Food
Waldorf schools, which number over 900 worldwide and are the fastest growing independent, nondenominational educational movement in the world, seek “to see the whole in every part, to engage the head, the hands, and the heart,” according to the Web site of the Rockport, Maine, Ashwood Waldorf School (ashwoodwaldorf.org). Founded in Germany in 1919 by
Demand Creates Opportunity for Maine Farmers by Diane Schivera and Jean English Consumers’ demand for organic and cage-free eggs surpasses the supply that Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs and Nellie’s Nest Cage Free Eggs can offer, so for the first time in about two decades, a company is coming to Maine in search of growers
Maine Department of Agriculture Educational Outreach Trailers Pitch the Right Message by Marada Cook Say you went to the fair. Not the Common Ground Country Fair, but, as a local homeschooler put it – a “real” fair – one with a midway, cotton candy, dust, bright lights and teenage excitement. You’d expect to see horse
Breeding Better Varieties for Northeast Organic Growers by Sue Smith-Heavenrich Chris Awald didn’t set out to breed a new pumpkin variety; he just wanted a stronger handle for his jack-o-lanterns. Sixteen years ago, with the ink barely dry on his degree in land surveying, Awald returned to the family homestead near Buffalo, New York. “My
Growing cut flowers can be management- and labor-intensive, but they are a high-margin crop if managed well – and they beautify your fields. At the November Farmer-to-Farmer Conference in Bethel, Maine, Barbara Murphy of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in South Paris, Nancy Stedman of Little River Flower Farm in Buxton and Don Beckwith
