By Will Bonsall Suppose you want to improve your garden soil’s tilth by organic means, but for some reason or other animal manure just doesn’t work for you. Maybe you just don’t have access to it since you don’t keep livestock yourself. Maybe you can buy commercial compost mixes (which are largely cow manure), but
August 13, 2021 With the exception of protected growing for season extension, most growers’ seeding thoughts have moved beyond late-season edible crops, and toward squeezing in autumn/winter cover crops before it’s so late they don’t produce much biomass. (I say this now, and who knows, it may be a long, warm autumn … )
July 2, 2021 June’s dry start to the growing season has made for a generally low disease pressure around the region. Most of us have not experienced conditions which allow for the prolonged leaf wetness that many diseases require to take hold. Two similar tomato diseases may begin to show up if you experience
June 4, 2021 Recent rains provided very welcome relief for most growers around the region. Long-term forecasting (two-three weeks out) is showing probabilities of temperatures that are above the normal range for June, with a slight probability for precipitation to be below normal. As of June 1, most of Maine was considered “abnormally dry” by U.S. Drought
By Lauren Cormier I was one of many volunteers at the first tree planting day in the Maine Heritage Orchard eight years ago in the spring of 2014. Then, hardly a plant was in sight within the precipitous gravel pit that descended sharply to a pond. It had recently been terraced and regraded when we
By Noah Gleason-Hart In a low-impact forestry system, humans have an active role to play as forest consumers and stewards as long as we acknowledge our limited understanding of forest ecosystems. LIF recognizes that forest ecosystems are more complex than we currently understand and therefore operates thoughtfully with caution and humility as core principles. Another
By Chris Grigsby, Director of MOFGA Certification Services, LLC For those of us who work within the certified organic landscape every day, we sometimes miss that becoming familiar with what certified organic means, and doesn’t mean, isn’t something that everyone is familiar with. This is the case for both farmers and producers, as well as
By Jacki Martinez Perkins Chickens are a popular addition to homesteads due to their efficiency and easy maintenance. Ducks can be another enjoyable option for many reasons. Their personalities are far less aggressive than chickens, their management considerations differ and, because of a difference in proteins, some individuals who cannot digest chicken eggs are able
By Caleb Goossen, MOFGA’s Crop Specialist One of the events that I look forward to at the Common Ground Country Fair every year is the “Answers to Your Organic Vegetable Questions” session that I put on each morning in the MOFGA Tent with Eric Sideman, MOFGA’s crop specialist emeritus, and Mark Hutton, University of Maine
Celebrating Fall Flavor and History By Roberta Bailey Early last winter, a friend of mine told me about an ancient tree on the farm where she used to live. It was a Northern Spy apple tree. She said it was the old strain of Northern Spy, better than what seems to be around now. Her
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