Figure 1. A watering can makes a handy shower. The user can easily tip the can to get water as needed. Illustration by George Eaton Figure 2. Loops of poly piping lie in pairs alongside one another, every 4 to 6 inches or so, within the compost pile. Illustration by Dennis Carter By Dennis Carter
Warm air from an attic is blown through this cabinet to dry produce. The drying cabinet setup. Warm air from the basement keeps plants in the coldframe from freezing. A small, well insulated box in the garage stores root crops. By Eric Evans My wife, Laura, and I love to eat the fruit and veggies
Bernardo Bellosa (far left) and Pedro Cabezas (next to Bellosa) from the Association for the Development of El Salvador gave members of the MOFGA-El Salvador Sistering delegation an overview of environmental issues facing El Salvador. We told members of our sistering organizations about organic farming successes and challenges in Maine – and shared posters for
Stock up on ingredients for fall and winter recipes at the Common Ground Country Fair farmers’ markets. John Williams photo By Roberta Bailey Here we are at another September, another Common Ground Country Fair. We have persevered through drought and heat, wild thunderstorms and unexpectedly chilly nights. We have reveled in a cool breeze, cooled
A sampling of the staff of MOFGA Certification Services LLC: Left to right – Chris Grigsby, Katy Green, Laurah Brown, Grace Keown, Jacomijn Schravesande-Gardei, Katie Webb (with daughter Edith). By Chris Grigsby, MOFGA Certification Services LLC Director As MOFGA moves toward its 50th birthday, the world of organic agriculture differs vastly from that world in
Toki Oshima drawing By Roberta Bailey These days “kindness” is the word that I hold in the foreground of my mind. It is on a slip of paper at the corner of my bathroom mirror, the base of my computer, and I envision it on the inside of my forehead. It helps me move through
Cabbage aphids on kale growing in a tunnel. Photo by Eric Sideman Habitat plants flowering among brussels sprouts. Photo by Becky Sideman By Eric Sideman, Ph.D. Although it may seem so, the cabbage aphid is not a new pest. My favorite discussion of this pest is in a 1928 text called “Destructive and Useful Insects, Their Habits and
The author in a Grasslings tree. Photo by John Bunker John Bunker with one of the Blake candidates. Photo by Laura Sieger By Laura Sieger, MEHO Intern In 2016, MOFGA’s Maine Heritage Orchard (MEHO) had another successful year. In April we planted 55 more heirloom varieties that were new to the orchard. From June through October MOFGA apprentices Nick
By Diane Schivera, M.A.T. This is my annual wrap-up of meetings I attended in 2016, beginning with the 20th annual Northeast Pasture Consortium (NEPC) meeting held in Maine at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport. It was very exciting to have the meeting in Maine for the first time in its history. The meeting sessions included
Toki Oshima drawing By C.J. Walke Organic growers face numerous challenges with pest management, regardless of the crops grown, and look to crop rotation, biological controls and carefully timed applications of approved materials to target the pest at hand. Organic tree fruit are vulnerable to many insect pests over the course of the season, whether those pests
