Leek moth. Photo by David Fuller Leek moth larvae on the inside of an onion leaf. Photo by David Fuller By Dave Fuller, Agriculture and Non-Timber Forest Products Professional, UMaine Cooperative Extension, Franklin County Leek moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella Zeller), a very destructive pest of all of the Allium genus, was first found in Jackman, Maine,
Two native sweat bees. Photo by Daniel B. VanWart Carpenter bee. Photo by Daniel B. VanWart Eastern bumblebee. Photo by Daniel B. VanWart Half black bumblebee. Photo by Daniel B. VanWart By Gail J. VanWart Photos © Daniel B. VanWart, used with permission My husband, Daniel, and I steward an organic wild blueberry farm in
Cabbage, garlic, rosemary, sage and thyme – just some of the kitchen herbs and vegetables that promote health. English photo By Roberta Bailey As farmers, gardeners and overly busy people, we barely make time to feed ourselves well, let alone truly nourish and support our bodies. Our lives are a constant juggle of making time,
The author’s mother in a field of buckwheat at the author’s grandfather’s farm in Canaan in the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of Joyce White Buckwheat grown as an alley crop in a young orchard at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center. English photo By Joyce White When a neighbor extolled the health benefits of buckwheat, I
Yacon. Photo by Will Bonsai By Will Bonsall Years ago in conversations with my Peruvian sister-in-law, I learned about many traditional foods she grew up eating that were not readily found in the United States – things like oca, mashua, ulluco, quinoa, chuño (freeze-dried bitter potatoes), nuñas (popping beans), yacon, etc. Some of them are
The Rusted Rooster Farm family, left to right (with ages as of Oct. 2017): Sean, Chloe (3), Jackson (5), Sandra, Lacey (17 months) and Shannon (6). Photo by Lily Piel Mowing a cover crop of peas and oats for cattle feed with an 826 International. Photo by Sean O’Donnell Sean at work in his John
Toki Oshima drawing By Jaco Schravesande-Gardei MOFGA Certification Services LLC Organic, natural, sustainable, local, responsibly grown … When shopping at farmers’ markets or grocery stores, consumers face a barrage of enticing labels. What do they mean … if anything? Only the term “organic” has specific, legal, federal standards that farmers must follow and relates to
Toki Oshima drawing By Roberta Bailey Every spring, along with the usual house cleaning, I sort out the freezers and the canned goods in the pantry, making room for the first bags of spinach and fiddleheads, and for the new jars of strawberry jam and pickled snap peas. Nothing makes last year’s canned goods look
Nick Zandstra By Nick Zandstra One of the underlying premises of MOFGA, I think, is relationships: apprentices with mentors, interest groups with politicians, people with their food, people with the state of Maine. Relationships of all sorts that bring people together, that form connections, that create community. When MOFGA purchased its site in 1996, the
David Rocque. English photo MOFGA’s 2016 Spring Growth Conference addressed soils, with experts from the state of Maine, from two state universities and from three MOFGA-certified organic farms. David Rocque, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry soil scientist, defined “soils,” talked about soil-forming factors – especially parent materials – and about identifying soil types
