Archives: Resources

Stone Fruit

Gummosis on an ornamental cherry. Photo by Roger Griffith, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_wood By C. J. Walke Most Maine orchards typically grow apples and pears – hardy, long-lived pome fruit that withstand cold Northern winters and the tests of time. However, stone fruits of the genus Prunus (peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines, apricots) are a pleasant addition to the

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High Tunnels

Speakers at MOFGA’s November 2012 Farmer to Farmer Conference addressed three crops suitable for growing in high tunnels: raspberries, ginger and winter sprouting broccoli. Raspberries in High Tunnels – Prospects for Maine David Handley of UMaine Cooperative Extension said that raspberries are challenging to grow, especially regarding labor. They’re the one crop he deals with

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Blue Orchard Bee

Blue orchard bee. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_orchard_bee By Adam Tomash Photos by the author The honeybee is the pollinator we most depend on, but other pollinators exist, and 4,000 species of feral (native) bees live in North America. Roughly one-third of these bees nest in small cavities or tunnels, such as hollow plant stems, borer tunnels and

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Spring Greens

Toki Oshima drawing By Beedy Parker I’ve been making a list of the edible greens that come early in the vegetable garden, as weeds and bonus vegetable greens. Here’s how it goes: Dandelion greens are the earliest, just the rosette out of the soft beds – and you might want to break off the root

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Wild Greens

Cut dandelion greens before the plants flower. English photo. By Chris Knapp There is something intrinsically wonderful about wild food. Over the years my wife and I have shared wild plants with countless people. Folks bend down to the earth, pick a plant and put it in their mouths. Aha! An essential truth about our

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Strawberries

An order of strawberries that was 10-times what the author ordered populated the neighborhood and family gardens – even container gardens – with the luscious plants. Photo by Joyce White. By Joyce White From the time I was 10, the first sunny days of summer vacation would find me walking purposefully past placid Holsteins munching

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Harvest Kitchen Tempting Thai Cuisine

By Roberta Bailey The folksinger Greg Brown makes me grin when he sings the line, “We’re a cross between our parents and hippies in a tent.” The line brings to mind scores of young, enthusiastic back-to-the-landers whom I have known during my 20-odd years of being one. The woman who wouldn’t even have a radio

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Common St Johnswort

Common St. Johnswort, Hypericum perforatum (right), is a useful medicinal herb that is easy to grow in the garden. Illustration from Field Book of American Wild Flowers by F. Schuyler Mathews, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, N.Y., 1902. By Deb Soule Common St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum) is native to Europe and has naturalized in fields and along roadsides throughout

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Grow Your Own Fruit Trees

By Roberta Bailey Planting fruit trees can be a big step, a commitment to a place and to one’s self. Some people plant trees as soon as they settle on a piece of land, knowing quite a few years will pass before they see fruit. For others, that same knowledge keeps them from planting. The

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Three Season Polyculture

A new type of “three season” (autumn, winter and spring) vegetable garden polyculture is being tested on Jajarkot Permaculture Program Resource Centers in Nepal. An adaptation of this method will be tested with summer crops next. The system is based on a pattern developed by Ianto Evans of Zopilote Association in Oregon and includes, as

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