Professor Gilles Lemieux, the father of pedogenesis applied to agriculture. By Céline Caron Soil is much more than “dirt.” Why is such a disrespectful word still used for one of the major components of life on Earth? Humanity could not be sustained without the living soils and the living oceans. Let’s banish the word “dirt”
John Fuchs with his ‘Ailsa Craig’ onions. Photo courtesy of John Fuchs. By John Fuchs Three key factors are involved in bringing in a bumper crop of large, tasty onions in northern New England: providing the right soil conditions; planting onions at the right time; and selecting the right varieties to plant. Onions grow best
Fava beans, from Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885. English photo. By Will Bonsall So many names for one species: favas, broad beans, field beans, Windsor beans, horsebeans, tickbeans, bell beans, pigeon beans, etc.! And such a long history: Along with wheat and barley, favas have been cultivated by humankind since the
Quince drawing by Toki Oshima By Roberta Bailey Dating back over 4000 years and originating in Persia and Anatolia, quince was once the most popular fruit grown. In the Middle Ages, quince were so highly esteemed in France that a quince preserve or marmalade called contignac was the gift to visiting royalty. When Joan of
Toki Oshima drawing By Roberta Bailey Summer is winding to a close. Even as the days cool, we scramble to pack in a few more picnics, one last long swim, and another slice of watermelon. In the garden, the race is on to ripen the remaining green tomatoes, pick the late sweet corn, bring in
Epigram to an Aroostook Potatoman By Nicolas Lindholm Seed saving has become a popular pastime and passion for many gardeners and farmers, primarily on a limited or experimental basis, and usually just for their own use. Yet an increasing number of small-scale, diversified farms are growing and marketing vegetable, flower and herb seeds as a
By Eric Sideman, Ph.D., Director of Technical Services for MOFGA I am deeply concerned about a new direction for policy that I see developing behind the scenes at the U. S. Department of Agriculture: A crusade is brewing to eliminate the use of livestock manure on vegetable farms. The forces behind the effort base their
By Diane Shivera The Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association has done a few livestock related workshops in the past two years. This column will recap some of the highlights of these workshops for those who weren’t able to attend. It will also include information that we have become aware of that might help in
By Ellie MacDougall This colorful herb and decorative plant began its journey into our gardens and onto our tables from the land of the Incas – the cool mountains of Peru. Spanish conquerors became acquainted with it in the sixteenth century, and packed its large, wrinkled seeds to bring home with them. In turn, English
Toki Oshima drawing By Roberta Bailey While visiting a friend and touring his high bush blueberry patch, I was taken by the thick understory of shiny leaved plants covered in small red berries. Lingonberries, he informed me, then went on to explain that this cranberry-blueberry relative made a great second crop in an area where
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