Archives: Resources

Pest Control

A Natural System Just Dying for Balance By Jean English Michael Zuck gave an inspiring talk at MOFGA and Cooperative Extension’s Farmer to Farmer Conference about using teosinte and other plants as “banker plants” in greenhouses – plants that support pests that, in turn, support beneficial insects. English photo. Michael Zuck’s fascination with nature’s multiple

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Angleworms

Illustration from “Earthworm Biology and Production,” Leaflet 2828, University of California Cooperative Extension, Berkeley, Calif., 1977. By Jean Ann Pollard Always with us and the farmer’s friend. Right? Is that what you think when you think ‘gardening’ – when you see those long, red angleworms surfacing all over the lawn and under the rhubarb after

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Ramial Chips

Toki Oshima drawing By Tom Roberts I get excited about chips. Not potato chips or silicon chips, but wood chips. I believe they are a vastly underutilized resource on the organic farm. Chips are coarser than the coarsest sawdust, shavings or shingle hair. They range in size from a quarter to a slice of bread.

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Satoyama

In early May, the paddies are ready for rice planting in a satoyama region of Chita Peninsula. Photo by Kato Sadamichi. By Kato Sadamichi and Allison Wallace Imagine for a moment that the Europeans never arrived in the Americas – that the Vikings never stumbled upon the Atlantic’s western shore, and those three little ships

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Rice

By Jean English The story is the same, only the crop variety and country have been changed. The story is one of small scale farmers who were producing primarily for local markets being told by foreign governments and multinational corporations that they have to change their ways: to monocultures; export crops; synthetic pesticide and fertilizer

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El Salvador

In Carasque, El Salvador, grower Betto Ayala peels a pineapple while his animals enjoy the rind. A delegation of farmers and activists from MOFGA’s “sister” groups in El Salvador will come to Maine in September and participate in the Common Ground Country Fair. Photo by Lucy Funkhouser. The El Salvador delegation By Lucy Funkhouser In

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Bento Lunch

A bento box lunch containing dead dinos, primordial sludge, and fossils, by Laurel McFarland. Laurel McFarland photo. By Cheryl Wixson My elder daughter, Laurel, who works as a nanny and home schools two delightful children, is always sharing with me photographs of the colorful and fun lunches she prepares for her charges. Using bright purple,

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Juicing

By Roberta Bailey My mother always said that things cycle back into fashion every 30 years or so. Usually she was talking about the clothes in the attic. I am not sure if it is an age thing, but I am starting to believe her. Maybe I had to let enough years pass to actually

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Food Stamps

By Melissa White Pillsbury Being largely self-employed and self-sufficient, diversified farmers as a whole may be faring better than average in this harsh economic climate. But numbers don’t lie – it’s tough out there for many Americans, and Maine is no exception. According to the most recent data available from the USDA Food and Nutrition

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Raising Rabbits on Pasture

Rabbits on pasture. Photo courtesy of www.cuniculture.info/Docs/Phototheque/Materiel07.htm By Diane Schivera, M.A.T. Raising rabbits on pasture allows the animals to exercise, engage more easily in natural behavior, and improve their overall quality of life, while giving the farmer a way to move or manage rabbit housing easily. Rabbits raised on pasture produce more meat and meat

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