Archives: Resources

Bee Friendly Farming

Pollinator Profiles More than 270 species of bees are native to Maine. Here are a few that you might see in your meadows and crops this summer: Bumblebees (family Apidae) – Sixteen species of bumblebees live in Maine, ranging in size from under 1/2 inch to about an inch long. They are hairy, and usually

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CoolBot

The CoolBot “fools” an air conditioner into thinking that the temperature in a room is 65 F, even when it is much colder. The small device enables growers to turn a storage room with an ordinary air conditioner into a cold storage facility. Photo by Phil Norris. By Phil Norris Now and then an invention

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Maine to Palestine

by Molly Little What struck me most in my first few weeks as a MOFGA farm apprentice two summers ago wasn’t the hard work. It wasn’t the beauty of the clear night sky far from the light pollution of Providence, Rhode Island, where I had been going to school. It wasn’t even the simple joy

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Livestock

by Diane Schivera, M.A.T. The 2008 Farmer-to-Farmer Conference, sponsored by MOFGA and Maine Cooperative Extension, had lots to offer livestock farmers. The livestock sessions were some of the best attended, and enthusiasm for livestock is high. Here are some highlights from those sessions. Integrating Livestock Into Vegetable Operations University of Maine Extension Educator Rick Kersbergen

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Harvest Kitchen Sweet Potatoes

by Roberta Bailey When I was just starting to garden in northern Maine, I would stop at a small, local greenhouse to ask the older woman who ran the operation about seedling problems or how to plant something. I no longer remember her name or much of what she looked like, but I vividly recall

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Growing Sweet Potatoes in Northern New England

When Becky Grube grew a crop of sweet potatoes under black Biotelo mulch (not yet approved for use on organic farms) and intercropped with mowed ryegrass and white clover, the intercrops interfered with sweet potato growth. Becky Grube photo. Sweet potatoes grown without a living mulch. Becky Grube photo. Kept moist and at 75 to

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On-Farm Seed Production

Greensprouting potatoes at Wood Prairie Farm. Photo courtesy of Wood Prairie Farm. Jim Gerritsen of Wood Prairie Farm in Bridgewater, Maine, and Andrea Berry of Hope Seeds in Glassville, New Brunswick, talked about seed and potato seed tuber production at the 2008 Farmer-to-Farmer Conference in Bar Harbor. Gerritsen and his family sell potatoes, other crops,

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Healthy Soil

Cornell Soil Test Report. Bianca Moebius-Clune, a graduate student at Cornell University, introduced the Cornell Soil Health Test (CSHT) at the 2008 Farmer-to-Farmer Conference, and Dennis King of King Hill Farm in Penobscot, Maine, told how he evaluates soil health on the diversified farm that he and Jo Barrett own and run. The CSHT, the

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Land Trusts

Definitions Land trusts are non-profit organizations that protect land directly by buying it, accepting it as a donation or acquiring a partial interest called a conservation easement that allows the land trust to protect the conservation values of the land forever. Land trusts have taken up where government left off preserving land, largely in the

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Kiwis

Fruit of mixed cultivars of kiwis at the Teltane Farm booth at the Common Ground Country Fair. Hardy kiwis are not difficult to grow and can be very productive. English photo. by Tom Vigue If you think kiwis are all brown, fuzzy and can be grown only in New Zealand or California, think again. Although

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