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
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
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
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,
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
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
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
by Linda and Takeshi Akaogi In the Sept. 2008 issue of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener, Cheryl Bruce reported on efforts by Linda and Takeshi Akaogi to grow rice on their small farm in Putney, Vermont. In March 2008, the couple received a SARE Farmer Grant to evaluate the viability of rice production in
by Mitch Lansky A thousand-year forest management plan. Am I joking? After all, the United States is only a little over two centuries old. We live in a world of rapidly changing technologies where, in just a decade or so, people have started using personal computers and cell phones on a wide scale. It is
Maine is Part of the Scene by Jo Anne Bander Artisan cheeses, jarred artichokes, colored salts, smoked meats, chocolates: Artful displays of such foods at 600 stalls in the Turin, Italy, Lingotto Fiere exhibition center for the seventh Slow Food Salone del Gusto could have been viewed and tasted at any Italian-flavored food show that
