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Marketing Organic Blueberries

Nicolas Lindholm and Ruth Fiske of Blue Hill Berry Co. Photo by Kim Kral, courtesy of Blue Hill Berry Co. The Blue Hill Berry Co. logo was designed by Molly Blake of Molly B Designs. Photo by Nicolas Lindholm Todd Merrill. Photo courtesy of Merrill Blueberry Farms Merrill Blueberry Farms, now with its third-generation president,

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Optimizing Yields of Maine Wild Blueberries

Wild blueberries grow best with a soil pH around 4.0, which also limits nutrient availability for weeds. Photo courtesy of David Yarborough The fertility and mulch trial at Blue Hill Berry Co. Photo by Nicolas Lindholm Harvesters at Blue Hill Berry Co. use green totes that are somewhat smaller, shallower and lighter than the usual

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Faithful Venture Farm

Jodie Martin (center) is busy taking care of young Asa (left) and Lena but still has time to do the books for Faithful Venture Farm, run a CSA, start an orchard and volunteer for Cooperative Extension. Glendon Mehuren (left) with his older children after winning Grand Champion Dairy Cow at the Union Fair 2017. Elida

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Preserving the Organic Identity

A nutrient film technique hydroponic system. The nutrient solution bathing the roots has grown some good looking kale, but do you think it should be called organic? Eric Sideman photo By Eric Sideman, Ph.D. Can you imagine losing your identity through no fault of your own? We all have an image of ourselves and identify

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Harvest Kitchen Blueberries

Our farm and garden produce stores the summer sun, enabling us to thrive on these crops – frozen, canned or otherwise preserved – all year. English photo By Roberta Bailey In a few of the essays in her collection “The Faraway Nearby,” Rebecca Solnit explores the long cycles of light and darkness in Iceland. I

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Pollinator Friendly Solar Farms

A pollinator-friendly solar farm in Minnesota. Photo by Rob Davis, Center for Pollinators in Energy, used with permission. By Sue Smith-Heavenrich Solar farms are sprouting everywhere, from small community clusters of arrays to large industrial installations. Colby College, in Waterville, recently flipped the switch on its 9-acre, 5,300-panel solar field. The Madison Business Gateway in

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Maine State Prison Farm

A day’s harvest from the gardens in the summer of 2017. Tomatoes growing in pots in the heated greenhouse. Compost being windrowed at the Maine State Prison complex. One of the beehives at the Maine State Prison. By Polly Shyka Photos by the Maine State Prison staff Maine’s maximum security prison in Warren has quite the bustling

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Vaults Banks Guilds and More

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. Photo by Miksu on Wikipedia Hundreds of community members exchange seeds and scionwood at MOFGA each April. English photo The beginning of MOFGA’s new seed library. English photo By Will Bonsall The whole topic of biodiversity and, in particular, our horticultural genetic heritage – heirloom seeds – has

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Tillage Trials

By Ben Hoffman Minimal tillage is essential for healthy, productive soils. In a seven-year study at the University of Western Australia, total organic carbon in the top 4 inches of soil increased by 1.7 tons/acre with no-till and 1 ton under conservation tillage but decreased by 0.2 tons under rotary tillage. (“Tillage, microbial biomass and

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MOFGA the Maine Forest and Climate Change

Connect with MOFGA’s Low Impact Forestry Project to learn about carbon sequestration in our woodlands. English photo By Mitch Lansky and Peter Hagerty Years ago the Low Impact Forestry (LIF) Project surveyed MOFGA members who owned forestland. We asked for feedback from landowners, whether they owned 1 acre or 500. The survey was not scientific, but it did reveal that

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