By Caleb Goossen, Ph.D., MOFGA Crop Specialist With gardens put to bed for the winter, now is the time when gardeners reflect on the prior season and begin planning for the next. For many, it is the time to evaluate seed supply, and order seeds for the coming year. This is also a great time
By Anneliese Abbott Maine organic farmers will be excited to hear that their state came in near the top in a recent survey of organic growers. The survey, sent out through 51 northeastern and midwestern organic and sustainable agriculture organizations in May-June 2021, asked organic farmers to list the authors, people and organizations that influenced
By Cynthia Flores, Labor-Movement, LLC Farmers are athletes. Athletes train for their sport or endeavor. Athletes learn how to move their bodies to maximize strength, movement efficiency, capacity and to reduce injury potential. Farmers, too, can learn about function, fitness and skill to contribute to their health and wellness on and off the field. Health
By Will Bonsall Suppose you want to improve your garden soil’s tilth by organic means, but for some reason or other animal manure just doesn’t work for you. Maybe you just don’t have access to it since you don’t keep livestock yourself. Maybe you can buy commercial compost mixes (which are largely cow manure), but
August 13, 2021 With the exception of protected growing for season extension, most growers’ seeding thoughts have moved beyond late-season edible crops, and toward squeezing in autumn/winter cover crops before it’s so late they don’t produce much biomass. (I say this now, and who knows, it may be a long, warm autumn … )
July 2, 2021 June’s dry start to the growing season has made for a generally low disease pressure around the region. Most of us have not experienced conditions which allow for the prolonged leaf wetness that many diseases require to take hold. Two similar tomato diseases may begin to show up if you experience
June 4, 2021 Recent rains provided very welcome relief for most growers around the region. Long-term forecasting (two-three weeks out) is showing probabilities of temperatures that are above the normal range for June, with a slight probability for precipitation to be below normal. As of June 1, most of Maine was considered “abnormally dry” by U.S. Drought
By Lauren Cormier I was one of many volunteers at the first tree planting day in the Maine Heritage Orchard eight years ago in the spring of 2014. Then, hardly a plant was in sight within the precipitous gravel pit that descended sharply to a pond. It had recently been terraced and regraded when we
By Noah Gleason-Hart In a low-impact forestry system, humans have an active role to play as forest consumers and stewards as long as we acknowledge our limited understanding of forest ecosystems. LIF recognizes that forest ecosystems are more complex than we currently understand and therefore operates thoughtfully with caution and humility as core principles. Another
By Chris Grigsby, Director of MOFGA Certification Services, LLC For those of us who work within the certified organic landscape every day, we sometimes miss that becoming familiar with what certified organic means, and doesn’t mean, isn’t something that everyone is familiar with. This is the case for both farmers and producers, as well as
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