Starting from a single shoot, chufa soon forms a sedgey clump. John Paul Rietz photo. By Will Bonsall Many years ago I dabbled with a new crop I found in the novelty section of a seed catalog: chufa, or nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus). Doubting it would crop well in Maine, I planted some anyway. The results
As part of the Downeast Farm to School Project, Regina Grabrovac and Taylor Weiss (not shown) taught a vermiculture workshop for eight Rose M Gaffney teachers. Photos courtesy of Regina Grabrovac. By Sharon Kiley Mack In rural Washington County, more and more farmers are connecting with schools through Regina Grabrovac and the highly successful Downeast
A large farm growing a variety of foods in Vietnam. Photo by Dennis Jarvis (2009), from Wikipedia Commons. By Cory Whitney When Sir Albert Howard visited the farmers of India in the 1940s and brought back to the United Kingdom ideas about composting and other agricultural practices, he planted the seeds of a real agricultural
Cold-hardy greens sown in August, such as these planted by Johnny’s Selected Seeds at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center, can be protected and feed us for an extended season. English photo. By Roberta Bailey In A Midwife’s Tale, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich tells of walking across the frozen Kennebec River in Hallowell at Thanksgiving time. The
Onion thrips (left) and western flower thrips (right). Alton N. Sparks, Jr., University of Georgia. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thrips_tabaci,_Frankliniella_occidentalis.jpg By Tom Vigue Before 2002, I had seen the insect called thrips only under a microscope in entomology lab. Then in early July 2002, my onion crop was withering when the bulbs had just begun to size up,
Organic blueberry grower Doug Van Horn, left, and insect ecologist Frank Drummond, Ph.D., of the University of Maine, Orono, stand by a newly installed native bee nesting box at Twitchell Hill Blueberries in Montville. Lynn Ascrizzi photo. A leafcutter bee (Osmia atriventris), commonly called the Maine blueberry bee, forages on blueberry blossoms. This native bee,
Fire blight in apple. Photo by Sebastian Stabinger, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_tree_with_fire_blight.jpg By C.J. Walke The Debate Since the inception of the National Organic Program (NOP) in 2002, the antibiotics tetracycline and streptomycin have been approved for use in apple and pear production to combat fire blight (Erwinia amylovora), a bacterial disease that affects the pome family.
Developed by Richard Brzozowski, Extension educator, University of Maine Cooperative Extension; Diane Schivera, livestock specialist, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association; and Jean Noon, sheep producer, The Noon Family Sheep Farm, Springvale, Maine. April 2013. O designates organic management. Management Your primary goal is to reduce stress through good management, nutrition and proper health care.
The author mows down a crop of Japanese millet. Becky Sideman photo. By Eric Sideman, Ph.D. People often ask me, “What is the best green manure?” That sets me off on one of my favorite lectures. “There is no best green manure,” I begin, and go on to explain that green manures (cover crops) have
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