By Eric Sideman, Ph.D., MOFGA’S Director of Technical Services How quickly an apparently unknown disease can arise and cause widespread fear. The disease is called Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) but is more commonly referred to as “mad cow disease.” The fear spread worldwide as we watched Great Britain, the only country with a major outbreak,
One symptom of brown rot is an oozing canker, as shown on this ‘La Crescent’ plum tree. Photo by C.J. Walke. By C.J. Walke Over the past few years, interest in cultivating organic tree fruit has steadily increased, as has the general desire to integrate these perennial crops into backyard garden and farm ecosystems. This
By Adam Tomash 1. Materials. Brown materials are high in carbon, green materials are high in nitrogen. Mix the two in rough proportions of 2 volumes of brown to 1 volume of green to achieve a C:N ratio of 25:1 to 40:1. Remember that different sources of nitrogen have differing amounts of nitrogen; e.g., alfalfa
In March and April, new wood was top-worked by bark grafting onto plum tree limbs at the MOFGA orchard. My mid-July all grafts were growing well. C.J. Walke photo. By C.J. Walke Spring Freeze In my last article, I wrote about shifting weather patterns and their effects on our fruit trees. I wrote that the
Forester Sam Brown explains the principles of low-impact forestry at one of MOFGA’s Farm Training Project workshops. English photo. By Andy McEvoy Low-impact forestry (LIF) is about balance – of ecological systems and human society; nutrient richness and capital investment; timber stand improvement and human infrastructure. Humans need forest resources for heat, building material, paper,
By Cheryl Wixson Many certified organic farmers and producers seek to increase sales and market penetration through value-added food production or sales to institutions, supermarket chains and food processors. Markets for local, organic food are strong and growing rapidly, but licensing requirements, food safety regulations and liability issues must be addressed before a farmer can
By Mitch Lansky This year, 2012, is the 20th anniversary of the publication of Beyond the Beauty Strip: Saving What’s Left of Our Forests (BTBS). In it I pointed out such trends as the sale of big land parcels, heavy cutting and short rotations on industry-owned lands, and increasing mechanization. These trends in the forest
John Bagnulo. Photo by Joanna Bagnulo. By Polly Shyka John Bagnulo is a naturalist and nutritionist. With a master’s in public health and a doctorate in food and nutrition sciences, he has a nutrition practice in Belfast and has taught nutrition for the past 12 years. He lectures widely on nutrition and health and has
Summer’s bounty, such as these black walnuts shown in the Waldo Organic Growers’ booth at the Common Ground Fair, and raspberries picked and processed into jam, add local flavor to winter comfort foods. English photos. By Roberta Bailey The winter winds are blowing. The colors on the horizon are deep evergreen and the pale gray
Direct marketing at farmers’ markets and farm stands is the primary way to sell local, seasonal, organic foods in Maine – as Tom Harms of Wolf Pine Farm did at the Common Ground Fair farmers’ market. To further meet the demand for year-round local foods, we need more storage, processing and handling facilities, more transportation
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