Archives: Resources

What is Low Impact Forestry

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,

Read More »

Regulations

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

Read More »

Beyond the Beauty Strip

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

Read More »

Nutrient Dense Foods

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

Read More »

Acorn Bread

Processing acorns in a Davebilt nutcracker. Photo courtesy of Chris and Ashirah Knapp. By Chris Knapp In autumn, all over the world, something wonderful happens: The acorns fall. The oak seed, which once sustained the bulk of human civilization, is now largely ignored as a food. Not so at our Koviashuvik Local Living School, where

Read More »

Hazelnuts for the Maine Homestead

American hazel (C. americana) grows well in Industry, Maine. Yaicha Cowell photo. By Will Bonsall I’ve always loved filberts, those roundish nuts found in boxes of holiday mixes. They always tasted more substantial than the pecans and Brazil nuts, more evocative of northern forests. In fact, those European types (Corylus avellana) aren’t very hardy here.

Read More »

Currants

Ribes Species and White Pine Blister Rust – An Update, June 9, 2015 Over the past several years, interest has increased throughout the Northeast in growing and cultivating currants, gooseberries and other species in the genus Ribes for backyard and commercial fruit production. Stimulated by development of varieties that were either resistant or immune to

Read More »

Seed Saving

Peppers are among the easiest of crops from which to save seed. Just be sure the fruit is mature, as is this ‘Klari Baby Cheese’ pepper. English photo. By Roberta Bailey When people first visit my farm, many are surprised by how little space it takes to grow seed crops. On the home scale it

Read More »

IFOAM in South Korea

By Elizabeth Henderson On behalf of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), I attended the Organic World Congress and the General Assembly of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) in October 2011 in Namyangju, near Seoul, South Korea. The new Organic Museum on the banks of the Han River made a luxurious venue

Read More »

Distributor

By Melissa White Pillsbury At the Maine Agricultural Trades Show in January, Leah and Marada Cook of Crown O’ Maine Organic Coop (COMOC) discussed what farmers need to know about selling to a distributor. They shared insights into the worlds of produce distributors in general and of COMOC in particular. Is Your Product Legal? First

Read More »
Categories
Scroll to Top