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CSA in Taiwan and China

A home garden in Taiwan. Elizabeth Henderson photo. By Elizabeth Henderson Taiwan Today’s citizens of China, Korea and Japan, whose agriculture of a century ago F.H. King described so vividly in Farmers of Forty Centuries, have almost forgotten the traditions that inspired so many of us in organic farming in the West. But old timers

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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

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Strawberries

Strawberries growing in a matted row system. MOFGA file photo. David Handley, UMaine Extension small fruit and vegetable specialist, and David Pike, who grows strawberries in Farmington, Maine, talked about this crop at MOFGA’s November 2011 Farmer to Farmer Conference. Handley noted that aside from wild blueberries, strawberries are the most popular berry grown in

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Moray

Moray, a multi-level site in Peru with its lowest point 492 feet below the crest of the surrounding hills, is thought to have been the first agricultural experiment station in the world. Photo courtesy of Glenn A. Grube. At Moray, the various terraces have climates similar to those throughout Peru. Photos courtesy of Glenn A.

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Ideal Organic Potato

Blue flags mark rows of variety trials. At far left, ‘Papa Cacho.’ From left to right: ‘Chieftain,’ ‘Peter Wilcox,’ ‘Early Ohio,’ ‘Daisy Gold.’ Photo by Theresa Joseph, NOSP trial grower. By Sue Smith-Heavenrich In a country where french fries reign supreme, how does an organic grower find great-tasting potatoes that not only appeal to chefs but

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Food Safety

By Cheryl Wixson Forty-one days after our company launched its first products, we received an urgent recall from Starwest Botanicals, a supplier of organic herbs and spices, due to Salmonella contamination of organic celery seed, 1 pound size, lot number 40302, shipped between June 29, 2011, and November 29, 2011. We were instructed to examine

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Drosophila

Figure 1 – The female spotted wing Drosophila (fruit fly), a new pest in New England, uses her serrated ovipositor to make a hole in sound fruit and lay her eggs, which develop into larvae in the fruit. Photo courtesy of Alan Eaton of the University of N.H. By Eric Sideman, Ph.D. I am usually

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Root Cellar Daze

Toki Oshima Drawing By Roberta Bailey My jumbled box of seed has been sorted and organized. My seed orders have been placed and most have arrived. Little packets of promise. The seasons ahead hold such bright potential: ‘Drama Queen’ poppies, ‘Variegated’ blue collards that promise to overwinter, enough Phacelia to plant multiple rows in all

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Stewards

Drawing by Toki Oshima By Andy McEvoy Weeding a garden seems intuitive. Unwanted weeds impinge on the ability of vegetable crops to absorb water and nutrients from the soil and energy from the sun, so we weed. Likewise, after carrots sprout, we thin them; otherwise the crowded roots will twist around one another in odd

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Highlights

Toki Oshima drawing By Diane Schivera, M.A.T. Conferences and workshops are rich sources of tips for livestock care, pasture management, marketing and more. Here are some ideas gleaned from 2011 events that I attended. At the Maine Grass Farmers Conference, Jim Gerrish of American GrazingLands Services LLC in May, Idaho, said that to raise meat,

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