Archives: Resources

Permablitz

Diagram of the labyrinth that was being installed during a permablitz in Belfast. English photo. By Jean English “Look closely at the present you are constructing. It should look like the future you dream of.” Alice Walker’s quote is one of several on the Belfast Area Transition Initiative website (BATI; www.belfasttransition.org). A “permablitz” that BATI

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Mainer in Korea

MOFGA member Cory Whitney is in Korea helping the Korea Organic Farming Association (KOFA) plan for a conference of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. By Cory Whitney Hello fellow Mainers, from the “Slow City” of Namyangju in the Gyeonggi Province of South Korea, about 20 km from the capital city of Seoul. Namyangju

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Tree Leaves

Leaves from deciduous trees, once shredded, make excellent mulch for most vegetable crops, and they enrich the soil. English photo. By Will Bonsall Trees and their leaves are probably the greatest natural soil builders on earth, greater even than grasses. (I mean “on earth” literally, as I am not including the oceans.) The incredible proliferation

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American Chestnuts

Glen Rea, president of the Maine chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, studies the growth rings of an American chestnut while Joe Dupere, MOFGA’s landscape coordinator, looks on. English photo. By Jean English On May 20, 2011, a small group of dedicated chestnut enthusiasts met at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center to plant two blight

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Spring Growth

Adam Montri of Michigan State University and two Maine growers spoke about hoophouses at MOFGA’s 2011 Spring Growth Conference. Videos of the talks are posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMf_Og8xWXE, www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIpsP3SvyQI&feature=relmfu and www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItQL0ca3IfU&feature=relmfu; more information is available at www.hoophouse.msu.edu. Adam Montri of Michigan State University spoke about hoophouses at MOFGA’s Spring Growth Conference. English photo. Montri, associated with

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Polycultures in Orchards

Comfrey growing under an apple tree at John Bunker’s Super Chilly Farm in Palermo and at Judy Berk and David Foley’s Ocean Glimpse Farm in Northport. Comfrey is a dynamic accumulator – a taprooted plant that draws nutrients up from deep in the soil and cycles them to orchard plants. English photos. By C.J. Walke

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Potassium

Potassium deficiency on tomato leaves appears as mottled chlorosis (yellowing) and tip burn. Sideman photo. Yellow shoulder on tomatoes has no single cause but is related to a lack of foliage, varietal susceptibility and potassium deficiency. Sideman photo. By Eric Sideman, Ph.D. In the past two issues of The MOF&G, I discussed the plant mineral

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Low or No Sugar Jams

Many fruits grow in Maine and can be preserved easily. Grow your own or purchase produce at farmers’ markets or at the Common Ground Fair for making low- or no-sugar jams and jellies. English photos. By Roberta Bailey From spring through fall, Maine cranks out the fruit. Our winter weary palates get shocked awake with

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Intercropping

Will Bonsall spoke about intercropping and succession planting at the Common Ground Country Fair. English photo. By Jean English Will Bonsall’s original inspiration for growing crops intensively on his farm came from the book Farmers of Forty Centuries, by F.H. King. Paraphrasing a point from the book, Will told an audience at the Common Ground

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Beyond Coffee

By Jean English Many years ago, Ellis Percy tried to convince Common Ground Country Fair food vendors to offer a hot drink in addition to the cider already at the Fair. After repeating the suggestion to no avail for about four years, he decided to come up with a drink himself. Sixteen years ago, he

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