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Colson

By Jean English Dave Colson of New Leaf Farm in Durham, Maine, shared his expertise in growing cole crops at a MOFGA-sponsored talk at the Maine Agricultural Trades Show in January. He pointed out that broccoli and cauliflower can diversify the type of labor required on a farm, because each plant can be harvested only

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Promoting Maine Agriculture

Robert Spear, Maine’s Commissioner of Agriculture, stressed the importance of cooperation among the state’s agricultural groups in preserving, protecting and promoting farming. English photo. By Jean English Agriculture Commissioner Bob Spear knows agriculture and he knows politics. Now he just has to combine the two. Spear owns a dairy and vegetable farm with his brother

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Harvest Kitchen

Preserving Food, 2007 edition By Roberta Bailey Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Techniques and Recipes The Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1999. (1-800-639-4099) 198 pp., $16.95. The Centre Terre Vivante is an ecological research and educa­tional center in Mens, Domaine de Raud, a region in Southern France. The center hosts

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Values Added

By John E. Carroll Contrary to the perceived decline in New England agriculture in the latter years of the 20th century, at least five new social movements in agriculture are emerging in the region. A trademark of these movements is their very explicit values orientation, which contrasts with previous values. The prevailing values of conventional

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Bhopal Revisited

Bhopal Update: April 20, 2000 By Terry Allan Remember Bhopal? The site of the worst chemical industrial disaster in history? I will never forget it. The tragedy of Bhopal put me on a path of questioning our agricultural systems that dramatically changed my world view and led to my decision to become an organic farmer.

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Selling Eggs? Know the Regs

By Diane Schivera, M.A.T. Selling organic eggs in Maine requires knowing the regulations for licensing, certification, labeling, etc. Here’s a summary of some of those rules, with links to more extensive information. Licensing and Labeling If you raise fewer than 3,000 laying hens, you don’t need a license or inspection from the Maine Department of

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Pruning

The branch collar is the wrinkled-looking tissue where one branch joins another or joins the trunk of a tree. English photo. By C.J. Walke As the ground freezes and winter takes hold, our fruit trees become dormant and settle in for their own winter’s nap. The trees may be dormant and we may spend more

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How to Grow Peach Trees

Toki Oshima drawing Peaches are a challenge to grow in northern climates. Mention peaches to Maine gardeners, and they get a glint in their eye, either from anticipation that their three-year-old tree will make it through another winter and bear next year, or from the memory of that bushel of the world’s best tasting peaches

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Nasturtiums

By Ellie MacDougall This colorful herb and decorative plant began its journey into our gardens and onto our tables from the land of the Incas – the cool mountains of Peru. Spanish conquerors became acquainted with it in the sixteenth century, and packed its large, wrinkled seeds to bring home with them. In turn, English

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Harvest Kitchen Lingonberries

Toki Oshima drawing By Roberta Bailey While visiting a friend and touring his high bush blueberry patch, I was taken by the thick understory of shiny leaved plants covered in small red berries. Lingonberries, he informed me, then went on to explain that this cranberry-blueberry relative made a great second crop in an area where

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