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Pest Report – July 2, 2021

July 2, 2021 June’s dry start to the growing season has made for a generally low disease pressure around the region. Most of us have not experienced conditions which allow for the prolonged leaf wetness that many diseases require to take hold.   Two similar tomato diseases may begin to show up if you experience

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Pest Report – June 4, 2021

June 4, 2021 Recent rains provided very welcome relief for most growers around the region. Long-term forecasting (two-three weeks out) is showing probabilities of temperatures that are above the normal range for June, with a slight probability for precipitation to be below normal. As of June 1, most of Maine was considered “abnormally dry” by U.S. Drought

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Orchard Understory Update

By Lauren Cormier I was one of many volunteers at the first tree planting day in the Maine Heritage Orchard eight years ago in the spring of 2014. Then, hardly a plant was in sight within the precipitous gravel pit that descended sharply to a pond. It had recently been terraced and regraded when we

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Guiding Principles for Low-Impact Forestry

By Noah Gleason-Hart In a low-impact forestry system, humans have an active role to play as forest consumers and stewards as long as we acknowledge our limited understanding of forest ecosystems. LIF recognizes that forest ecosystems are more complex than we currently understand and therefore operates thoughtfully with caution and humility as core principles. Another

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Organic Certification in an (Organic) Nutshell

By Chris Grigsby, Director of MOFGA Certification Services, LLC For those of us who work within the certified organic landscape every day, we sometimes miss that becoming familiar with what certified organic means, and doesn’t mean, isn’t something that everyone is familiar with. This is the case for both farmers and producers, as well as

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What’s the Deal with Ducks?

By Jacki Martinez Perkins Chickens are a popular addition to homesteads due to their efficiency and easy maintenance. Ducks can be another enjoyable option for many reasons. Their personalities are far less aggressive than chickens, their management considerations differ and, because of a difference in proteins, some individuals who cannot digest chicken eggs are able

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Managing Perennial Weeds in the Garden

By Caleb Goossen, MOFGA’s Crop Specialist One of the events that I look forward to at the Common Ground Country Fair every year is the “Answers to Your Organic Vegetable Questions” session that I put on each morning in the MOFGA Tent with Eric Sideman, MOFGA’s crop specialist emeritus, and Mark Hutton, University of Maine

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Heritage Fruit Recipes

Celebrating Fall Flavor and History By Roberta Bailey Early last winter, a friend of mine told me about an ancient tree on the farm where she used to live. It was a Northern Spy apple tree. She said it was the old strain of Northern Spy, better than what seems to be around now. Her

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Make Your Own Compost Bin from Pallets

By Ivonne Vazquez There are many methods for making compost and just as many types of compost bins. I’m going to focus on building a cold compost bin using wooden pallets. Why Cold Compost? Cold composting is a method of composting in which you do not regularly turn your compost pile. It is easy to

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Ecoefficiency on the Farm and in the Garden

By Will Bonsall Ecoefficiency is a word that I once coined, only to learn later that it was already used in a somewhat different context. For me, it encompassed many ideas implied by “organic,” “sustainable” and “natural.” Basically, the term assumes that every living organism, be it mushroom, palm tree, gerbil or giraffe, requires a certain

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