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Solanum Tuberosum

By Jean Ann Pollard Once upon a time Maine was covered by ice a mile high. Every school kid knows that. What most of them don’t know is that even on the fringes of North America’s ice sheet, and in the cold, high Andes of Peru, a nutritious root vegetable called the potato provided people

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Russian Gourmet

By Jean Ann Pollard It was glorious! – the great Dvina river so still, so broad between its red banks of gravel and sand, and the grass and birch trees on the flat plain all around so green by contrast. And then there was the pungent scent of wood smoke, and we scrambled off the

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Moldy Grain

By Jean English If the grain or feed that you buy for your animals is green or blue/green and stinky, it’s not good. That was the bottom line of LeBelle Hicks’ talk at the Maine Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta in January – and it was what people in the audience, who had inadvertently purchased

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Claire Ackroyd

The unstoppable Claire Ackroyd. Photo courtesy of Shannon Commeau. By Rhonda Houston (Tate) Spending any amount of a warm, dewy, June evening on the interstate is my idea of punishment. Exiting the interstate on the Hogan Road in Bangor and pushing past every large car dealership north of Portland while swerving around recently licensed, teenage

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How to Grow Crabapple Trees

A crabapple tree produces fruit that are, generally, under 2 inches in diameter. The trees can serve as pollinators, feed wildlife, flavor cider, and can be used to make jelly. Illustration from “Handbook of Plant and Floral Ornament from Early Herbals,” by Richard G. Hatton, Dover, 1960. Who can resist the beauty of a crabapple

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Epicurean Delights

Toki Oshima drawing. By Roberta Bailey Have you been through the Exhibition Hall yet? Common Ground Fair’s Exhibition Hall is a hall of marvels. You walk from the hustle and bustle of the fairgrounds into the cool quiet sanctum of mellowed wooden timbers and high ceilings. The outside world falls away. You focus on rows

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Prince Charles Royal Patron for Sustainability

Entrance to Duchy Home Farm, the organic farm of HRH Prince Charles. Robert Taylor photo. Farm manager David Wilson and the author in the Veg Shed at the Duchy Home Farm. Robert Taylor photo. David Wilson checks an apple tree planted between rows of vegetables. Prince Charles agreed to take responsibility for 1,000 of some

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Why We Need Cows

Joann Grohman and her Jersey cow, Jasmine. and Should not Worry about Their Carbon Footprint or Methane Contribution By Joann Grohman The cow, that enduring nursery icon, has been losing fans lately due to misinformation being spoken in the highest places. Some of this character damage may be deliberate; much is due to city dwellers

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Maines Growing Meat Sector

Megunticook Market in Camden offers meat from Caldwell Farms, Terra Optima, Ells Farm and other Maine farmers. English photo. Aldermere Farm in Rockport will be selling its grass-fed beef at the farm this summer. English photo. Belted Galloway cows at Aldermere Farm. English photo. Challenges and Opportunities By Jo Anne Bander Meat producers and retailers are increasing their numbers

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Garden Protection

June Zellers with lettuce grown safely inside the protection of a low electric fence. Note the charger housing in the background. Tomash photo. Strategies That Work: Fences and Traps © Adam Tomash 2010 When the corn is coming in or the cabbage transplants just went out, I have trouble sleeping unless I know my “babies”

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