Archives: Resources

Feeding Whole Grains to Chickens

Toki Oshima drawing By Diane Schivera, MOFGA Technical Services Assistant Feed is the most expensive portion of the cost of raising chickens, and this expense is magnified by the fact that most folks feed a ground mash or pellet that is formulated and produced by a feed company. In an attempt to reduce this cost,

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Tomato Diseases

By Eric Sideman, Ph.D., MOFGA’s Director of Technical Services Some farmers and gardeners like to use the same ground year after year for their tomatoes. Often this works, but often it doesn’t – most commonly because of a few tomato diseases that overwinter on crop debris. The most common disease in the Northeast that leads

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Ashwood Cookbook

By Roberta Bailey “These recipes are our gift to you. They are the ones we love, the ones that work, the ones that carry us through trouble and heartache, celebration and joy.” So begins the Ashwood Cookbook, Food for Family and Friends, a simple yet elegant collection of wholesome recipes gathered by friends of the

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Grow Your Own Mulberries

Mulberries are a fruitful crop to grow in Maine, but plan their placement carefully so that the berries don’t stain walkways, entryways, decks, etc. Illustration from Handbook of Plant and Floral Ornament from Early Herbals, by Richard G. Hatton, Dover Publications, N.Y., 1960. By Roberta Bailey As a child I knew where every ripening fruit

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Organic Transitioning

Resources for Organic Dairy Farmers Maine dairy farmers Erik Johnson and John Donald talked about their recent experiences transitioning from conventional to organic production at the Maine Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta in January. Johnson has about 60 to 70 milkers and 700 acres of crop ground; he is transitioning about one-third of his farm

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Don McLean, DVM, Environmentalist

Don McLean beside his bread oven. Photo by Joyce White. By Joyce White Don McLean has been an environmentalist much longer than he has been a veterinarian. In third grade, he did his science project on pollution. “Since then I have been trying to at least reduce the negative impact of modern life on our

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Goats

Stuart Grande (left), a University of Maine Sustainable Agriculture Program graduate, and George van Vlaanderen in the cheese room at Doe’s Leap Farm in Vermont. Kristan Doolan photo. By Tim King Kristan Doolan and George van Vlaanderen, owners of Doe’s Leap organic goat dairy in East Fairfield, Vermont, are trying an experiment. Actually, their whole

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U of Maine

Eric Gallandt, Assistant Professor of Weed Ecology and Management, University of Maine Sustainable Agriculture Program, at the 2002 Rogers Farm Field Day, discussing a recently initiated research project studying invertebrate weed seed predators in contrasting cover crop environments. Photo courtesy of Eric Gallandt. Kristan Doolan says that she, along with her husband George van Vlaanderen,

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Restoring Our Seed

Toki Oshima drawing By CR Lawn and Eli Kaufman “We are facing the germination of something larger than we can imagine. Things are falling in place in our favor.” – Evaluation by a conference attendee “Seed is the missing link in sustainable agriculture. We need seeds that are truly adapted to the organic culture of

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Organic Agriculture

Cornerstone for Regional Development and Nature Conservation By Jean English Hardy Vogtman, Deputy Minister for the Environment for Germany, is optimistic about the future of nature conservation and organic agriculture in his country. In the last election, the Greens increased their votes by 25%, so they have more input now; and three Ministers are Greens.

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