Wood from white oak (shown here), black locust, cedar and honey locust can be used as an organic alternative to pressure-treated wood. English photo. By Eric Sideman, Ph.D. I have worked for MOFGA for nearly 20 years as the “answer man,” and questions about treated lumber have come in every spring when gardeners and farmers
By Diane Schivera I wanted Maine grass farmers to know that MOGFA, Cooperative Extension, Unity Barnraisers and a group of farmers received a SARE grant to establish the Maine Grassfarmers Network. We began to work on the following objectives in May: 1. Four regional workshops will be held in Maine for Cooperative Extension educators, Maine
Illustration by Toki Oshima. By Roberta Bailey In the last few years, I have noticed a significant increase in the number of small dairy operations, many of them organic, in Maine. Transitioning to organic has helped small dairy farms survive. Selling milk wholesale is one option, but I have noted an increasing number of farms
Elderberry makes good juice, wine, jam, syrup, medicines and more. Photo from Conservation Plants for the Northeast, Soil Conservation Service Program Aid No. 1154. By Roberta Bailey My first memory of elder bushes was in my best friend’s yard. Her father had a neat row of the plants, mulched with peanut hulls. He made wine
Lovage emerges in the spring with succulent leaves. You can keep using the plant into the fall if you keep it clipped so that it produces young growth continuously. English photo. By Jean Ann Pollard “This herbe for hys sweete savoure is used in bathe.” – Thomas Hyll, The Gardener’s Labyrinth, 1577 It’s not too
Chickweed is a common “weed” that is high in vitamins and minerals and can help relieve ovarian cysts, kidney problems, sore throats and more. By Deb Soule Various species of chickweed grow around our planet. A member of the Caryophyllaceae (Carnation) family, chickweed grows as an annual and reseeds easily in cool, moist soils. Its
Fredda Paul harvests red willow (Cornus stolonifera) in the spring. Leslie Wood photo. By Fredda Paul with Leslie Wood Paul Fredda Paul, Passamaquoddy tribal member, practices Indian traditional medicine as first learned from his grandmother. He and Leslie work together harvesting, making medicine and helping people return to the old ways of healing. Contact them
By John Hershey For us gardeners, the approach of spring is a most exciting time. It’s not that we don’t enjoy the winter, with its time away from the garden to rest and recharge. After a busy autumn of harvesting the garden’s bounty, winter offers time for quiet contemplation. Perhaps we have, in fact, a
Harvest marigold flowers now to make a dye. English photo. The beauty of our natural world encompasses all colors, and many natural dyers attest to the fact that everything dyed using mother nature’s colors will blend together with grace. Nothing clashes, and no colors are richer or more jewel-like than those of fibers colored using
Babushka and Dedushka, two Russian “Old Believers,” with their milk cow, who is one of the family in Ynegetai, Siberia, Russia. The Old Believers maintained their agricultural traditions, which include carefully tended dairy cows and crops grown using hand labor, throughout and beyond the industrialization of the Soviet era. Effie Elfer photo. By Effie Elfer
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