Rick Kipp By Marada Cook Do you ever wonder who’s behind getting the Common Ground Fair set up, and who’s in charge of cleaning up the Fair once the fun is over? Rick Kipp, 54, does all these things and more, has been a MOFGA volunteer for the past 20 years, and is now the
Jim with the Gerritsens’ orchard in the background. The Not-So-Common Potato Text and photos by Jane Lamb One of the most sophisticated operations in Aroostook County takes place in the most unpretentious of settings – the utilitarian potato-packing plant cum residence and its surrounding outbuildings, farming equipment and fields at Wood Prairie Farm in Bridgewater.
Dennis Merrill is too modest for his own good. Although he has volunteered for six years in the Common Ground Country Store and has helped with countless other projects, Dennis insists, “I haven’t really done that much.” “Dennis is the kind of guy who never makes a big deal about his help,” says Roy Miller,
By Jean English Lee Humphreys’ and Ib Barfod’s Meadowsweet Farm on Finntown Road in Warren could just as well be called Renaissance Farm, for they have excelled at music and environmental education (Lee); engineering (Ib); community activism, farming and parenting (both). Add woodworking to Lee’s list … and we can even talk about the ghost
The 1802 Federal Farmhouse at Carding Brook Farm in Brooklin houses a very modem organic farming couple, Jonathan Ellsworth and Jennifer Schroth. They specialize in growing small amounts of unusual produce, such as 25 varieties of tomatoes. Article & Photos by Jane Lamb Picture a classic Federal country house on a saltwater farm bordering a tidal
Gail Taisey has volunteered at the Common Ground Country Fair since she was a teenager. One of her favorite areas in which to volunteer is the Livestock Area. English photo. By Marada Cook Six years, 18 shifts, and 11 different jobs. Those are the figures on Gail Taisey’s volunteer history. The cheerful 22-year-old has been
Edwina and Steve Hardy, though “retired,” keep busy with their maple sugaring operation. Jane Lamb photo. By Jane Lamb Steve Hardy figures he began “sugaring” – as it’s called in his native Vermont; in Maine they call it “sapping” – when he was about eight years old. His mother told him he’d have to wait
Melissa Bastien “Well, the tent boys have got to have their meat and potatoes, and those wild women who fold T-shirts for days on end like hearty casseroles. The electrical guys need non-stop sugar and caffeine, and then of course there’s always a vegan or two thrown in the line. It’s not your typical Common
By Jane Lamb, copyright 2002. For information on reproducing this article in any manner, please contact the author. As a Hancock County businessman/farmer, Tom Taylor has talked with a lot of people who have worked in commercial blueberry plants. “The people who pick out [clean] the berries work in coats because [the berries] are frozen
Annie Sheble. English photo. By Holli Cederholm Annie Sheble, of Unity, Maine, traces her involvement with MOFGA to the early 1970s when she apprenticed on Jim Luthy’s organic farm in Poland Springs, Maine. Luthy was one of MOFGA’s first presidents and helped start the association’s organic certification program. Sheble’s commitment to organics had actually started
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