Verda Barnes, at age 100, heads a four-generation dairy farm in Albion that is now organic and that provides all of the milk for the Common Kitchen at the Common Ground Country Fair. Verda may be the oldest dairy farmer in Maine. Photo by Marvel Hutchins. By Nan Brucker The Common Kitchen staff needs a
Howard and Sue Schivera By Marada Cook The phrase ‘working vacation’ may seem to be a contradiction, but for Howard and Sue Schivera, their annual trip to Maine is an obvious opportunity to both visit their daughter and volunteer at the Fair. “Diane was the one who volunteered us,” Sue said. Their daughter, Diane Schivera,
Michael (and Grace) Phillips (center, on bench) discuss apples after lunch at Francis Fenton’s farm. This was the last of five orcharding classes offered by MOFGA last summer. Photo by Russell Libby. John Bunker talks apples. Photo by Russell Libby. By Russell Libby MOFGA’s 2004 Organic Orcharding series concluded with a visit to Francis Fenton’s
by Joyce White Many people first visit Hedgehog Hill Farm for the widely advertised, free “Sundays in the Garden at 2.” Every Sunday afternoon from mid-June through August, the public is invited to stroll through the lush gardens and hear a lecture about some aspect of gardening at the 200-acre farm in the small, western
Seeing the Hand of God Every Day by Larry Lack Bonnie and Arnold Pearlman have been farming organically in Jonesport for 34 years. They can’t recall what year they were first certified by MOFGA, but Arnold says they were “among the very first.” The Pearlmans found their 20 acres of woods and blueberry barrens in
John Bunker, MOFGA’s ‘Apple Guy’ By Marada Cook On his first trip to Maine in 1961, and “moved by its beauty, the water and what seemed like a simpler lifestyle,” John Bunker decided on a plan to move to Maine and bid suburbia a permanent farewell. He was 11 years old and ready to head
by Saima Sidik Finding a sense of community at McGill University in Montreal, where classes (at least in the first year) are half the size that my entire high school population was, is tough. However, students occasionally have torn their eyes away from their laptops long enough to create niches within the school that contribute
Long-time MOFGA member Paul Birdsall has helped train over 100 MOFGA apprentices in the art of farming with draft horses. Photo courtesy of the Small Farmer’s Journal. Teaming Up with the Next Generations of Farmers By Marada Cook © 2005. For information about reproducing this article, please contact the author. Don Nickerson swapped draft horse
From the MOFGA Spring Growth 2005 Conference: Local and Organic in a Global Food Economy: What is Our Role – As Farmers, Consumers and Citizens? Fred Kirschenmann spoke at the Spring Growth Conference about the end of the oil economy and the kinds of farms that will be able to feed us in the aftermath.
Vern Grubinger. English photo. By Jean English © 2005. For information about reproducing this article, please contact the author. Vern Grubinger’s epiphany was the topic of his keynote speech at MOFGA and Cooperative Extension’s Farmer to Farmer Conference in Bar Harbor last November [2004]. He was the vegetable and berry specialist with University of Vermont
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