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Ararat Farms

By Holli Cederholm Like many small- to mid-scale certified-organic vegetable farms, Ararat Farms in Lincolnville, Maine, aims to provide quality, healthy products to the surrounding community. Farm managers Emilia Carbone and Jed Beach have an additional goal: They want their produce to outshine the standard grocery store vegetables in terms of flavor, nutrient density and

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Marcus Terentius Varro Wrote The Old, Old Farmers’ Almanac

The beginning of De Re Rustica by Varro. Text from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Varro/de_Re_Rustica/1*.html By John Koster Marcus Terentius Varro wrote some 620 books, but only the nearest and dearest to his heart – Rerum Rusticarum Libri Tres, Three Books on Farming – survived in complete form. That’s probably because enough people had one copied out to increase the odds of its survival

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Grassland Farm

Sarah and Garin Smith, shown here with their children, Cedar and Reed, own and operate Grassland Farm in Skowhegan. Photo courtesy of Red Door Media. By Holli Cederholm Grassland Farm spans roughly 300 acres in Skowhegan, Maine, and as its name implies, more than half the land is open acreage used for rotational grazing and

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Andrew Birdsall

Here’s a memory from Andrew Birdsall of Horsepower Farm in Penobscot, Maine: “My grandparents, Paul and Mollie Birdsall, would have been so happy to see MOFGA’s 50th anniversary, and so proud that my family and I are carrying on their work and vision today on Horsepower Farm in Penobscot. Taking a team of horses to

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Ron Poitras

Here’s a memory from Ron Poitras: “MOFGA has been a presence in my life for almost 50 years. As a homesteader in Wayne, Maine, beginning in the early 70’s, advice and camaraderie were important to me as I started out on a steep, wooded and very rocky piece of land. At the time, my paid

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Brittany Hopkins

Here’s a memory from Brittany Hopkins of Wise Acres Farm in Kenduskeag, Maine. “In addition to being a MOFGA apprentice and a MOFGA Journeyperson, I also consider myself to be a little bit of a ‘MOFGA kid.’ I grew up going to the Common Ground Country Fair. My school, New Country School, had a food

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Tim Nason

Here’s a memory from Tim Nason, who retired in December 2020 after working with MOFGA for 47 years(!). Tim designed, among other things, The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener – which he named after the first agricultural newspaper in the U.S. “Called The Maine Farmer, it was edited and produced by Ezekiel Holmes, who was

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Ken Horn

“What an amazing 50 years it has been. Who would have thought that the many small gatherings of folks around the state seeking information on organic production would have evolved into the powerhouse that is today’s MOFGA. The organization has grown and prospered and increased in influence, not through the efforts of any one person,

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Decades with MOFGAs Tim Nason

Tim Nason with Chaitanya York, MOFGA’s first executive director, at a celebration for MOFGA’s 40th anniversary in 2011. Jean English photo Tim with U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree at a MOFGA dinner at Harraseeket Inn in Freeport. Jean English photo Tim is shown here at the 1975 Trades Show surrounded by The MOF&G. Eliot Coleman is

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Moving Forward with Intention at Dickey Hill Farm

Noami Brautigam and James Gagne with their ‘Super Sugar Snap’ peas at Dickey Hill Farm in mid-June The Belfast Farmers’ Market was Dickey Hill’s main sales outlet this year. A small herd of rotationally grazed beef cattle diversifies income streams for Dickey Hill and helps cycle nutrients on the farm. Peas and carrots in a

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