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Gil Whitehead

Gil Whitehead with Star and Red – and one of two Aussies on the farm. English photo Whitehead heads into the Christmas tree plantation with his team of oxen. In winter, the oxen haul out Christmas trees that customers select and Whitehead cuts. English photo By Jean English Sixteen-year-old Gil Whitehead of MOFGA-certified organic Winterberry

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Brochu Homestead

Nicholas Butler of the USDA NRCS Soil Science Division discussed forest stand improvement practices, the relationship of tree species in the woodlot to soil profiles, and the Ecological Site Survey (similar to the Web Soil Survey) that USDA is developing. English photo By Katy Green, Kacey Weber and Jean English In 2016, MOFGA cosponsored four

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North Branch Farm

The North Branch family, left to right: Ada, Anna, Seth, Elwyn, Tyler and Misha Some of the horse-drawn equipment used on the farm, with the fenced (from deer) fruit tree and shrub nursery in the background. A closer look at the irrigated nursery North Branch specializes in vegetable crops grown for its winter CSA Seth

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The Joy of Tasting at the Hayloft Tent

Apple varieties displayed at the Fair. English photo Voice your opinion about apple varieties in the Hayloft Tent at the Fair. English photo By John Bunker In 1993, needing something to spruce up the brand new Fedco Seeds tent at the Common Ground Country Fair, we assembled three modest displays. One featured assorted potatoes; the

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Memories of Fairs Past

Will Bonsall has been sharing his homesteading and seed saving wisdom with fairgoers since the second Common Ground Country Fair. English photo Common Ground favorites Will Bonsall with Martha Gottlieb, co-coordinator of the Exhibition Hall. Nancy Bowker photo Common Ground and the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad – a wonderful symbiosis. English photo By Will

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Wellscroft Farm

Left to right: Colin, Julie and David at their booth near the sheepdog demos at the Common Ground Country Fair. John Williams photo Sheep and goats keep the land open at Wellscroft Farm in Harrisville, N.H., affording a view of Mount Monadnock, thanks to modern fencing systems and sheepdogs. English photo Sheepdogs help the Wellscroft

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Look Whos Been Talking

Toki Oshima drawing By Teresa L. Johnson Just like those creepy talking trees in “The Wizard of Oz,” the plants in your garden are talking to each other. Scientists have now identified ways that plants communicate with each other and with other species. “Plants have sensory systems. They perceive a lot of things, they process

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Vern Grubinger

Vern Grubinger of the University of Vermont said that the principles of organic agriculture can help improve our food system, our environment and our society. Photo courtesy of University of Vermont Review: Food, Farms, and Community: Exploring Food Systems By Lisa Chase and Vern Grubinger Vern Grubinger, keynote speaker at MOFGA’s 2016 Farmer to Farmer

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Growing a Good Life

Wendy Green outside the house she built and next to the mullein plant that just appeared. Photo courtesy of Wendy Green Live simply that others may simply live. – Gandhi By Joyce White Wendy Green, 61, has spent the years since adolescence creating her own life from an underlying philosophy of taking responsibility for herself

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Balfour Farm

Doug and Heather Donahue of Balfour Farm at their booth at the Common Ground Country Fair. Photo courtesy of Balfour Farm By Sonja Heyck-Merlin In Gaelic, Balfour means “from the grazing or pasture land.” Maine organic farmstead cheesemakers Heather and Doug Donahue settled on the name in honor of Doug’s Irish ancestry. The name also

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