Archives: Stories

Our Homestead Gardens

The gardens at the Deer Isle Hostel are designed in a simple, straight-row layout and consist of four areas: raised beds lined with logs, open areas, beds along the fence and paths. Photo by Anneli Carter-Sundqvist. Permanent paths between the raised beds are mulched with wood chips and in the open areas with leaves that

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Tourne Sol Co operative Farm

The Tourne-Sol farmers, left to right: Frédéric Thériault, Reid Allaway, Renée Primeau, Emily Board and Daniel Brisebois. By farming cooperatively, these five can specialize in certain aspects of farming, take vacations, buy less equipment and realize other benefits. Photo courtesy of Tourne Sol Co-operative Farm. An aerial view of Tourne Sol. Photo courtesy of Tourne

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Volunteer Profile Wesley Daniel

Wesley Daniel. English photo. By Betsy Garrold Wesley Daniel started coming to the Common Ground Country Fair 30 years ago when his then 10-year-old son, Jonathan, became interested in the oxen team events there. The first year he remembers was the 1985 Fair in Litchfield. By the time the Daniels were bringing their own teams,

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The Earths Call

Michael Zuck photographed at the 2002 Farmer to Farmer Conference. By Michael Zuck Michael George Zuck, 63, died on March 7, 2015. With his wife, Gail, he had built and operated Everlasting Farm in Bangor. He also was the founding president of the Mid-Maine Greenhouse Growers Association, a MOFGA member and an excellent speaker about

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Percy Editorial Summer 2015

By Alice Percy, MOFGA President Treble Ridge Farm, Whitefield I can’t count the number of times I’ve had this conversation. Customer: So how big is your farm? Me: Well, we try to grow out about 80 pigs each year, and we’re cropping between 80 and 100 acres. Customer: That’s huge! Actually, that’s not huge. It’s

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Volunteer Profile Bryan McLellan

Bryan McLellan By Betsy Garrold Systems and communications: Those are the two words that describe Bryan McLellan’s volunteer job at the Common Ground Country Fair. For years as a teenager, McLellan worked with Matthew Strong, first in his food booths and then on parking and communications for the three-day mega event. He left Maine for

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Sacred Grain

Toki Oshima drawing By Grace Oedel Bread occupies a unique and highly sanctified place in many religious traditions. In Judaism, the ritual laws surrounding bread stand apart from all other culinary rituals. A meal is defined by whether or not you consumed bread. If you did, you are mandated to carry out a full set

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Rediscovering the Family Farm

Toki Oshima drawing. By Grace Oedel My husband and I recently moved in with my in-laws with the intention of farming family land. I wish I could say this was a smooth, easy process, but we all struggled. We were unused to what it meant to live together. We had differing expectations about how to

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Many Hands Farm

Nyla Bravesnow of Many Hands Farm in Thorndike picks rose hips. Many Hands focuses on homesteading and permaculture on 2 cultivated acres. Photo by Sue Smith-Heavenrich. By Sue Smith-Heavenrich If you visit Many Hands Farm in Thorndike, the first thing you notice is the abundance of flowers: sunflowers, coneflowers, beebalm and calendula. Lots of calendula.

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New American Farmers

New American Sustainable Agriculture Project graduate Jabril Abdi pauses in his corn field. Batula Ismail farms her plot in Lisbon. By Stowell P. Watters Photos by Greta Rybus Here is a nightmare we Mainers can only imagine: A group of men with assault rifles comes barreling across the savannah to demand that we part with

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