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Grange Corner Farm: Growing Grains Suited to the Northeast

Sam Mudge checks on his field of ‘Danko’ winter rye (right) and ‘Sirvinta’ winter wheat (left). Photo by Aube Giroux. By Holli Cederholm Grange Corner Farm, a MOFGA certified organic farm, stretches across 30 acres of old hayfields on a windy crest with panoramic views of the Camden Hills in Lincolnville, Maine. Sam Mudge says

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Grange Revival

Halcyon Grange in Blue Hill has a state-licensed kitchen and bulk storage bins for grain. By Betsy Garrold Photos by the author What has sprung dance floors, a stage and nurtures local agricultural traditions? The Grange, of course. In Maine the Grange is seeing a resurgence of interest and relevance. As Maine continues to grow

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Peter Kellman

Peter Kellman’s portrait by Robert Shetterly. From AmericansWhoTellTheTruth.org. In August, Maine artist Robert Shetterly unveiled his portrait of longtime labor leader, historian and working class hero Peter Kellman at the Good Life Center in Harborside, Maine. The portrait is part of Shetterly’s Americans Who Tell the Truth series. (MOFGA’s Russell Libby was also included in

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California Detour Wheat Vs Gold

John Augustus Sutter’s once-thriving farming community in California fell victim to the Gold Rush. Portrait of John Sutter by Frank Buchser, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/. The current high price of gold is wreaking environmental destruction in many places around the world, sometimes interfering with local people’s ability to farm and garden. This isn’t a new situation, as John

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Nichols Family

Jim Nichols with his parents, Lois and Nick, who launched him on a grounded, farm-oriented life. English photo. By Jean English Lois and Mahlon “Nick” Nichols raised five children (one now a MOFGA certified organic grower, Jim Nichols) on a Dewitt, Michigan, farm. During a recent visit to Maine, they talked to The MOF&G about

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COMOC

Leah and Marada Cook of Crown O’ Maine Organic Cooperative. Lily Piel photo, courtesy of COMOC. By Betsy Garrold Hard work and quality are recurring themes when you talk to the crew at Crown O’ Maine Organic Cooperative (COMOC, https://crownofmainecoop.com/). Since the early days, when Jim and Kate Cook delivered local, quality potatoes in their

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Laura Neale

Laura Neale with part of an onion harvest. Photo by Sue Neale. By Stowell Watters Catillus – Latin for “kettle” meaning “a deep vessel.” It is a tool that outshines its various permutations to remain stark and simple. A robust icon forged in black iron, it is a familiar sight, the agrarian symbol heating up

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Forest Restoration

Toki Oshima illustration. By Céline Caron “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” – John Muir (Printed on Merve Wilkinson’s in

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Atina Diffley

Atina and Martin Diffley with 140 International Tractor. Photo by Laurie Schneider, from https://atinadiffley.com/press-kit/ Organic farmers have a sacred, fundamental, philosophical relationship to the land – a relationship worth fighting for. So said Atina Diffley, author of Turn Here Sweet Corn, during her keynote speech at MOFGA’s 2013 Farmer to Farmer Conference. Diffley’s earliest memories

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Monarchs or Corn Syrup

Milkweed seeds. English photo. By Jean English, Editor, The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener Every fall when our children were young, my husband would collect milkweed pods from a thousand-square-foot patch of Asclepias syriaca that grows on our land and store the seedpods in a paper bag over winter. In spring, when the swallows returned,

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