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Volunteer Sue Buck

“I love the Information Booth,” says Sue Buck. “We mostly see very happy people who are just trying to find something.” Even with the traffic problems at the new site last fall, “people were mostly accepting and patient.” Sue has co-coordinated the information booth at the Common Ground Fair for the past two years. Before

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North Creek Farm

Suzy Verrier and her partner Kai Jacob have built up North Creek Farm in Sebasco, where they raise vegetables, perennials and nursery stock. Jane Lamb photo. By Jane Lamb Need proof of the efficacy of compost? Look no further than North Creek Farm, Suzy Verrier’s homestead, retail nursery, garden store and vegetable stand in Sebasco.

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John Bunker

John Bunker finds and saves heirloom varieties of apples in Maine; his dog, Tessa, keeps deer away from the orchard. Jane Lamb photo. “To Be of Value While I’m Here” By Jane Lamb “Core and slice thickly, with skin. Fry in pork fat. Add water as necessary till soft. Then add ‘a few dollops’ of

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Eggs

Jim Hannah has his chickens trained well – or vice versa. English photo. By Jean English Jim Hannah and Deborah Banks raise happy hens: 3,000 happy hens, in fact, all with room to roam and with feed to satisfy the most gourmand among the flock. Their Hilltop Farm in Dexter is, as far as Hannah

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Payson

Louise Payson She is considered a pioneer of American landscape architecture. Her prominence in the “Golden Age of American gardens” was acknowledged in some of the leading publications of her time. As a woman practicing in what historically had been a male-dominated field, she helped redefine the character and qualities that established the distinctiveness of

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Volunteer

Debbie Kipp By Ann Cox Halkett For a week each year before, during and after the Common Ground Fair, Debbie Kipp volunteers in the Fair office and does “anything that the office needs done.” That usually includes answering the phone, handing out passes, and running errands. “I just do anything … talk to vendors, take

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Anniversary Farm Finds Its Balance

Ellin and Stephen Sheehy have a diversified farm with a bed and breakfast in Alna. Lamb photo. By Jane Lamb Imagine giving and receiving a little piece of Eden as a 25th anniversary present. Adam and Eve never had it so good. But Ellin and Stephen Sheehy did just that when they bought an old

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Volunteer Eric Rector

Eric Rector. English photo. “Every job I’m in, I end up doing the computers,” says Eric Rector, creator of MOFGA’s website (www.mofga.org). That’s what I’m good at.” Eric designed MOFGA’s site last year when the proposed USDA rules for organic labeling were up for public comment, and he wanted the talks MOFGA sponsored on the

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Lessons Learned

Toki Oshima illustration Half a Dozen Books With Garden Themes By Sue Smith-Heavenrich A few summers ago the local weekly was promoting a garden contest to keep kids “off the streets and doing something worthwhile.” I wasn’t interested in encouraging my children to grow giant zucchinis, but I was interested in the free seeds. They

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Groundswell Farm: Toward a Sustainable Organic Seed System

Mike Bowman and Maria Reynolds of Groundswell Farm at their booth at the Common Ground Country Fair. English photo. By Holli Cederholm Mike Bowman and Maria Reynolds named their Groundswell Farm after their farming ideology and the topography of the 7 acres they are leasing in Solon, Maine. Their 4 acres of MOFGA certified organic

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