By Tim King Sheep shearing is largely men’s work in some parts of the country. That’s not so in Maine. Arla Casselman, who farms MOFGA-certified organic blueberries near Warren, believes that’s due in part to MOFGA. “With the MOFGA apprenticeship program I feel like it’s easy as a female to get on a farm,” she
The Janapada Seva Trust strives to create a nonviolent, egalitarian order of society. Its core area of work includes welfare, education, rural industry, environment and agriculture. The trust refurbished 11 wooden manual looms and created a space where local people can make “Khadi” cloth whenever they have a chance. By Eric Rector Photos by the
Hemp Resources: Magazine and Web Site Wendy Kochenthal’s hemp vests, belts, bags and leashes were displayed at the Common Ground Country Fair. English photo. By Jean English Last winter, Wendy Kochenthal of Jackson, Maine, took a two-month trip to the West Coast, traveling from Seattle to Baja and back again. Along the way she found
By Jean English “I hope to see hemp used soon for more than one purpose on this campus,” joked Dean Jim Carignan of Bates College in his opening remarks at the April 4 Alternative Paper Conference. He added that the next millennium “will be owned not by the government, not buy business, but by NGOs
Weaving Direct Connections Between Producers and Consumers by Mary Dickinson Bird What wool producer wouldn’t rejoice at the thought of a secure source of cash up front to support production costs, a guaranteed market for fiber after shearing or processing, and even, perhaps, free labor during the farm’s busiest seasons? Such are the benefits of
David Ritchie sorts wool at the worker-owned Green Mountain Spinnery in Putney, Vermont. Photo courtesy of Green Mountain Spinnery. by Tim King At the Green Mountain Spinnery in Putney, Vermont, shepherds can have their animals’ fleeces spun into certified organic yarn, GREENSPUN yarn, or yarn spun using conventional, petroleum-based spinning oil. Encapsulated within those three
Far Better Options Exist by Alex Owre High-nitrogen content (6-2-2) cottonseed meal is an organic fertilizer that lowers the pH of soil, poses little danger of burning plants, and provides nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as well as many minor plant food elements. It is cheap and readily available. In some states, however, cottonseed meal is
by Alex Owre The white lint that is spun into cotton yarn constitutes roughly a quarter of the raw plant matter sucked into a cotton stripper. Over the years, U.S. producers have learned to squeeze maximum value out the rest, especially the seeds. For every pound of fiber, 1.6 pounds of seed are produced. Once
Cynthia Thayer of the Wednesday Spinners demonstrated dyeing with indigo at the 2004 Common Ground Country Fair. “Two problems make indigo a dye unlike any other dye in the universe,” said Cynthia Thayer at the 2004 Common Ground Country Fair. It does not dissolve in water, nor does it adhere to material. “It’s also the
Susan Barrett Merrill’s husband, Richard, made the old cedar EarthLoom that stood in the pocket park and dye garden at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center for many years. English photo The new granite EarthLoom. English photo Joe Auciello of the Maine Stoneworkers Guild created the new EarthLoom. Merrill designed the EarthLoom and makes Zati masks
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