Figs are a subtropical plant from the Mediterranean region and need some special care to flourish in Maine … but it can be done! Easiest is to grow figs in a container and bring it inside in fall after leaf drop. Maintain dormancy by keeping the plants between 20-50 F. Unheated cellars work great. Potting
By Joyce White My blackberry patch has a history, and it begins with raspberries. When I moved to the small town of Stoneham in the Western Maine foothills 23 years ago, I told my elderly neighbor, Arlene, that even though I had started a new raspberry patch, I missed picking fresh, ripe raspberries. “Well, you
Jesse Stevens of Sy’s Trees in Sweden, Maine, grows a “hyper-diversified” orchard of more than 1,000 varieties of woody plants. Photo courtesy of Jesse Stevens Honeyberry, Lonicera coerulea, is an underutilized species that Stevens believes is well suited to organic culture in Maine. Photo by Opioła Jerzy, from Wikimedia. By Jean English Farmers from Sy’s
Many Maine farms and homesteads have low spots where cranberries will do well. Cranberries ready for harvest By Will Bonsall Most folks think of cranberries as a crop with requirements that are too challenging for their situation. Cranberries like sandy, acidic, soggy peat soils that can be flooded at will, whereas the average
Drawing by Toki Oshima By Roberta Bailey Happy Anniversary to me! This spring marks the 35th anniversary of my time writing this column. My entire adult life has evolved around the full flavors of homegrown food straight from the garden, pantry and root cellar. I have never thought of myself as a fancy cook. Instead, I feature
By C.J. Walke This season was the first in my 10 years of working with fruit tree growers that I heard numerous reports of apples and peaches vanishing from trees in just a few days or even overnight. In early August, emails starting popping up in my inbox with subject lines reading “Vanishing apples” and
Warm air from an attic is blown through this cabinet to dry produce. The drying cabinet setup. Warm air from the basement keeps plants in the coldframe from freezing. A small, well insulated box in the garage stores root crops. By Eric Evans My wife, Laura, and I love to eat the fruit and veggies
Toki Oshima drawing By Roberta Bailey These days “kindness” is the word that I hold in the foreground of my mind. It is on a slip of paper at the corner of my bathroom mirror, the base of my computer, and I envision it on the inside of my forehead. It helps me move through
By C.J. Walke It is now almost fall in the orchard and time to think about harvest, cleanup (orchard sanitation) and preparations for winter. Managing fungal diseases can challenge organic tree fruit growers all season, but we can decrease overwintering fungal pressures by putting in a little effort now. Apple scab overwinters on infected leaf
Planting new peach trees regularly offers insurance against losses due to broken limbs, disease, cold and other vicissitudes. Photo by C.J. Walke By C.J. Walke You can grow peaches in Maine? I tend to hear that question when giving organic growing presentations to new organic gardeners or when talking with beginning farmers interested in diversifying
