By Sonja Heyck-Merlin “Each time we’ve dug a shallow well, the excavator operator looks at me and says, ‘I don’t know Joe, I don’t think you’re going to get much water out of there,’” says Joe Ayotte, a hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in New England. “It does look pretty dry but
By Nicolas LindholmPhotos and illustrations by Nicolas Lindholm Ridge tillage as we practice it at Hackmatack Farm is a system of growing vegetable crops in raised ridges formed before planting. Essential to this system is incorporation of winterkilled cover crops and other organic matter into the top surface layer of soil as we form the
By Jan Goranson and Rob Johanson, Goranson Farm, Dresden, and Jean English, Ph.D., MOFGA Plowing and tilling soil excessively can reduce soil health by exposing soil to so much aeration that organic matter oxidizes excessively; subjecting soil to wind and water erosion; inverting soil layers, thus displacing soil organisms from their ecological niches. Plowing and
Photo 1. Photo 2. June 1, 2020 By Jonathan Mitschele Photos by the author The older plaster walls in my 1850s farmhouse were made by spreading wet plaster on a framework of thin wood strips, or laths. I don’t know what folks shopping at Home Depot or the like buy lath for today,
Drawing by Toki Oshima By Joyce White My garden area in Stoneham’s stony foothills is ringed with trees, mostly ash and maple, that have grown very tall during the 21 years I’ve lived here. Their roots have grown very long, too, reaching beneath the soil of the whole garden area. Because of those roots and
Terraces at the author’s Khadighar Farm hold nutrients and water while supporting crop growth on a slope. By Will Bonsall Photos and illustration by Will Bonsall Around the world people have used terraces since ancient times to grow crops on steep hillsides. The benefit of preventing soil erosion is obvious, but an equal value is
By Stowell Watters Do yourself a small disservice sometime and type the words “permaculture definition” into an Internet search for a refreshing check-in with your college brain. Can you still absorb painful block-text paragraphs and talking-head quotes ranging from the vapidly vague to the searingly specific? Can you mentally digest a hurricane of exposition and
By Cheryl A. Wixson Passage of the Federal legislation S.510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act reflects consumers’ needs and desires for assurance that their food supply is free from pathogens and contaminants that cause foodborne illnesses. Russell Libby, MOFGA’s executive director, logged countless hours in Washington, D.C., advocating for small, diversified farms as the bill
Saving Water in the Home Saving Water in the Garden and Landscape Saving Water in the Home Most people use 50 to 70 gallons of water indoors each day, 75% of it in the bathroom, according to Michigan State University. Compare this with the 5 gallons per person per day used in Pennsylvania at the
When York County Extension Educator Frank Wertheim was in Namibia on sabbatical, he learned about a “bucket irrigation kit” from Chapin Watermatics that worked well in that dry environment and should be useful for Maine gardeners as well. In the photo above right, Wertheim and community members lay drip lines in the garden beds. Left:
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