"Industrial agriculture and the assumptions on which it rests are wrong, root and branch."
- Wendell Berry
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Resources
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Rain Gardens | Legal Terrain of Farm Business | Resource for Group Decision Making |
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The eroding slope outside of the UMaine Extension water quality office has been stabilized with shrubs, perennials, and groundcover flanking a curved path. The rain garden in the foreground captures and filters polluted storm water runoff from the parking lot. Photo courtesy of Maine Cooperative Extension. |
Extension Publication: Rain Gardens Filter Runoff
University of Maine Cooperative Extension has a new bulletin, “Adding a Rain Garden to Your Landscape,” the newest offering in its Landscapes for Maine series. The eight-page bulletin is available for $1.50 through Extension’s books and publications Web site at www.umext.maine.edu, or by calling 207-581-3792.
Developed by UMaine Extension assistant scientist Laura Wilson and water resource specialist Mary Gilbertson of the Portland Water District, the publication details how to plan for, design, install and maintain a rain garden on your property, and includes garden designs and plant lists. Rain gardens help protect the water quality in our lakes, streams and rivers by reducing polluted runoff.
According to Wilson, “research shows that rain gardens are remarkably effective at treating phosphorus from storm water runoff – on an individual or larger commercial scale. Rain gardens are also fairly easy to install and even easier to maintain, and they're pretty, too.”
Wilson herself installed a rain garden to filter storm water runoff from the parking area outside her office at the University of Maine, which overlooks the Stillwater River. The hard, paved surface sheds rain water, which then carries phosphorous and surface contaminants toward the river. To remedy the situation, Wilson, landscape designer Kirsten Reberg-Horton and volunteers planted trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcover to stabilize the eroding slope next to the parking lot. Then they installed a rock-lined trench to direct runoff from the parking lot, and a rain garden to capture and infiltrate the water.
The public is welcome to visit the demonstration rain garden at 495 College Avenue in Orono, and details of the project are at www.umaine.edu/waterquality/landscapes.htm. Wilson can be contacted at Laura Wilson 207-581-2971, lwilson@umext.maine.edu |
Funded by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (NE-SARE), "A Legal Guide to the Business of Farming in Vermont" is a publication of the University of Vermont (UVM) Center for Sustainable Agriculture. The lead author is Annette Higby, an attorney from Randolph who has spent her career working with farmers. Other contributing authors -- including attorneys and staff from Vermont agricultural organizations -- provide expertise about the legal structure of the farm business; farm transfer and estate planning; farmland tenure and leasing; and regulation of farm labor, organic agriculture, agriculture and land use, and on-farm food processing and marketing. The guide is intended for use primarily by Vermont farm service providers -- Extension, land trust and farm agency personnel; attorneys; and others who work directly with farmers on farm start-up, farm viability or farm transfer issues. It can help farmers identify areas that need additional research or technical assistance in their businesses. While not a substitute for legal advice, the guide may be useful when developing questions for an attorney, accountant or farm service provider. In addition, farmers may use it to identify and address issues for the farm's business plan or to become better informed consumers of legal or farm viability services. The guide is available at www.uvm.edu/~farmtran/legalguide.html
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MOFGA member Craig Freshley, who has been helping groups make decisions for 15 years, has released his book, Tips to Make Good Group Decisions. This 80-page book blends inspirational theory and practical advice. The eBook is free at www.GoodGroupDecisions.com. The paperback edition can be ordered from that Web site for a low cost, with discounts for multiple copies.
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