"Perhaps the most radical thing you can do in our time is to start turning over the soil, loosening it up for the crops to settle in, and then stay home and tend them."
- Rebecca Solnit
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PO Box 170
Unity, ME 04988
Phone: 207-568-4142
Fax: 207-568-4141
Email: mofga@mofga.org
Physical Address:
294 Crosby Brook Road, Unity, ME
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Seed Swap & Scion Exchange
Sunday, March 29, 2015
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
MOFGA's Common Ground Education Center, Unity
FREE, no registration required
For gardeners and orchardists, it's the most wonderful flea market in the world. Not only that – most of the best stuff is free! MOFGA, the Maine Tree Crop Alliance, and Fedco will once again host the Seed Swap and Scionwood Exchange at MOFGA’s Common Ground Exhibition Hall in Unity. Please bring any seeds, scionwood or cuttings you have to share freely with others. In recent years we have given away scionwood from well over 200 fruit varieties. These contributions make the day a success. We'll supply labels, tape and markers, and we’ll be selling T-shirts, books, grafting supplies and rootstock. Admission is free. More details.
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Organic and Sustainable Agriculture News
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Protect Maine through trade protectionism
Kennebec Journal - 1/24/2010.Letter to the editor by Edward D. York – A little protectionism right for Maine? Yes! Protection means that Maine has something of value that we don't want lost or taken. I was reading the paper on how Maine dairy farmers are hurting under low milk prices, which are slowly putting them out of business. |
Farmers, thespians cultivate cool collaboration
Maine Sunday Telegram - 1/24/2010. By Avery Yale Kamila – The party began with a little drama. "We're having a wine crisis," Jennie Hahn told me as she anxiously peered out the front door of her cousin's oceanfront home in Cape Elizabeth. Meanwhile her cousin Rebecca Millett, who chairs the Cape Elizabeth School Board, was busy in the kitchen pouring wine from the only two bottles she had on hand. A few minutes later Hahn breathed a big sigh of relief as her husband, Wade Brainerd, arrived laden down with beer and wine. Despite Hahn's concern, drama is just what the two dozen farmers and foodies gathered at Millett's home were in the mood for. We were there for the kickoff of the "Of Farms and Fables" collaborative community theater project that Hahn's group, Open Waters Theatre Arts, is producing. |
Last chance to save wild bumble bees – has commercial shipping wiped them out?
Alternet - 1/22/2010.By Adam Federman – In the early 1990s, the USDA conducted risk assessments of the interstate transport of bumble bees for commercial greenhouse pollination, particularly tomatoes. Because of the risk of introducing non-native pests and diseases into new areas, they concluded that commercially reared bumble bees should not be shipped beyond their native range. |
Let’s all play nice
Kennebec Journal - 1/22/2010.Op-ed by Denis Thoet – The annual Maine Agricultural Trades Show is always a treat. Set in the depths of winter (mid-January), it is both a wrap-up of last year's work and a look into the coming year's promise. This year's Ag Show also had a fascinating sub-theme: "Let's all play nice." Or as Rodney King had put it: "Can't we all just get along?" |
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Check out MOFGA's
online community!
Create your own profile website
List products and services that you offer
Post classified ads
Join forum discussions |
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Yeomans Plow for sale by Plowshares Community Farm: "The Yeomans Plow is the king of reduced tillage. We have switched from tillage systems to permanent orchards, so we do not ne..." |
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Peach trees available this spring by Plowshares Community Farm: "Contender Peach (yellow freestone), more cold hardy than most. Just $24 each, 3/8" caliper, the best size for establishing l..." |
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Farm help Wanted by Shamrock Green Farm: "Shamrockgreen Farm is looking for help which would include a full range of diversified tasks. Some farm experience a must. Ta..." |
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March 6 - MOFGA’s Common Ground radio show |
10 to 11 a.m. on WERU, 89.9 and 99.9 FM and weru.org |
March 7 - MOFGA’s Spring Growth Conference: Farming in the Face of Climate Change |
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center, Unity. Keynote speaker John Aber and a panel of farmers focus on weather- and climate-related changes farmers are experiencing. Includes open discussion on strategies for farmers to deal with changing climate. Information and registration. |
March 8 - Film presented by MOFGA’s Green Cemetery Committee |
MOFGA's Green Cemetery Committee invites the public to a free film series on End of Life issues. 1:30 p.m. at MOFGA's Education Center in Unity. Several short films will be shown to inform about choices and inspire planning and preparing ahead. Save the date for the last film in our series to be shown on April 12. FMI contact Nancy at 568-7597. |
March 12 - Growing Tomatoes in a High Tunnel |
Thursday, 10 a.m. to noon, Houlton Higher Education Center, Rm 110, 18 Military St, Houlton. Presented by Eric Sideman, Crop Specialist, MOFGA. Hosted by the Southern Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. The class is the second in a three-part high tunnel series funded by the Broad Reach Fund of the Maine Community Foundation. 1 pesticide credit is available through the class. A complementary lunch will be served. Pre-registration is requested. Contact the SASWCD at 532-2087 x 101 or angela.wotton@me.nacdnet.net |
March 14 - MOFGA’s Organic Orcharding Workshop: Pruning
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10 a.m.to 3 p.m. Two locations: 1. New Leaf Farm, Durham (instructor: Angus Deighan); 2. between Ellsworth and Cherryfield (instructor: Brannin Buehner of Bear & Owl Tree Care). Learn to prune fruit trees to encourage vigorous growth, heavy fruit set and quality fruit yield. For beginning and experienced growers. $50 non-members; $35 members. More information. The workshop is also offered at Apple Acres Farm in Hiram. $25 per person. FMI visit the Resilience Hub. |
March 14 - Growing Issues: Urban Agriculture |
11 a.m., Bernard Osher Foundation Auditorium, Portland Museum of Art. Join this panel of experts on local sustainability in their discussion of the importance of public food forests, public orcharding, edible street trees, permablitzing and community gardens. A Community Collaboration between Portland Museum of Art and MOFGA. Free for PMA and MOFGA members ($10 for the general public). Schedule and details. |
March 18 - Hancock County Grower Meeting |
Wednesday, Hancock County Extension Office, 63 Boggy Brook Rd., Ellsworth. Sessions on certification, soil health and crop planning presented by local farmers. Opportunity to take the Pesticide Applicator License exam; RSVP at least 8 days prior. Details. |
March 18 and 25 - Organic Farming: Principles and Practices |
Two-part course designed to provide farmers with a strong background in soils, weeds and pest management, enabling them to make good management decisions. Lectures by Eric Sideman, MOFGA's organic crop specialist, and local farmers. Information and registration. |
March 21 - 21st Annual Rural Living Day |
Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Mt. View High School, 577 Mt. View Rd. (Rt. 220), Thorndike. Classes on gardening, forestry and rural life. Co-sponsored by MOFGA and UMaine Cooperative Extension. FMI: UMaine Extension, 1-800-287-1426. Deadline to register is Friday, March 13. |
March 21 - MOFGA’s Organic Orcharding Workshop: Renovating Old Trees |
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Locations: Palermo with Angus Deighan; Beech Hill Farm, Mount Desert with C.J. Walke; or Kermit Nickerson School, Swanville with Sean Murphy. Do you have old trees on your land that you would like to bring back into production? Learn how to renovate and tend your heritage trees. $50 non-members; $35 members. Information and registration. |
March 26 - Growing Issues: The Hidden World of Bees and Pollination |
6:30 p.m., Bernard Osher Foundation Auditorium, Portland Museum of Art. Hear Christy Hemenway from Gold Star Honeybees, Heather Spalding, MOFGA deputy director, and Fedco Seeds founder CR Lawn talk about our pollinators and the national and local issues that concern them and our food supply. Maine honey and mead tasting to follow. A Community Collaboration between Portland Museum of Art and MOFGA. Free for PMA and MOFGA members ($10 for the general public). Schedule and details. |
March 27 - Lincoln/Knox County Grower Meeting |
Friday, Knox-Lincoln County Extension Office, 377 Manktown Rd., Waldoboro. Sessions on certification, soil health and crop planning presented by local farmers. Opportunity to take the Pesticide Applicator License exam; RSVP at least 8 days prior. Details. |
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See the full calendar ... |
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