Holly Lash of Gramp's Farm. Jane Lamb photo.

Gramp’s Farm: Finding a Home for Every Blueberry
By Jane Lamb
As a Hancock County businessman/farmer, Tom Taylor has talked with a lot of people who have worked in commercial blueberry plants. "The people who pick out [clean] the berries work in coats because [the berries] are frozen by the time they pick them out. I haven’t heard any good tales from people who worked in a commercial factory. All they can say is that they never want to see a blueberry again in their lives." Working in a blueberry factory doesn’t sound like a job that could ever be called "fun." "It’s really unfortunate," says Tom, "because the way we do business, it’s fun! It’s not overly fatiguing, hardly even breaks the sweat."

Camels are Favored at Tregellys Farm
By Norma Jane Langford

Cultivating Health with a "Garden Work Out"
By Sue Smith Heavenrich
Regular yard work can help prevent osteoporosis, says Dr. Lori Turner from the University of Arkansas. She and her team of researchers have found that women aged 50 and older who garden at least once a week have stronger bones than their peers. Digging holes, pulling weeds, pushing a mower, moving buckets and bags of compost – all of these provide opportunities to strengthen muscles and bones.

Will Sugg, Jim Hightower, Heather Spalding, Rusty Sugg. English photo.

Practice Determined Water Conservation
By Beedy Parker

Saving Water – in the Home; in the Garden and Landscape

Demonstrating Low-Tech Drip Irrigation in Namibia
By Frank Wertheim

2001 Common Ground Country Fair Keynote
Jim Hightower Praises Corporate Butt-Kickers Over Global Greedheads

MOFGA's 2002 Spring Growth Conference
In Search of Real Security: A Talk by Mark Winne

Countering Modern Diseases with Traditional, Nutrient-Dense Foods
By Jean English

Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Foods
Dr. Virginia Worthington is a nutritionist who holds a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University and is now a nutritional consultant with Nutrikinetics of Washington, D.C. She has compared studies of nutritional aspects of organic versus conventional foods and presented some of the results in her paper, "Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains."

Maine CSA Cultivates a Cookbook
By Jean English
Jean Ann Pollard grew up on the 100-acre farm that her parents bought in Winslow, Maine, in 1934. When she was younger, she could and did raise, kill, pluck, eat – and thank – her own chickens. However, her philosophy of food changed when she was living in North Africa and had to feed her family.

Bob Hawes and volunteer Fran Curtis. English photo.

Bob Hawes on How to Keep a Hen Happy
By Jean English

Raising Broilers on Pasture
By Richard J. Brzozowski

Following My Garlic – to New York City!
By Doreen Pasekoff

Grow Your Own Juneberries
By Roberta Bailey
Juneberries, serviceberries, saskatoons, shadberries, or shadblow (Amelanchier species) are multi-stemmed trees or large shrubs ranging from 8 to 18 feet, depending on the species and variety. Extremely hardy (zone 2), they range as far north as Alaska. They are the first trees to bloom in the Maine or New England countryside, a week or two earlier than the pin cherries.

Marsh Mallow: The Flavor of Softness
By Deb Soule
Marshmallow, Althaea officinalis, belongs to the Malvaceae (Mallow) family. Hollyhocks and hibiscus are also members of this family. The word Malva comes from the Greek word 'malakos', which means 'soft' or 'soothing.'

Toki Oshima drawing

Harvest Kitchen: Pickles
By Roberta Bailey
The first year that I lived in Maine, I gardened on a neighboring farm. Along with plowing up the plot, the farmers showed me how to turn the heel of a knitted sock and how to make pickles. We picked an impressively large patch of cucumbers, washed them and the jars, and spent the rest of the afternoon making pickles. I still use those recipes: dill pickles, mustard pickles and a half dozen others that I carefully copied onto index cards. (And I still turn a heel the way Diane Ward taught me.)

Lavender: It's Not Just for Soaps and Sachets
By Ellie MacDougall

MOFGA Marketing Page
By Susie O'Keeffe

Tips
Dandelion Bruschetta
On Milk Quality

Letters
Pingree – First Organic Farmer-Senator?
Baldacci for Governor
Use Alternatives for Peat
GE Rice is for Corporate Profits

Editorials

"Last Row to Hoe"
By Eric Rector, 2002 MOFGA President
Over the last five years, MOFGA has grown substantially in membership, in the number of farms certified organic, and in influence in the world of agriculture. In response to this growth, MOFGA has built a home for itself and for its annual Common Ground Country Fair in Unity, Maine. We call it Common Ground.

We're In This Together
By Russell Libby, MOFGA Executive Director
Since the USDA is showing a little more interest in organics, at least to the extent of implementing uniform national standards for organic foods, I've been paying more attention to U.S. farm policy and its impact on farmers in Maine and beyond.

Whither USDA Organic?
By Jean English, The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener
I had to laugh one day when I walked into the Belfast Co-op Store and the first thing I saw was a big pile of golden yellow, organic bananas — with Dole stickers on each bunch!

Maine Takes Two Steps Toward Pesticide Use Reduction
By Sharon Tisher, 2002 Chair MOFGA Public Policy Committee

Reviews
The AltMaine Guide, by Dick Balkite and Jim Carter
How to Grow More Vegetables, by John Jeavons
Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance, edited by Fernando Funes
Dirt Under My Nails – An American Farmer and Her Changing Land, by Marilee Foster