A heavy hay mulch, as promoted by Ruth Stout, smothers weeds (until some, such as quackgrass, creep in) but is not suitable for closely set plants or for grain crops. English photo By Will Bonsall No-till is the rage now and for some good reasons. Plowing, spading and rototilling disrupt the natural soil structure and dilute richer
Many agricultural plastics, including some row covers, are difficult or impossible to recycle. English photo By David McDaniel In the summer 2019 MOF&G, I discussed how Maine farmers depend on many plastic products and the difficulties of recycling these materials. Here I review some of the limited ways to recycle agricultural plastic and types of plastic to
Raspberry plants are abundantly productive and take only a small amount of work in the home garden. English photo Calendula is easy to grow, produces sunny bouquets and is used in medicinal salves and other skin-care products. English photo Pots of basil set on a deck are readily available for snipping. English photo By Joyce
By Roberta Bailey We have arrived at full summer. The days are long. The air is scented with hay and warm leaves. Bees buzz from flower to flower. Bumble bees roll inside squash blossoms. Tree swallows swoop and chortle, catching insects to bring back to their nests. Dragonflies gather and dance in the air, their
2017 tractor safety course students at Hall’s Implement Co. in Windham with instructors Jason Lilley (UMaine Cooperative Extension, Cumberland County) and George Hall. Photo courtesy of Jason Lilley By Ellen S. Gibson, Farm Education Specialist, Maine AgrAbility How did you learn to drive a tractor? As a woman who began farming in her 40s, I know that training
Yanna Mohan Muriel is helping plan a farmer to farmer conference in Puerto Rico. Photo courtesy of Alexandra May. A work brigade organized by Organización Boricuá for Samnyasin La Finca, the farm where Muriel was raised. Photo courtesy of Yanna Mohan Muriel. Muriel and her daughter found earthstar fungi on Finca Marisol while observing soil
The author’s third high tunnel with a fourth shown under construction. Photo by David McDaniel By David McDaniel Maine commercial farmers are addicted to plastic. Whether we farm organically or conventionally, the economics of modern farming drive our dependence on petroleum-based plastic products. We use acres of black plastic mulch to warm our cold northern soil and
Michele Carmel and Albie Barden at their Norridgewock home. One aspect of “living with the corn.” A Benjamin & Co. model corn sheller made in Winthrop in the 1800s By Jean English Photos by the author “We live with the corn, in all of its manifestations.” Michele Carmel’s understatement amuses me as I sit with Albie Barden
A blight-resistant American chestnut tree growing at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center. Butternuts shown in the Exhibition Hall of the Common Ground Country Fair by Claudette Nadeau. Aronia melanocarpa growing at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center. Permaculture with a native twist By Heather McCargo Agroforestry is the practice of adding trees and shrubs to
Terraces at Sataf in the Jerusalem Corridor. Photo courtesy of the photo archive of the Jewish National Fund. Spring water at Sataf flowing into the second plot. Photo by Deborah Rubin Fields Patch cultivation or box fields in the Modin area. Photo courtesy of Dr. Rafael Lewis, from a 2017 article co-authored with Prof. Shimon
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