Milkweed seeds. English photo. By Jean English, Editor, The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener Every fall when our children were young, my husband would collect milkweed pods from a thousand-square-foot patch of Asclepias syriaca that grows on our land and store the seedpods in a paper bag over winter. In spring, when the swallows returned,
Atina and Martin Diffley with 140 International Tractor. Photo by Laurie Schneider, from https://atinadiffley.com/press-kit/ Organic farmers have a sacred, fundamental, philosophical relationship to the land – a relationship worth fighting for. So said Atina Diffley, author of Turn Here Sweet Corn, during her keynote speech at MOFGA’s 2013 Farmer to Farmer Conference. Diffley’s earliest memories
Toki Oshima illustration. By Grace Oedel Last month I had the privilege of attending the Hazon Food Conference in Falls Village, Connecticut, an annual gathering of people involved in the “New Jewish Food Movement” interested in growing a resilient food system rooted in religious ethics. Although many farmers might not share my voracious appetite for
Toki Oshima illustration. By Céline Caron “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” – John Muir (Printed on Merve Wilkinson’s in
Laura Neale with part of an onion harvest. Photo by Sue Neale. By Stowell Watters Catillus – Latin for “kettle” meaning “a deep vessel.” It is a tool that outshines its various permutations to remain stark and simple. A robust icon forged in black iron, it is a familiar sight, the agrarian symbol heating up
Leah and Marada Cook of Crown O’ Maine Organic Cooperative. Lily Piel photo, courtesy of COMOC. By Betsy Garrold Hard work and quality are recurring themes when you talk to the crew at Crown O’ Maine Organic Cooperative (COMOC, https://crownofmainecoop.com/). Since the early days, when Jim and Kate Cook delivered local, quality potatoes in their
Jim Nichols with his parents, Lois and Nick, who launched him on a grounded, farm-oriented life. English photo. By Jean English Lois and Mahlon “Nick” Nichols raised five children (one now a MOFGA certified organic grower, Jim Nichols) on a Dewitt, Michigan, farm. During a recent visit to Maine, they talked to The MOF&G about
John Augustus Sutter’s once-thriving farming community in California fell victim to the Gold Rush. Portrait of John Sutter by Frank Buchser, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/. The current high price of gold is wreaking environmental destruction in many places around the world, sometimes interfering with local people’s ability to farm and garden. This isn’t a new situation, as John
Genna Cherichello and students at Oceanside East High School prepare a meal incorporating school garden produce. One student who worked with Cherichello on gardening and cooking in the previous academic year went on to work as a gardener over the summer and enroll in Midcoast School of Technology’s Culinary Arts Program. Photo by Marina Schauffler.
Rosey Guest, harvesting tomatoes in mid-October in her unheated hoop house. All photos by Holli Cederholm. After the tomatoes are done, Rosey runs a fence down the middle of the house and keeps her layers in there for a month. They scratch for bugs and add fertility for the following season. Greens and tomatoes are
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