Melissa Bastien “Well, the tent boys have got to have their meat and potatoes, and those wild women who fold T-shirts for days on end like hearty casseroles. The electrical guys need non-stop sugar and caffeine, and then of course there’s always a vegan or two thrown in the line. It’s not your typical Common
By Jane Lamb, copyright 2002. For information on reproducing this article in any manner, please contact the author. 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
Annie Sheble. English photo. By Holli Cederholm Annie Sheble, of Unity, Maine, traces her involvement with MOFGA to the early 1970s when she apprenticed on Jim Luthy’s organic farm in Poland Springs, Maine. Luthy was one of MOFGA’s first presidents and helped start the association’s organic certification program. Sheble’s commitment to organics had actually started
Cabbage, tatsoi, peas and kale are among crops that can be started in summer to extend the growing and harvest season into fall. English photos. National Garden Bureau photo. By Roberta Bailey There is a week in late July when I find myself wishing that I could stop time. The garden is perfect. Tomatoes are
Leslie Poole Maine’s Own Erin Brokovitch By Marada Cook For Leslie Poole, being a good grandmother goes beyond making cookies and chicken soup for an ailing granddaughter. In 1999, when the spraying of neighboring blueberry barrens either led to or worsened 15-year-old Codey Brown’s chemical sensitivity, her family (including Grandma) began a two-year process with
Avena Institute board members Shelly Ubbelohde (left) and Bonnie Rukin-Miller (center) are like good compost for the Institute, helping it grow and flower. The educational Institute grew out of the herb business, Avena Botanicals, started by Deb Soule (right). English photo. Permaculture at Avena By Jean English Bonnie Rukin-Miller, chair of the board of Avena
Betsy Hart. English photo. By Marada Cook “Betsy Hart wears many hats,” says Heather Spalding, Director of the Common Ground Country Fair. “She is chair of the Fair Steering Committee, and she was one of the original coordinators of the Social and Political Action Areas. This year she sold tickets and worked in the Children’s
By Jean English Mike and Margie Shannon are happier living off-the-grid in Knox and raising most of their vegetables than they’ve been any other place they’ve lived. Jean English photos. Margie Shannon’s father would approve of the life that his daughter and son-in-law, Mike Shannon, have built on the north side of Frye Mountain, at
Wilma Johnson (left) and Wilma Stewart. Photo by Heather Spalding. The Two Wilmas By Holli Cederholm Each year thousands of T-shirts featuring a graphic of the Fair poster are sold at the Common Ground Country Fair. The shirts usually arrive during the week before the Fair opens to the public – in need of folding.
Toki Oshima drawing Family-Centered Farming By Polly Shyka When little pigtailed Flora started running laps around the slide projector while her parents were speaking, no one at the 2009 Farmer to Farmer session seemed even slightly miffed. Not only was the 3-1/2-year-old an important part of their conference presentation, she is an important part of
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