By Mary Anne Libby One Sunday afternoon’s perusal of the seed catalogs and we are off – In the midst of a gentle, deep snow we can dream of sweet peas, turning the names of varieties over and over in our minds, on our tongues. Matucana, Cupani, Mrs. Collier, Painted Lady, and Little Sweetheart. Mammoth
Forty-year-old Golden Delicious trees thrive in this 26-acre orchard that sits 1200 feet above the Pacific Ocean, close enough for avid surfer Stuart Beck and his family to make a quick run to the beach. Lamb photo. By Jane Lamb I met Stuart Beck’s apples before I met the grower himself. In the midst of
Jim Gerritsen. Jim Gerritsen: Standing Firmly for Organic Certification by Marada Cook When Jim Gerritsen bought land in Bridgewater in 1976, he and his wife Megan began an organic seed potato business and published a mail order catalog that made WoodPrairie Farm into a well-known, successful family farm. What is less well known about Gerritsen
Verda Barnes, at age 100, heads a four-generation dairy farm in Albion that is now organic and that provides all of the milk for the Common Kitchen at the Common Ground Country Fair. Verda may be the oldest dairy farmer in Maine. Photo by Marvel Hutchins. By Nan Brucker The Common Kitchen staff needs a
Howard and Sue Schivera By Marada Cook The phrase ‘working vacation’ may seem to be a contradiction, but for Howard and Sue Schivera, their annual trip to Maine is an obvious opportunity to both visit their daughter and volunteer at the Fair. “Diane was the one who volunteered us,” Sue said. Their daughter, Diane Schivera,
Michael (and Grace) Phillips (center, on bench) discuss apples after lunch at Francis Fenton’s farm. This was the last of five orcharding classes offered by MOFGA last summer. Photo by Russell Libby. John Bunker talks apples. Photo by Russell Libby. By Russell Libby MOFGA’s 2004 Organic Orcharding series concluded with a visit to Francis Fenton’s
by Joyce White Many people first visit Hedgehog Hill Farm for the widely advertised, free “Sundays in the Garden at 2.” Every Sunday afternoon from mid-June through August, the public is invited to stroll through the lush gardens and hear a lecture about some aspect of gardening at the 200-acre farm in the small, western
Seeing the Hand of God Every Day by Larry Lack Bonnie and Arnold Pearlman have been farming organically in Jonesport for 34 years. They can’t recall what year they were first certified by MOFGA, but Arnold says they were “among the very first.” The Pearlmans found their 20 acres of woods and blueberry barrens in
John Bunker, MOFGA’s ‘Apple Guy’ By Marada Cook On his first trip to Maine in 1961, and “moved by its beauty, the water and what seemed like a simpler lifestyle,” John Bunker decided on a plan to move to Maine and bid suburbia a permanent farewell. He was 11 years old and ready to head
by Saima Sidik Finding a sense of community at McGill University in Montreal, where classes (at least in the first year) are half the size that my entire high school population was, is tough. However, students occasionally have torn their eyes away from their laptops long enough to create niches within the school that contribute
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