"Fresh from the Garden" at UMaine Cooperative Extension Oxford County Office

SOUTH PARIS, ME—The University of Maine Cooperative Extension Oxford County Office, 9 Olson Road in South Paris, will be busting with fresh vegetables and flowers at its “Fresh from the Garden” event, which will be Thursday, August 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. Attendees will get a chance to tour the gardens and see several presentations on cooking with fresh produce. This event is free and open to the public; if you plan to attend, please call 800-287-1482 (in Maine) or 743-6329 so that numbers can be anticipated.

People who attend will have the chance to tour the gardens, with its plots for Plant-a-Row for the Hungry, a pollinator garden and cut flower trials. Extension Educator Barbara Murphy and the UMaine Extension Master Gardeners will be set up at different stations to answer questions and to teach about gardening, weeds and insects. From 4:30 to 5:00, Extension Educator Karen Toohey will be doing a presentation on ratatouille, a stewed vegetable dish from the Provence region of France. Master Gardener Sharon Phinney will show how to make an easy herb salad dressing from 5:15 to 5:30.

Contact: Barbara Murphy, 207-743-6329, bmurphy@umext.maine.edu



For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

UMaine Cooperative Extension Offers Grain Producation Workshop and Field Day

SIDNEY, ME—University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Organic Milk Producers are excited to announce a grain production workshop and field day for interested dairy producers on Thursday, August 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those who attend will get a chance to visit farms that have been experimenting with grain production to supplement the diets of their dairy cows. Attendees should start at the Rainbow Valley Farm on River Road in Sidney, where signs will direct them to the field-day site; later that afternoon, the tour will head to Bullridge Farm on Bog Road in Albion. Lunch will be offered for $5 by RSVP only; to RSVP or for more information, please call the UMaine Extension office in Waldo County at 800-287-1426 (in Maine) or 207-342-5971. Nutrient management and pesticide recertification credits are being requested for this event.

Beginning at Rainbow Valley Farm, the tour will examine the plots where the Bragg family grows both winter and spring organic grains. Extension Educator Richard Kersbergen will discuss the plantings, and also lead a discussion about the issues of growing winter grains in Maine and the value of growing winter grains as both a forage and grain crop to reduce feed costs.

Next the tour will proceed to Bullridge Farm, owned and operated by the Perkins family. Here attendees will see some trials involving soybeans, and will tour plots of small grains including winter spelt, a grain that has received increasing attention for its use in human as well as livestock feeding markets. Lauren Kolb, a graduate student of UMaine’s Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences, will be on hand to discuss some innovative weed-control techniques in small grains that are being implemented in Europe and experimented with at the Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station farm in Orono.

This field day is based on support and research partnerships provided by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, the USDA/CSREES Integrated Organic Program, the Northeast Center for Risk Management Education, the Agricultural Research Service/New England Plant, Soil and Water Lab, the University of Vermont and the Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station.

Contact: Richard Kersbergen, 207-342-5971, richardk@umext.maine.edu



For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

UMaine Cooperative Extension Holds Annual Moon Garden Celebration

STILLWATER, ME—University of Maine Cooperative Extension will once again hold its Moon Garden Celebration, a tradition of celebrating the July full moon, on Tuesday, July 24 at Rogers Farm on Bennoch Road in Stillwater. The event will feature stories, songs and the Moon Garden, a garden with night-blooming plants grown by UMaine Extension Master Gardeners, and will begin at 6 p.m. It is free and open to the public. Some seating will be available but attendees are urged to bring their own. In the event of rain, the festivities will be moved indoors.

Gardeners are invited to tour the Demonstration Garden starting at 5:00 p.m. Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer questions.The moon garden celebration will start out at 6:00 p.m. with children’s songs, riddles and poems. Romance takes the spotlight when the Y-players, an acting troupe under the direction of Bangor Y’s Pam Martin, perform a selection of love songs from their recent shows. A sing-along with audience participation will wrap up the musical part of the evening, and refreshments will be served following the performance.

The Moon Garden is one of many innovative and creative displays in the Master Gardeners’ Demonstration Garden at Rogers Farm. The Demonstration Garden is open to visitors every day from dawn until dusk. When Master Gardeners are working, they provide tours and answer any questions visitors may have; at other times self-guided tours are encouraged.

For more information about UMaine Extension's Master Gardener program, contact your county University of Maine Cooperative Extension office.

Contact: Gleason Gray, 207-942-7396, ggray@umext.maine.edu




For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

UMaine Sponsors Tree Tour of Yankee Woodlot Trails

SKOWHEGAN, ME—University of Maine Cooperative Extension will be offering a tree tour of the Yankee Woodlot Trails on Norridgewock Avenue in Skowhegan, on Friday, August 3 from 10 a.m. to noon. Patty Cormier, district forester with the Maine Forest Service, will lead the tour, which will give attendees an opportunity to see several different forest bio-types, including hemlock, pine, early succession and a mature forest. In addition, the property is home to wildflowers, a pond, vernal pools, seasonal streams and a deer wintering area. This event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is requested: please call the UMaine Extension office in Cumberland County at 800-287-1471 (in Maine) or 207-780-4205 before Monday, July 30.

This tour is an organized outing of the Maine Tree Club, an educational outreach program established by UMaine Extension, the Maine Forest Service and the Pine Tree State Arboretum. The club is designed to teach people young and old how to identify 50 trees of Maine over a two-year period; to teach participants how to best care for trees on their property and in their community; and to help people to better understand the importance of trees to Maine, their ecosystems and their economy.

Contact: Amy Witt, 207-780-4205, awitt@umext.maine.edu



For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

Starks Farm Will Host UMaine Cooperative Extension Goat Enterprise Tour July 21

FAIRFIELD, ME—The fifth tour in University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s series of Goat Enterprise Farm Tours will take place on Saturday, July 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at Sunny Ridge Farm, 660 Chicken Street in Starks. This tour will focus on raising dairy and meat goats.

UMaine Extension’s series of goat enterprise tours is taking place through September at farms around the state. Designed for anyone who wants to learn more about raising goats for meat, milk or fiber, these tours aim to teach sound goat husbandry and help support the growing Maine market for local cheese and meat. All tours are free and open to the public. No registration is required, but people should arrive at the designated tour start times.

The remaining tours will take place at farms in Dresden and Saco. Visit www.umext.maine.edu or call UMaine Extension’s Cumberland County office at 800-287-1471 for details.

Goats have been a traditional farm animal around the world for centuries. Considered browsers rather than grazers as they prefer leaves over grass, goats are known for their productivity and resourcefulness in grazing brush land. Raising goats is becoming increasingly popular in Maine, and it’s not hard to understand why.

According to the American Dairy Goat Association, the fat and protein in goat milk is more easily digested than that in cow milk, and goat milk is often tolerated by people allergic to cow milk. Goat milk is also naturally homogenized. Goat meat, called chevon, is low in fat and calories compared to beef, and is one of the most commonly eaten meats worldwide.

For more information about raising goats, contact UMaine Extension Educator Richard Brzozowski, at 800-287-1471 or rbrz@umext.maine.edu. To be placed on UMaine Extension’s statewide goat mailing list, contact Melissa Potts at 800-287-7170 or mpotts@umext.maine.edu.


For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

Additional Information: Entire Goat Tour Schedule

10:00 AM to noon, Saturday, July 21, 2007
Sunny Ridge Farm, George & Rose Martikke
660 Chicken Street
Starks, Maine
(207) 696-3889
E-mail: sunnyridge@gwi.net
Featured topics: raising dairy goats and meat goats

2:00 to 5:00 PM, Sunday, August 26, 2007
Dragonfly Cove Farm, Marge Kilkelly & Joe Murray
5 McCobb Road
Dresden, Maine 04342
(207) 737-8737
E-mail: info@dragonflycovefarm.com
www.dragonflycovefarm.com
Featured topic: goat meat dishes for sampling

3:00 to 5:00 PM, Sunday, September 9, 2007
Joel & Anne Tripp
Liberty Farm
238 Flag Pond Road
Saco, ME 04072
207-282-0967
207-205-4592
E-mail: libertyfarm@gwi.net
Feature topic: small scale dairying, new processing plant

Maine Grass Farmers Network Offers Pasture Walks

GORHAM, ME—Maine Grass Farmers Network (MGFN), a collaboration of University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), will host its first of a series of Pasture Walks on Thursday July 19 at 5 P.M. at the Noon Family Sheep Farm. The walk will be lead by farm host Jean Noon and Diane Schivera, MOFGA Livestock Specialist and also of the Maine Grass Farmers Network, and will focus on sound pasture management, rotation, and renovation. After the walk there will be a potluck picnic. Please bring something to share. To get to Noon Family Farm from the junction of Route 109 and 11A in downtown Springvale head south on Rt. 11A (Oak Street). In about 1 mile at the blinking light turn right onto Hanson Ridge Road. After a steep down grade turn left onto Blanchard Road (Blueberry Bend). Take an immediate right onto Sunset Road at the fork. You will probably also see signs for PYO blueberries at the Rivard Farm. The farm is the first house on the left #78 Sunset Rd.

A second pasture walk will be held on Sunday July 22, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Sebago Lake Ranch on Route 237 in Gorham. Attendees will learn about potential advantages of growing grass as managed pasture for livestock. This particular walk will provide an example of a farm that practices Management Intensive Grazing (MiG), and finishes cows without grain, using only grass and mineral supplements. Ben Hartwell, owner of the Sebago Lake Ranch, states: “I've been practicing some form of MiG since 1999. We are currently around 35 head of cattle, including all ages.”

UMaine Extension and MOFGA created the MGFN in response to livestock farmers’ interest in the effective use of pasture for raising & finishing livestock, in part with the support of USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service and the Northeast Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. Interested farmers can join MGFN free of charge.

A third pasture walk will take place on Sunday, August 26 from 1 to 3 p.m. on the farm of Gwyneth Harris and Neal McNaughten on Clark Road in Unity. Harris says this walk will “focus on the technicalities of grazing—how and why it works, with examples of what we're doing with all the different groups, “ and says this would be ideal for people just getting started with a variety of animals on a small scale.

Growing grass in Maine takes advantage of the short growing season and cool climate, and reduces some of the soil erosion caused by row crops. Raising livestock on pasture can help use land more effectively, while improving animal health, product quality and market advantage; it can increase profitability, helping to keep farms and farmland viable and maintain the rural character of Maine’s communities. If you plan to attend any of these free events, please contact Diane Schivera at 207-568-4142 or at mfgn@prexar.com so that numbers can be anticipated.





For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

UMaine Offers Sustainable Agriculture Field Day

STILLWATER, ME—On Tuesday, July 17, University of Maine Cooperative Extension will be holding its annual Sustainable Agriculture Field day for farmers, crop advisors and other members of the agricultural community. It will take place at Rogers Farm, UMaine's 100-acre forage and crops research facility, located on Bennoch Road in Stillwater. This free event will feature talks on many different agricultural topics, and attendees will receive one pesticide certification credit and three Certified Crop Advisor credits. Registration will be that morning at 9:00 a.m., and events will run until 12:30 p.m. For more information, contact Gale Clendenning at 207-581-2953.

The sessions will cover many areas, including small grain production issues, oil and energy crop production, specialty potato varieties, cover crops to suppress soil pathogens in potatoes, spring grains, and new grass varieties. In addition, there will be a brief talk on the reestablishment of the Black Bear Food Guild, a community-supported organization that grows crops on three acres of Rogers Farm, providing fresh organically grown vegetables twice a week to 60 shareholders.

UMaine Extension’s statewide sustainable agriculture program works closely with producers, industry, college faculty and USDA agencies to improve agricultural efficiency and reduce agricultural impacts on the environment. Forage crop management and use, pasture and grazing systems, nutrient management strategies, and soil management and health are all important parts of this educational program.

The day’s events will be offered by many various specialists: John Rebar, Extension interim director; Ed Ashworth, dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture; John Jemison, Extension water quality specialist; Peter Sexton, Extension crops specialist; Tim Griffin, New England Plant, Soil and Water Research Laboratory agronomist; Lois Berg-Stack, Extension ornamental horticulture specialist; Eric Gallandt, associate professor of weed ecology and management, and his assistants, Lauren Kolb and Tom Molloy; Mark Hutton, Extension vegetable specialist, and his assistant, Heather Bryant; and Hayley Williams and Britta Jinson, students and members of the Black Bear Food Guild.

Contact: John Jemison, 207-581-3241, jjemison@umext.maine.edu


For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.