Droughts and Downpours
“Never again will we have the climate system of the 20th century.” — Ivan Fernandez, University of Maine soil scientist and co-chair of the Maine Climate Council’s Scientific and Technical Subcommittee On a...
Category: Food
Growing an Enduring Culture of Gardening
The current gardening boom has parallels to the widespread “War Gardens” and “Victory Gardens” grown during and after WWI, when the nation struggled with food shortages and the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more...
When Need Meets Need
Among the boundless concerns provoked by COVID-19, food supplies are top of mind for many Maine residents. The fear for consumers can be visceral: With store shelves emptying quickly, will there be enough to...
Buried Treasure: Taking Farm Sustainability to a New Level
“We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot,” Leonardo da Vinci is said to have observed roughly five centuries ago. Sadly, that statement still holds, according to geologist...
Befriending Bacteria
Can something too small to be seen enlarge a worldview? From humble origins like household dust and showerhead slime, new insights are emerging into a vital and overlooked player in human health, agriculture and...
A Gardening Manifesto — in Six Words
“Be the kind of person who takes supplements – then skip the supplements.” Michael Pollan, “Food Rules An Eater’s Manual” The rules Michael Pollan devised to guide eating could apply just as well to...
Cover Crops: A Living Blanket
It’s late September and my garden is literally humming. Whenever I go to harvest vegetables, I hear the pulsing drone of bees, flies and wasps amid buckwheat blossoms. To me, the flowers don’t look...
Bagging Use of Disposable Plastics
“Just because plastic is disposable doesn’t mean it goes away. After all, where is away? There is no away.” — Jeb Berrier in the documentary “Bag It” It’s easy these days to feel as...
