Growers Twilight Meeting at Snell Family Farm in Buxton  

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Vegetable and Small Fruit Growers Association will hold a twilight meeting at Snell Family Farm in Buxton on Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 5:30 p.m.

Hosts John and Ramona Snell will give a tour of their farmstand, greenhouses and vegetable fields and describe their growing and marketing practices. There will be a discussion of the upcoming season for vegetable and berry growers, and pest management strategies for the season ahead with Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist, David Handley and Vegetable Specialist, Mark Hutton. We anticipate that one pesticide applicator recertification credit will be awarded for attending the meeting.

Snell Family Farm is located on Route 112 in Bar Mills (officially 1000 River Road, Buxton, ME 04093). Their phone numbers are 207.929.6166 and 207.523.9488. Their email address is info@snellfamilyfarm.com. The website address is:  http://snellfamilyfarm.com/map.html. Cost for the meeting is free and no registration is required. For more information, please contact David Handley at 207.933.2100 or david.handley@maine.edu or click here. We hope to see you there!

Photo: Edwin Remsberg

Farmers' Market - Think Food Safety

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Quality Assurance and Regulations requires farmers and food vendors to obtain a Mobile Food Vendor's License when fruits and vegetables are sliced, peeled, husked or processed in any way. Fruits and vegetables, when cut and processed, cannot be prepared in a home kitchen because they are at a higher risk for possible contamination of harmful bacteria and need to be prepared in a sanitary manner. Due to this higher risk, these perishable products need to be processed in a separate, commercial food processing area approved by the Maine Department of Agriculture for the processing of fruit and vegetable products, and requires a Commercial Food Processor's License.

Baked goods, jams and jellies, and pickled foods can be processed safely in a home kitchen and would require a Home Food Processors License and a Mobile Food Vendor's License if you are selling these products at the Farmers Markets. If you have questions regarding food licenses, please contact Steve Giguere at 287-3841 or e-mail steve. giguere@maine.gov. Food license applications can be accessed at the Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources Web page: Licenses and Permit Forms. 

Source: Calder, B., Farmers' Market - Think Food Safety, http://umaine.edu/food-health/food-safety/farmers-market/ accessed June 2015.   

• June 6th, 2015 FAMACHA Training for Sheep and Goat Farmers 1 pm at the Fiber Frolic at the Windsor Fairgrounds in Windsor, Maine. Gain the skills and knowledge to address the arch enemy of sheep and goats, the barber pole worm (Haemonchus contorutus). The barber pole worm is a blood sucking internal parasite that is a common cause of death and poor-doing in small ruminants. This practical workshop will show producers how to determine the degree of infection by observing the blood color of the capillaries around the eye of the sheep or goat.
  Participants will receive an information packet, record sheets and a FAMACHA card.
  Cost will be $25.00 per farm. To enroll: http://umaine.edu/cumberland/programs/agriculture/famacha-workshops/  For more information or to request disability accommodations, please call 207.781.6099 or 1.800.287.1471 (in Maine only) or email lynne.b.hazelton@maine.edu 
• June 6-7, 2015 Fiber Frolic 9 am to 4 pm, Windsor Fair Grounds. In addition to the FAMACHA workshop, the Maine Sheep Breeders Association will also hold its annual Wool Pool from 8:00-12:00 on Saturday, where growers can market their fleece collectively to Bartlett Yarns of Maine.  You need not be a member of MSBA to participate.  There will be vendors and a number of other workshops. Click here for more information.  
   
• June 10, 2015 Pasture and Forage Management Workshops at Kennebec Cheesery, 795 Pond Road, Sidney and June 17, at Oaklands Farm, 114 Oaklands Farm Road, Gardiner.
  

  The workshop sessions will be held 6-7:30 p.m. and will cover grass-based management systems, both organic and conventional; livestock types; forage identification; grazing and harvesting techniques; and diverse tools available to farmers. Hosts will give farm tours.

  Staff from University of Maine Cooperative Extension, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association will lead the workshop. Cost is $15; register by June 8 online  click here for online registration For more information or to request a disability accommodation, contact Diana Hartley 207.622.7546.
• June 13, 2015 Orcharding 101 Workshop, 10 am to 2:30 pm at Mossflower Farm in Sangerville. PCSWCD and MOFGA will host CJ Walker, MOFGA's Orchard Specialist. Cost $15 ($12 for MOFGA & MeHiMo members) Pre-registration is required for this event. To register call 564-2321 ext. 3 or email info@piscataquisswcd.org 
• June 13, 2015 Farm and Homestead Day, 9 am to 3 pm at MOFGA Fairgrounds in Unity. This is a free event.  Click here for more details. 

• June 15, 2015  Small Ruminant Parasite Workshop  6:30-8:30 pm. A workshop for sheep and goat producers is planned for Monday evening, June 15, 2015 at the Maine Forest Service located at 356 Shaker Road (Route 26) in Gray, Maine. Dr. James Miller, a parasitologist from Louisiana State University, will be presenting a talk titled "What sheep & goat producers ought to know about internal parasites". This workshop is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Maine Sheep Breeders Association. Feel free to arrive at 6:00pm for a time to ask specific questions or request advice on addressing parasite problems.  

• June 16, 2015 Ecological Weed Management 5 pm Ripley Farm, Dover-Foxcroft. Weed control is a primary challenge in organic farming systems. This workshop will offer ecological and cultural approaches to weed management with staff from MOFGA and farmer expertise. It will also feature a primer on weed control using the various forms of cultivation equipment available to vegetable growers. Come learn from Gene and Mary Margaret Ripley how they use hand tools and both rear- and belly-mounted tractor cultivation to keep back the weeds without any black plastic at Ripley Farm. Participants are invited to stay for a potluck supper - bring your own place setting and a dish or something fresh from the farm to share. All events are held rain or shine and are free and open to the public. For more information about or directions to any of the workshops, emaileducation@mofga.org or call 568-4142. 
   
• June 21, 2015 4H Youth Beef Quality Assurance Training at the Witter Farm, UMaine Orono. 9 am to 3 pm. Farm tour available at 3 pm. Washable footwear is required, proper clothing strongly suggested, the afternoon session is outside in the barns. Speakers include Cindy Kilgore, Maine Dept of Ag, Conservation & Forestry; Donna Coffin, UMaine Extension and Dr. Matt Rolleston, DVM, Foxcroft Vet.
   

• June 25, 2015 Aroostook Grains Twilight Meeting, 5:00-7:00pm (registration starts at 4:30pm) UMaine Cooperative Extension Office, 57 Houlton Road, Presque Isle. Malt barley and field peas will be our focus.  Presenters will include North Dakota State University researchers Dr. Richard Horsley, barley breeder and coordinator of the NDSU malting barley improvement program, and Dr. Paul Schwartz, cereal chemist.  They will talk about the NDSU breeding and evaluation program, new malt barley varieties, and producing and protecting malt barley quality.  We'll tour the malt barley variety trial at UMaine Aroostook Farm, which is part of a multi-state evaluation coordinated by NDSU.  We'll also hear about field pea production and tour our field pea variety trial. FMI Ellen.Mallory@maine.edu
   

• July 2, 2015 Blueberry Integrated Crop Management Field Training Session 6 to 7 pm at G. M. Allen's Freezer, Rt. 15, Orland. 1 hour pesticide recertification credit. Blueberry fly trapping, spootted wing drosophila ID & trapping, leaf & soil sampling, weed ID & management. FMI call 207-581-2892 or phoebe.nylund@maine.edu

• July 16, 2015 Variety Selection and Seed Production Workshop, 1:00-3:30pm, UMaine Rogers Research Farm, Bennoch Road, Old Town. Join Cornell researchers Lisa Kissing Kucek, participatory breeding coordinator, and Phil Atkins, manager of the NY Foundation and Certified Seed Programs, for an afternoon workshop on small grain on-farm breeding, selection, and seed production.  Sean O'Donnell, Rusted Rooster Farm, will talk about his experience with developing a spring wheat variety for his farm; and we'll hear from Ann Gibbs, ME DACF, about Maine's Small Grain Seed Certification program.

  Pre-registration will be required for this event - details coming soon.

• July 16, 2015 2015 UMaine Sustainable Agriculture Twilight Meeting, 5:00-7:30pm, (registration starts at 4:30pm), UMaine Rogers Research Farm, Bennoch Road, Old Town

  No-till corn, malt barley, winter rye, and field pea varieties, pea/oat intercropping, nitrogen management for winter grains, alternative weed management for vegetables, and more ...

• July 22, 2015 Highmoor Farm Twilight Meeting,  Monmouth. More details to follow.
• December 15 - 17, 2015 New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference, Manchester, NH. This is the premiere fruit and vegetable show for the northeastern part of the US. The educational program is very large and covers a great number of crops.