Farm Scoop – September 2020
Tour the Deer Isle Hostel: 21st Century Homesteading
October 6, 2020 – 7 p.m. Anneli and Dennis live on 21 acres on Deer Isle where they grow gardens, orchards, chickens, mushrooms as well as manage a woodlot and hostel. Join us for a virtual tour to learn more about their ventures, with a focus on how they preserve what they grow for the off-season. REGISTRATION
Planning Your Backyard Orchard
October 7, 2020 – Wednesday, 12 noon to 1 p.m., online. Registration is required; a $5 donation is optional. Co-hosted by MOFGA and UMaine Cooperative Extension. Are you thinking of planting some fruit trees next spring? If so, now is the best time to start planning! Join us for the first webinar in our Fall Gardening Webinar Series, hosted in partnership with University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Join MOFGA’s Agricultural Specialist for Downeast Maine, C.J. Walke, to learn about choosing locations for different types of fruit trees; considerations when deciding on rootstocks and tree size; choosing varieties and sourcing trees; preparing your ground; best practices when planting; and how to care for young trees. REGISTRATION through UMaine Cooperative Extension.
Maine Center for Entrepreneurs Cultivator Program
MCE Cultivator Program. The Maine Center for Entrepreneurs is now taking applications from food, beverage or agriculture companies (including farms) that have a proven value-added product, a scalable business model and are ready to grow and scale up. Participants are led by a full-time program manager with 20+ years of food industry experience who works directly with member companies to understand your business and closely monitor your needs and progress. This program includes an initial business assessment, action plan, coaching and mentoring, access to consultant support, and industry-focused workshops and events, culminating with a showcase event to an audience of potential investors, business leaders and journalists at the end of the program. This is a 12-month program with $2,500 cost.
Northeast Climate Adaptation Fellowship Program
Northeast Climate Adaptation Fellowship program is now taking applications through Oct. 1, 2020. This program is open to commercial farmers in the Northeast U.S. who grow vegetables and/or small fruit and to agricultural advisors who work with vegetable/small fruit farms in this region. The one-year program provides a peer-to-peer curriculum for farmers and advisors, and its framework is designed to integrate climate science with a land manager’s knowledge. Participants in the vegetable and fruit program will enhance their knowledge of climate impacts to vegetable and fruit farms in the Northeast, completing the program in pairs (farmers and advisors) to develop personalized farm adaptation plans and outreach materials to share with peers. An informational webinar recorded on July 14, 2020, is available here.