Beat the winter this week!

Here’s a way to beat the winter this week.

If you have a big garden, own some woods, grow vegetables and flowers that you sell at a farmers’ market, or just like to garden, then you might want to drop by the 2018 Maine State Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta at the Civic Center starting Tuesday, January 9 and going until Thursday, January 11.

If you are an organic grower or are interested in an organic garden or farming, then you might want to visit the Civic Center on Tuesday, the 9th, since that is the Maine Farmers and Growers Day (MOFGA) at the Agricultural Trades Show.

MOFGA will be hosting a series of presentations – an Organic Basics and Certification from 9 till 10; a dairy lecture from 10 till 11 with emphasis on value added goods to help make up for any dairy losses; and from 11 to 12, a look at the plant diseases seen by the Maine Department of Agriculture in the past year. The afternoon session will help organic farmers with their ‘no spray’ agreement. All of these sessions will be held in the Piscataquis Room.

Meanwhile, in the Sagadoc Room, the early 9-10 session will focus on organic pricing looking at various crops, the effect of inflation, and price changes over the past 10 years. The second session, from 10 to 11, will explore our soil’s health and your water quality protection, and the last morning session from 11 to 12 will be a panel looking at small woodlot management.

The afternoon session from 3 till 4 will be a forum for flower growers and information, questions answered and an opportunity to share ideas with other flower growers.

What better place could you be in the heart of winter than at an agricultural trades show looking at the many exhibits, hearing a presentation or two and dreaming about or planning your garden?

What a way to beat the winter!

 

Bill Baker

About Bill Baker

Bill's interest in a clean place to live is rooted in growing up in the country – a cornfield across the road and fields, sandstone cliffs and hundreds of acres of woods where he spent many hours.