Beginning Farmers
Beginning Farmers - Practical Tools for Successful Family Farming
2020 Common Ground Country Fair Online Schedule - September 25-27 from Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA)
The 2020 Common Ground Country Fair will be presented as a Livestream over the weekend of the fair. The Livestream will be available on the Common Ground Country Fair Website, on facebook, and on youtube. We hope that the audience will engage with our live presenters by asking questions via chat on those forums.
Take a look at the schedule below, and make a plan for tuning in to the Livestream September 25-27th.
Friday September 25, 2020
9:00AM- Welcome and Introduction to the Online Fair, Sarah Alexander, MOFGA
9:30AM- Garlic Planting Demonstration, Mark Guzzi, Peacemeal Farm
10:00AM- Perennial Polyculture Design & Farm Tour, Jesse Watson, Midcoast Permaculture Design
11:00AM- Keynote: Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming and Food Justice, Leah Penniman, Soulfire Farm
12:00PM- Working with Sheep Dogs, Dave & Colin Kennard, Wellscroft Fence Systems
1:00:PM- Apple Identification 101, John Bunker, Super Chilly Farm
2:00PM- Making and Using Apple Cider Vinegar, Bob Sewall & Kate Wallace, Sewall Orchard and The Resilience Hub
3:00PM- Fungi of Your Forest, Michaeline Mulvey, Maine Woodland Owners
4:00PM- Invasive Plants of Maine, Nancy Olmstead, Maine Natural Areas Program
4:30PM- Baking Common Ground Whole Grain Bread, Dusty Dowse, Maine Grain Alliance, Bread Coordinator, Lammastide Bakery
5:00PM- Fix-a-flat: Hands on Flat Bicycle Tire Repair, Fred Robie, Fair Bicycle Area Coordinator, Bicycle Coalition of Maine
5:30PM- Cabin Fever Dream EP release Performance & Waldo County Bounty, Sara Trunzo, Musician
5:50PM- Thank you & preview of evening entertainment, Sarah Alexander, MOFGA
6:00PM- Local Music Showcase
8:00pm- Goodnight, See you tomorrow!
Saturday September 26, 2020
9:00AM- Welcome and Introduction to the Online Fair, Sarah Alexander, MOFGA
9:05AM- Herbs for Stressful Crazy Times, Deb Soule, Avena Botanicals
10:00AM- Organic Gardening & Crops Q&A, Caleb Goossen & Eric Sideman and Mark Hutton, MOFGA and UMaine Co-op Ext.
11:00AM- Keynote: Power to the People: Drawing Strength from the Pandemic, Barbara Damrosch, Author and Co-Owner of Four Season Farm
12:00PM- Working with Sheep Dogs, Dave & Colin Kennard, Wellscroft Fence Systems
1:00PM- Public Policy Teach-In Panel: Climate Change in Maine – The Problem, the Response and What All of Us Can Do
Heather Spalding, MOFGA, Director; Hannah Pingree, Office of Policy Innovation and the Future; Commissioner Amanda Beal, Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Melissa Law, Bumbleroot Farm
2:00PM- Tour of Dana Off-Grid Homestead, Sikwani Dana
3:00PM- Getting the Most Out of Your Greenhouse & Hoophouse Vegetables, Andrew Mefferd, Author and Editor
4:00PM- Commercial Hybrid Horse Logging and Land Management, Brad Johnson & Derek O’Toole, Third Branch Horse Logging
4:30PM- Community Solar Farms, John Luft, ReVision Energy
5:00PM- Sagadahoc MOFGA Baked Beans Make-A-Long, George Sergeant, Patchwork Farm and Sagadahoc MOFGA
5:30PM- Steps to Becoming a Certified Organic Producer, Chris Grigsby, MOFGA Certification Services
5:50PM- Thank you & preview of evening entertainment, Sarah Alexander, MOFGA
6:00PM- Local Music Showcase
8:00pm- Goodnight, See you tomorrow!
Sunday September 27, 2020
9:00AM- Welcome and Introduction to the Online Fair, Sarah Alexander, MOFGA
9:05AM- Seed Saving, Will Bonsall, Khadighar Farm
10:00AM- Simply Sauerkraut Make-A-Long, Wendy Watson, MOFGA
11:00AM- Keynote: Relocalizing and Restoring Traditional Food Varieties: Building a Regional Indigenous and Local Food System, Winona LaDuke, Anishinaabeg Agriculture & Honor the Earth
12:00PM- Why work with sheep dogs?, John Simmons, Stoneheart Farms
1:00PM- Waterbath Canning 101, Amy LeBlanc, Whitehill Farm and MOFGA, NOFA, IFOAM member
1:30PM- Sweet Annie Crown Making, Billi Barker, Fire Fly Farm and Enchanted Kitchen at Fire Fly Farm
2:00PM- No-Till Vegetable Production, Daniel Mays, Frith Farm
3:00PM- Chainsaw Tree Felling Demo, Tim Libby, MOFGA Low Impact Forestry Chair
3:30PM- Got Chickens, Now What? Basic Chicken Care, Crystal Sands, Sands End Farm
4:00PM- Raising Heritage Pigs for Meat, Mary Thompson, Beans Corner Farm
5:00PM- Natural Dyeing with Goldenrod, Stacie Beyer, Fair Fleece Speakers Tent Coordinator
5:30PM- Musical Performance: Inana: Sisters in Rhythm
5:50PM- Community Closing, Sarah Alexander, MOFGA