"Farm & Homestead" Day at MOFGA, 15 June, free (Sidney: water heater, buying)

[Submariner]

Farm & Homestead Day

Farm & Homestead Day at MOFGA, is a revival of Small Farm Field Day.

It is a free, volunteer-driven event. It offers a wide variety of hands-on and interactive sessions on useful skills for new and old homesteaders and farmers.

It will be held on Saturday, 15 June, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at MOFGA's Common Ground Education Center on Crosby Brook Road in Unity.

Event is FREE

Assessing farm animals for purchase:
9am-noon: Connie Tuller: 4H Poultry Show
9am: Genio Bertin: Horses
10am: Robin Fowler: Alpacas
11am: Laurie Lundgren: Dairy goats
1pm: Anna Barber: Angora rabbits
?9am or 10am or 1pm: Rhonda Welcome: Buying
a goat at auction
2pm: Jennifer, Kara, Justin Day: Chickens
2pm: Pogo Pogoreic: Meat & fiber goats

Other animal workshops:
9am: Genio Bertin: Assessing horses for purchase
9am: Shana Hanson: Goat browse walk 1
10am: Shana Hanson: Goat browse walk 2
10:30am: Genio Bertin: Harnessing a horse
1pm: Genio Bertin: Driving a horse
1pm: Shana Hanson: Milking a goat
11am-1pm: Dick Brzozowski: FAMACHA

Orcharding:
9am: CJ Walke: Orchard pest management
10am: CJ Walke: Fruit thinning
1-3pm: CJ Walke: Understory management

Low Tech:
9-noon: Bob Curry: Solar hot water heater
1-3: Tristan Plumb: Rocket stoves

Low Impact Forestry:
9am: Sam Brown: Tree ID & species utilization
10am: Barrie Brusila: Invasive plant ID & maintenance
11am: Eli Berry: Woodlot thinning for forest health & farm profit
1pm: Tim Libby: Directional tree felling

Children-of-all-ages Area:
9-noon: Connie Tuller: 4H Poultry Show
9am: Kate Garland: Kids Can Grow
10am: Emma Grace Nelson: Paper making
11am: Jeff Wing: Make paper pots, mix soil, plant
1-2:30: John Twomey: Bluebird boxes
2pm: Jennifer, Kara, Justin Day: Chickens

Herbs:
9am: Peter & Julie Beckford: Growing native plants in Maine
10am: Linda Tisdale: Plants to Medicine
11am: August Sender: Herbal First Aid
1pm: Angel Putney: Holistic mental health
2pm: Mischa Schuler: Herbs for Kids

Fiber Arts:
All day: Susan Watson: Wet felting for a yurt
9am: Rose Whitehead: Spinning with a wheel
11am: Diane Jude: Nalbinding
1pm: Diane Jude: Drop spinning on a spindle
2pm: Jenny Johnson: Weaving

Gardening:
9am: Kate Garland: Kids Can Grow
10am: Amy LeBlanc: Managing herbs for season-long harvest
10am: Jack Kertesz: Forage in gardens for salad
11am: Jeff Wing: Make pots, mix soil, plant
11am: Ellen Gibson: Gardening & Ergonomics: Health & Safety on the Farm
1-3pm: Jim Doyle: Accessible gardening: Build a raised garden bed; tools and clothing

Fence building:
9am: Bill Whitman: Zigzag
10am: Eli Berry: Jack & rider
11am: Joe Dupere: Stump fence
1pm: Bill Whitman: Post & rail
2pm: Bill Whitman: Stacked poles

Mowing with scythes:
7am: Early morning mowing
9am: Carol Bryan: Mowing with scythes
10-noon: Nancy Rosalie: Making hay
10am: Richard Scott: Blade maintenance
1pm: Nancy Rosalie: Making hay ricks
2pm: Nancy Rosalie: Continue making hay

Treadle Sewing Machines:
9am: Laurah Brown: Basics & maintenance
11am: Rose Whitehead & Susan Jane: Sew a hanging tomato bag
1pm: Rose Whitehead & Susan Jane: Sew a drawstring bag

Lunchtime panel:
Noon: Brown Bag Lunch: Sidney Mitchell: Landless Farmers joining Homestead Elders

Last hour discussion:
2pm: Ali Palm & Laurie Lundgren: Nurturing our homesteading community

Etc:
9am-noon: Mike Beaudry: Splitting shakes
10am: Bill Whitman: Build a garden cart
1pm: Dave Andrews: Churning ice cream
1pm: Don Kauber: Massage is more than a luxury
-- Plant & Seed Exchange



I did not know if anyone here was aware of this timely event.

[Zymer]

I did not know if anyone here was aware of this timely event.

LOL, thanks. No, I haven't yet read the latest MOFGA paper that came the other day. There are some things of interest for me, particularly the orchard pest management- I was inspecting my apple trees the other day and discovered that the very small fruits are already showing signs of pests. I'm not 'die-hard' organic, but I have a general unease about spraying poisons about, and of course, since I'm now maintaining colonies of of small critters into which I have invested significant time, effort and expense the issue is of even more importance.

[birdinmigration]

Thanks for info!

I wonder if they will be selling scythes there. Does anyone know?

[Submariner]

They are scheduled to be doing scything demo / training, so I imagine so.

[birdinmigration]

Sub --

So you can walk away with one? I should just call them, but maybe other people reading this thread would like to know too.

I really liked the demo at last year's Common Ground Fair, but I thought they were expensive.

But as I'm looking to replace my weed whacker, and I already use a me-powered mower (it's the best) I think I could handle a scythe. There were lots of women there, just as tiny as me, there having their personal scythes adjusted by the scythe guy.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by birdinmigration

Sub --

So you can walk away with one?

Best to pay for one.

... I should just call them, but maybe other people reading this thread would like to know too.

I really liked the demo at last year's Common Ground Fair, but I thought they were expensive.

They are pricey.

At first I thought they were crazy expensive. It took me two years of looking at them, and burning up electric weed whackers. Before I finally bought a scythe.

... But as I'm looking to replace my weed whacker, and I already use a me-powered mower (it's the best) I think I could handle a scythe. There were lots of women there, just as tiny as me, there having their personal scythes adjusted by the scythe guy.

My Dw went out this morning with our cheap electric weed whacker and it jammed. I can see that weeds have gotten tangled around the axle, but it is not made for easy disassembly to clear them. 'Cheap' junk, but now 'cheap' is not. My Dw does not like using the scythe.

You mention that you are 'tiny'. Jj is tiny too. She is a scythe master.



I see they have a scythe mowing training session of 2 hours [7am to 9am], plus Blade maintenance and making hay ricks.

Keep in mind that usually they want to take a series of measurements, and then ship to you a scythe.

Previously instead of stocking 20 each of 10 different sizes. They bring 1 or 2 of each size, to use for the demos and training sessions.



Consider the short/heavy blade if your attacking weeds. I use mine for cane berry brambles and saplings up to 3/4" diameter.

The long/thin blades are really for people who are doing small-scale grain harvesting, or hay.



BTW, a neighbor of mine is selling hay rounds at $15 @.

[Zymer]

Electric weed-whackers...if anyone has a burned up Toro, model 51256, I need the spring out of the center hub/spool. Due to an operator headspace adjustment error, after replacing the line it all came apart and the spring decided that it didn't want to be found. A similar one might do, if not the exact make and model.

On another note, if anyone has a non-functioning microwave oven that is taking up space and needs to be gotten rid of, I need one for parts. My relatively new one died a couple of weeks ago, and wouldn't you know it, the one piece of equipment that I foolishly let the Mrs. talk (nag) me out of keeping around anymore, is just exactly the thing I *needed* to have hanging around. Ain't it always the way it goes?

[birdinmigration]

This is the guy, right Sub? Scythe Supply - Scythe blades, snaths, equipment

I mean, how many scythe makers can there be in Maine? It must be the right one.

7 - 9 am, holy crap. It will take me 2 hrs. to get there, I won't make it for the first one.

They want my measurements, do they? Kinda personal! (jk)

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by birdinmigration

This is the guy, right Sub? Scythe Supply - Scythe blades, snaths, equipment

I mean, how many scythe makers can there be in Maine? It must be the right one.

Yes, that is correct.

... They want my measurements, do they? Kinda personal! (jk)

I think they were measuring knuckles-to-ground and maybe shoulder-to-ground. You want to hold your scythe with your shoulders and arms relaxed, in that posture the blade should hover an inch off the ground.

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by birdinmigration

This is the guy, right Sub? Scythe Supply - Scythe blades, snaths, equipment

I mean, how many scythe makers can there be in Maine? It must be the right one.

7 - 9 am, holy crap. It will take me 2 hrs. to get there, I won't make it for the first one.

They want my measurements, do they? Kinda personal! (jk)

This is my friend Carol's business. I have a snath fitted to me and two blades (ditch and grass). I picked it up and got a mowing lesson from Carol while Richard put it together. They're a good investment.