- Angora goats are “addictive.”
- Organic, locally grown fair food is VERY expensive.
- The Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association, a.k.a. MOFGA, is magic: Its fair is simultaneously down-home and ethereal.
- Young bulls are called bullocks.
- Who needs roller coasters, when kids can slide down a grassy hill, using only cardboard, for two hours and 17 minutes?
- Top-bar beehives give bees room to build honeycomb in the size they naturally need. Some beekeepers plant lavender and thyme beneath their hives to keep mites at bay.
- If you have a cordless drill, you can whip amendments into worked soil with the nifty Tilther from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
- I pine for Johnny’s Six Row Seeder.
- “Chestnut” crab apples are sweet, juicy and bright; the perfect size for little hands or a few big bites.
- Apples are the most interesting fruit I know.
- You can make fire by rubbing two sticks together … after tying a basic bow, carving a peg to rub in a whittled plank, and kneeling very carefully while rubbing furiously. Having a friendly Maine Guide nearby is a big help.
- Sheep are far easier to herd than goats. Sheepdogs have an easier time doing it than kiddos.
- Spinning wool is a quiet art; spinning "in the grease" works wonders on dry winter hands.
- “Fingers look like carrots” to livestock.
- Friendships made in the course of pursuing your passions are lasting and real.
- Forests selectively harvested and replanted with varying species are less stressed than single-species stands of timber.
- Hula hoops whirl around hips longer if you stand with one foot in front of the other, spread apart a bit. If you can manage it, your kids will cheer.
- You can live without cell phone service for an entire day.
- Garlic is easy to grow in fertile soil (6 inches apart on 12-inch rows). Hardneck varieties are easier to peel than softnecks. Curing bulbs in a dry place will help them store them well for months.
- Abundance is all around us.
It's time to harvest just about everywhere. Eat up, and enjoy.


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