Join the 30th Annual Rural Living Day and 1st Annual Mid Coast Agroforestry Conference!
This day-long series of workshops is all about gardening, homesteading, food and skills for rural living. The event offers 20 workshops on topics ranging from building a hoop house to making pasta and growing raspberries.
Pre-registration is required and closes on April 2 unless the class fills first. A donation of $30 is requested for classes and lunch.
Register for Rural Living Day workshops online.
Register for the Agroforestry Conference online.
Rural Living Day and the Mid Coast Agroforestry Conference is hosted by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. The event is a part of Maine Impact Week, an annual showcase of UMaine’s impact on the state and beyond. It is hosted by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School.
AGENDA
- 8:30 – 9:00 Registration – Muffins, coffee/tea in the cafeteria
- 9:00 – 10:15 First Session
- 10:30 – 11:45 Second Session
- 12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
- 1:00 – 2:15 Third Session
- 2:30 – 3:45 Fourth Session
First Session 9:00 – 10:15 am
1. Growing Highbush Blueberries with David Handley
David is a Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist and a Cooperating Professor of Horticulture for the University of Maine. He has been based at Highmoor Farm, the Maine Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in Monmouth, Maine, since 1983, where he carries out applied research regarding berry and vegetable variety evaluation, production techniques and pest management strategies. He coordinates statewide integrated pest management (IPM) programs for strawberries and sweet corn. Dr. Handley is the author of numerous Extension fact sheets, articles and newsletters, and co-editor of two regional small fruit production guides. David will give an illustrated talk on best cultural practices for raising highbush blueberries.
2. Saving seeds from your garden with Jon Thurston & Neil Lash
We will cover seed saving techniques for commonly saved garden vegetables, the importance of seed saving, and some history of heirloom seeds in Maine. A hands-on demonstration will be included as well as plenty of time for your questions.
3. Exploring the Mystery of Cheese with Eric Rector
There is magic in turning liquid milk into a solid, shelf-stable, delicious food. We will find out what it takes to make this happen, and explore how this happened in the years before refrigeration, as well as what is possible in your own kitchen.
4. Making Hand Dipped Beeswax Candles with Jessica Marshall
Learn about the basics of beeswax candle making including harvesting and processing beeswax, wicking, and dipping techniques in a hands-on workshop. Participants will take home a pair of dipped candles. Limit: 8 participants.
5. Cool Tools with April Daley Cagnon
We will discuss both basic and advanced tools used in landscape and vegetable gardening. What are the basic tools I, as a professional landscape gardener as well as in my own gardens, use for various tasks and situations. Tool technology has advanced to a great deal over the centuries of human land management making large, difficult or daunting tasks more approachable. Despite these advancements simple tools and methods along with knowledge can make most garden tasks accessible and manageable for the home gardener. The presenter rarely uses power tools and never uses large equipment in the gardens she works in which range from small patio gardens to 3-5 acre landscapes.
Second Session 10:30 – 11:45
7. Growing Raspberries with David Handley
David is a Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist and a Cooperating Professor of Horticulture for the University of Maine. He has been based at Highmoor Farm, the Maine Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in Monmouth, Maine, since 1983, where he carries out applied research regarding berry and vegetable variety evaluation, production techniques and pest management strategies. He coordinates statewide integrated pest management (IPM) programs for strawberries and sweet corn. Dr. Handley is the author of numerous Extension fact sheets, articles and newsletters, and co-editor of two regional small fruit production guides. This presentation will cover the basics of raising raspberries, including variety selection, planting, pruning and pest management.
8. Growing and Gathering Herbs for Tea with Jessica Forbes
How anyone can grow and gather, dry, store, use medicinally or just just enjoy, all my favorite herbs for tea.
9. Introduction to Sourdough with Angela Wheaton
Have you ever wanted to bake with sourdough but found it too complicated? Let me simplify the process for you. Whether you like the taste of sourdough or find it too sour let me show you how to bake to reach your desired taste. You will learn the science behind sourdough and learn hands on how to make your own loaf of sourdough bread. Please bring a 4oz jar or larger to take home your own sourdough starter. Limit: 10 participants.
10. Keeping Backyard Chickens with Colt Knight
With egg prices in the news lately maybe you’re thinking about adding a backyard flock to your life, if so join Dr. Colt Knight for a workshop that will discuss raising chickens from chicks, nutrition, housing, and economics, as well as. What breeds work well for Maine’s climate.
11. Tool Sharpening and Tool Handle Repair, with Chris Knapp, Maine Local Living School
Anyone have a hammer with no handle? A axe that could be sharper? Join us for an intro to the essentials of tool maintenance and free yourself from the disposable world! Given time limitations, tool handles will be a demo only. However, bring a leather glove and a tool that needs some love, and we’ll get right down to sharpening. Based on what people bring we can focus on woodworking sharp for chisels and knives or working sharp for shovels and hoes. Limit: 10 participants.
Third Session 1:00 – 2:15 pm
12. Growing Ginger and Turmeric in Maine with Prentice Grassi
Prentice Grassi of Villageside Farm in Freedom will lead a Yes, you can grow these tropical crops in Maine! This workshop will go over the basics, from seed selection and propagation to fertility management and harvest.
13. Drinks from the Garden with Kate McCarty
Join Kate McCarty, a UMaine Extension Master Gardener and Master Food Preserver, Kate will share her tips for incorporating homegrown herbs, fruits, and vegetables into drinks you can make at home, demonstrate how to make a fruit shrub for cocktails and mocktails, and discuss other creative uses of fruit, herbs, and vegetables in drinks.
14. The Science of Beer Brewing with Roy Curtis and Friends
This presentation will discuss how to brew beer at home and the equipment you will need to do so. It will touch upon the 4 main ingredients (Hops, Water, Yeast and Malt) and how these ingredients can be adjusted to create different styles of beer.
15. Reading the Forested Landscape Interpretive Walk with Tom Wessels
Tom Wessels is a terrestrial ecologist and professor emeritus at Antioch University where he founded the master’s degree program in Conservation Biology. He is author of numerous books with his most recent being New England’s Roadside Ecology: Explore 30 of the Regions Unique Natural Areas. Tom has conducted programs and workshops on ecology, natural history, and sustainability throughout the country for over 3 decades. If you are not familiar with his work, check out his videos on YouTube. This session will be about a 3/4 mile interpretive walk examining former land use histories, unique adaptations in trees, and intriguing co-evolved interrelationships in our regional forests.
Fourth Session 2:30 – 3:45
16. Big Yields on Small Plots with Carrick Gambell
Gardening in a small space doesn’t need to be limiting! In this workshop we’ll discuss strategies such as succession and companion planting, trellising, and season extension to maximize the harvest potential in your garden.
17. Eating healthy on a budget with Ryan Schermer
Using my spice blends I will produce healthy and inexpensive meals such as a vegetable and rice curry dish. Easy, affordable, healthy.
18. DIY Cattle Panel Hoop House on a Budget (for Schools & Home Gardeners) with RSU 71’s Nicole Caruso, Elementary Garden Coordinator; Lauren Gjessing, FoodCorps member and Ellie Bridgers, FoodCorps member
Slideshow and pictorial presentation of DIY Cattle Panel Hoop House construction utilized by multiple elementary school gardens in RSU 71. How-to advice on building this style of hoop house on a budget complete with general specifications & materials list. Culminates with a fun take-home planting activity.
19. Korean Natural Farming in the Northeast with Aaron Englander
Learn the basics of Korean Natural Farming – a farming and gardening technique from the East that I often call Biodynamic of the East or Kimchi for the soil. This farming methodology is based on the simple concept of regenerating and promoting life. Learn about culturing Indigenous Microorganisms from forest leaf matter; fermenting fish and common nutrient dense weeds like comfrey and purslane; making water soluble calcium and phosphorus amendments from bones, eggshells and vinegar; and more!
20. Making Pasta with Chef Kelly
