"Hey, you dirty hippie" and other crunchy experiences

On Thursday, all 4 of us Boston YAVs, our site leader, 3 tents, a cooler, our packs for the weekend, and assorted camping supplies crammed (and I mean CRAMMED) into a small four door sedan and set off for Maine. Unity, Maine to be exact- the home of MOFGA's Common Ground Country Fair.

MOFGA is an acronym for Maine Organic Farmer and Gardeners Association. MOFGA is a veritable smorgasbord of programs and resources for agricultural types in Maine. It organizes farm apprentice programs, coordinates policy campaigns, and publishes articles and fact sheets on almost anything someone would need/want to know about farming.
The one and only major event of the year is the annual Common Ground Country Fair. This is the place to be. People drove from all over to attend the fair; I even saw a Virginia license plate! The Fair is a one stop shop for beginners to experts, farmers to cattle breaders, kids to grandparents. I guarantee that almost anyone could find a workshop or seminar that would appeal to them or their curiosity, even if they've never planted a single seed before.

Being the ever-growing farm nerd that I am, most of the ag workshops appealed to me but workshops on canning and GMO labeling also tugged at my curiosity. Not to worry though, I got to see what I wanted to see and more!

I attended workshops on how to dry and save seeds, how to make and use soil blocks (a review of what I learned at Broadfork this summer), how to build a movable hoop house and attended an apple

tasting where I was asked to be the scribe (taking notes on what people thought of the different apple varieties). We tried around 14 varieties of apples, a few mass produced, some heirloom, and some English varieties. The favorite was a variety called Cox's Orange Pippin, an English variety.

Apples were a popular item in all parts of the festival. The five of us volunteered in the kitchen from 6-10pm the night we arrived and helped make huge apple spice cakes for the gobs of volunteers that were privy to the Common Kitchen meals. A hard cider workshop was also offered, which I attempted to attend, got lost because all the tents look the same and only caught the last 30 minutes. The logo for the Fair a few years back was apples, which we saw many people wearing this year.

To pass time while in traffic on the way out, stuck in a seemingly endless line of cars, we discussed what we learned and if we had any favorite parts. We were all very pleased with our experience and were as patient as we could be when exiting a fair with what seemed like the entire state of Maine. At one point our conversation was interrupted by a roar of laughter when we heard one of the Fair-goers greet a friend by yelling "Hey, you dirty hippie!"

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Common Ground and will return in the future if my schedule so allows... or maybe I'll make time to attend. It was that rewarding. Its comforting to know that other people, lots of other people, are interested in this movement we call "food justice." There's a term for us: crunchy. I'll wear that badge proudly.