Our Site Apple News Apple Recipes Apple Maps Apple Orchard List Apple Nurtition Apple Characteristics Apple History Apple Facts Four Seasons Contact Us Subscribe! Subscribe to The Apple Gazette! Get new recipes, read about upcoming events and other great information about apples! Subscribe Unsubscribe Email Address: Zipcode:

Please check back for our 2007 Poster Contest Winner Search View All Articles | View Only Current Articles (10-05-2004) 4th Annual Great Maine Apple Day 4th Annual Great Maine Apple Day is being held Saturday, October 23, 2004 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Returning this year to the Exhibition Hall at MOFGA's Common Ground, Unity, Maine The Harvest’s end always rewards us with orbs of many hues, striped and painted. With your help, Apple Day brings as many different shapes, flavors, colors, and sizes together in one place, stretched out across tables going round the hall. Experts will be on hand to help identify your unknowns, and space will be made for the fruits of your labors. Don’t be shy: fruit from home and orchard are Welcome! Admission: $2 for MOFGA and Maine State Pomological Society members, $4 for general public, children under 12 free. For complete details, visit http://www.getrealmaine.com/visit/great_maine_apple_day.html (06-06-2003) Farmers Markets Gain Ground YORK - Maine Agriculture Commissioner Robert Spear says farmers markets are enjoying a resurgence in the state that can help ensure that farmers remain in business. "The best way to avoid 'sprawl' is to make sure we support our farmers," Spear said, noting that 11 new markets opened this year, raising the state's total to 65. Among the newest is The Gateway Farmers Market, which opened Saturday at the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce, just off U.S. Route 1. By patronizing such markets, consumers can help farmers meet expenses and withstand growing pressures to sell off land for housing lots, Spear said. The more farmers can sell at retail prices, the less they will lose by selling at lower, wholesale prices to larger distributors, he noted. Spear said people's increasing appreciation of the health benefits of homegrown goods is also contributing to the revival of farmers markets. Farmers markets nowadays feature everything from fruits and vegetables to plants, even wool, chickens and fresh meats. Spear said there's a "mystique" attached to shopping outside, and Maine's farmers are banking on that as they expand their outdoor produce markets. "One of our jobs is to train consumers, to show them that all produce isn't the same," said Tom Roberts of Snakeroot Organic Farm in Pittsfield, representing the Maine Federation of Farmers Markets. "If you're buying it at a farmers market, it was grown in Maine - maybe that morning." Among the customers at the York market Saturday was Lynne Gass of Sanford, who was buying chocolate bread made by a local bread company that goes by the name "When Pigs Fly." Gass said she likes farmers markets because they offer "fresh, homegrown food, and there's no middleman, so the farmers get the direct benefit." The new market was conceived by business leaders who discussed ways to offer home-grown products at a visible location, said Kathy Goodwin, director of the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce. The town had a farmers market a few years ago that went belly-up due to a poor, less-visible location. (03-19-2003) Revisions in the U.S. Standards for Apple Grades The USDA announced changes in the standards for grading apples. The purpose was to update and revise the standards to reflect today’s market practices. The USApple Association requested this be done. More details can be found at the website: www.ams.usda.gov/fv/fvstand.htm. These changes will become effective December 19, 2002.

Maine Pomological Society contact us email: info@maineapples.org Powered by Mainehost.com