Environmental Happenings

Fri 5/13 - All Species Parade, 4 pm, downtown Maine Street, Brunswick. Come in costume or mask, help carry the puppets ~ only three rules apply: no live animals, no motorized vehicles and no banners or messages. Brought to you by Spindleworks and Arts Are Elementary.

Sat 5/14 - Wolfe's Neck Farm Spring Festival, 10 am - 2 pm, 134 Burnett Road, Freeport. Enjoy food, music, games, demonstrations and learning activities in a country setting. Explore the trails and gardens, interact with the animals, learn about seeds and plants, and try your hand at fiber arts. Come watch for newborn lambs and get up close to a Belted Galloway cow. For younger children, there will be craft activities, face painting, a hay pile and tractors to climb, as well as hayrides and fiddle music. Admission: $5/person or $20/family; Members attend free!

Sat 5/14 - International Migratory Bird Day, 10 am - 4 pm, Maine Audubon, Gilsland Farm, Falmouth. This day-long event celebrates the migratory birds that are making their way north for the summer. 10-11 am: Live Raptors Demonstration $15/$10 for adults, $10/$5 for children - advance registration is required. Noon - 2 pm: Piping plover and Least Tern Protection Seminar - FREE. Noon - 2 pm: Have a Blast with Birds - Kids will be blown away by this fun series of bird-related games and activities. FREE. 2:30 - 4 pm: Backyard Birding Basics - This crash course covers identification, habitat concepts, and how to make your backyard more bird-friendly. $10/$15; advance registration is required. For details, visit the Maine Audubon web site.

Mon 5/16 to Fri 5/20 - Commute Another Way Week. Since 1995, this annual event has challenged hundreds of employers and thousands of commuters throughout Maine to show their support for sustainable transportation options. There are all kinds of ways to go green with your daily commute in Maine: carpooling, public transit (bus, ferry, rail), bicycling, and walking are just a few!

Wed 5/18 - Sustainability through Innovation: A New Perspective, 7:30 am - 12 pm, Hilton Garden Inn, Freeport. Have you ever wondered how to protect your online business image? Or your innovative ideas? Or what to do to reinvent yourself when the economy heads south to keep your business afloat or even expand it? Or what concrete steps you can take to become more innovative and expand your bottom line? If so, please join Maine Businesses for Sustainability for their spring workshop. MBS Members $40
Non Members $60. For more information, contact MBS at 338-8908 or info@MaineBusinessesforSustainability.org.

Wed 5/18 - Brett Thompson, "From the Ground Up: Soils", 6:45 pm, Community Room, Patten Free Library, Bath. Part of a six-week series for beginner gardeners, featuring Master Gardeners from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension as instructors. To register for an individual session or for the entire series, please call Patten Free Library at 443-5141 x12, or sign up in person at the reference desk. This program is free and open to the public.

Thu 5/19 - Compost and Soil Management, 5:30 - 6:30 pm, Cumberland County. Eric Sideman, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Organic Crops Specialist, will lead the workshop with about 30 minutes of presentation and time for open questions/discussion afterward. This will be an outside event at the home of a MOFGA member, with a rain date of June 2. There is limited space in the backyard; to secure yourself a spot and get directions email mofgacc@gmail.com.

Fri 5/20 to Sun 5/22 - Northeast Livestock Expo 2011, Windsor Fairgrounds. The Maine Beef Producers, The Maine Sheep Breeders Association and the Boer Goat Breeders of Maine have again joined together to present the annual Northeast Livestock Expo. MOFGA is sponsoring this event along with many other organizations working to promote successful livestock production in Maine. The livestock expo draws beef cattle, sheep, boer goats, rabbits, equine and alpaca for shows, youth events and auctions. See the schedule of events. Volunteers are needed. For general information about the Northeast Livestock Expo, contact Kim MacKay by phone at 207-453-7890 or by email at cnkangus@roadrunner.com.

Sat 5/21 - Annual Plant Sale, 9 am - 1 pm, Wolfe's Neck Farm, Freeport. As soon as the soil thaws, you can start digging up those perennial clumps that need to be divided. 'Tis a perfect time because the roots love the cool soil. If you don't want to re-plant all of those clumps, the Wolfe's Neck Plant Sale would appreciate any extras! Pot them up, water them well, and either drop them off on the Farm's front lawn on Friday May 20th, or call Linda at 865-6916 to arrange for early drop-off. Volunteers gladly welcome!

Sat 5/21 - Animal Tracks and Tracking, 10:30 am, D.A. Hurd Library, North Berwick. Learn the skills of a tracker, how to observe and record wildlife, and make plaster casts of their foot tracks. Each participant will make and keep a plaster cast. Taught by Jocelyn Hubbell, Cornerstones of Science Executive Director and former park ranger/naturalist. Parents are encouraged to attend this family-centered program; children age 7 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Space is limited, so please pre-register by calling the D.A. Hurd Library at 676-2215.

Tue 5/24 - Preserving the Harvest: Hands-on Food Preservation, 5:30 – 8:30 pm, UMaine Regional Learning Center, Tidewater Farm, Falmouth. Ever wonder how to preserve all those great garden vegetables? This hands-on food preservation workshop will teach you the basic steps for canning and freezing. Workshop leaders will be Kate McCarty. Bring a pot holder to class. Cost: $10. For more information, contact Lois Elwell at 780-4205 or lelewell@maine.edu.

Wed 5/25 - Wallace Pinfold, "Landscaping: Garden Design", 6:45 pm, Community Room, Patten Free Library, Bath. Part of a six-week series for beginner gardeners, featuring Master Gardeners from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension as instructors. To register for an individual session or for the entire series, please call Patten Free Library at 443-5141 x12, or sign up in person at the reference desk. This program is free and open to the public.

Tue 5/31 - Vernal Pools, 6:30 - 8 pm, Topsham Public Library. Vernal pools are center stage this time of year, and this talk explains what they are, why they are important, and what people are studying in the vernal pool on the Cathance Preserve in Topsham. Join Amanda Shearin, Ph.D. Candidate from the Ecology and Environmental Sciences department of the University of Maine as she discusses how to identify common vernal pool amphibians and invertebrates, what makes a vernal pool ‘significant’ at the state level, and the larger ecological role of vernal pools. FREE and open to the public.

Tue 5/31 - Fish Friendly Turbines? 7 pm, Morrell Meeting Room, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick. Join Friends of Merrymeeting Bay for a talk by Alexander Gorlov on the topic of fish friendly turbines. For more information, contact Ed Friedman at 666-3372 or edfomb@comcast.net.

Sat 6/4 - Linton Studdiford, "Growing Vegetables", 10:30 am, Community Room, Patten Free Library, Bath. Part of a six-week series for beginner gardeners, featuring Master Gardeners from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension as instructors. To register for an individual session or for the entire series, please call Patten Free Library at 443-5141 x12, or sign up in person at the reference desk. This program is free and open to the public.

Sat 6/4 - Backyard Farmer Field Day, 11 am - 3 pm, Wolfe's Neck Farm, Freeport. In conjunction with Cumberland County Extension and Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Wolfe's Neck Farm will offer workshops and demonstrations on how to make backyard farming projects successful. From fruit trees to ruminants to food preservation and beekeeping there'll be plenty of knowledge to gain from the pros.

Thu 6/9 - Vital Maine Communities Conference: Building Boom in a Recession, Lewiston. Sessions will help community leaders learn how preserving historic buildings is critical to a feasible downtown revitalization strategy, explore how to grow communities with compact development surrounded by rural open spaces, examine the new statewide building and energy code and discover the latest in green rehabilitation practices. For more information, contact Roxanne Eflin at the Maine Downtown Center 626-3117.

Fri 6/10 - Vital Maine Communities Conference: Making Maine's Downtowns Work, Skowhegan. The dynamic keynote speaker will be Kennedy Smith of the Washington, D.C. based Clue Group. Kennedy is the former director of the National Trust Main Street Center and is an internationally respected leader in asset-based downtown and community development. A dozen workshops will provide practical training with real solutions for Maine. For more information, contact Roxanne Eflin at the Maine Downtown Center 626-3117.

Sat 6/11 - Sally Ward, "Growing Annuals and Perennials", 10:30 am, Community Room, Patten Free Library, Bath. Part of a six-week series for beginner gardeners, featuring Master Gardeners from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension as instructors. To register for an individual session or for the entire series, please call Patten Free Library at 443-5141 x12, or sign up in person at the reference desk. This program is free and open to the public.

Sat 6/18 - Bernardo Feliciano, "Caring for Shrubs and Trees", 10:30 am, Community Room, Patten Free Library, Bath. Part of a six-week series for beginner gardeners, featuring Master Gardeners from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension as instructors. To register for an individual session or for the entire series, please call Patten Free Library at 443-5141 x12, or sign up in person at the reference desk. This program is free and open to the public.

Tue 6/21 - Active Communities Conference, "Walking, Biking, Physical Activity and the Built Environment," Bowdoin College Campus, Downtown Brunswick. The theme of this year's conference is "Linking Transportation, Economic Development, Health and People, to Improve the Quality of Maine Communities." The keynote speaker will be Mark Fenton, a renowned national expert on walking, biking, physical activity and the built environment. Brought to you by the Maine Department of Transportation, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine State Planning Office, Maine Department of Conservation, Maine Office of Community Development, Maine Office of Tourism, Maine Downtown Center, Bicycle Coalition of Maine, GrowSmart Maine, National Park Service, and the Maine Safe Routes to School Program. Agenda and registration information coming soon! Questions? Contact Dan Stewart at 624-3252 or dan.stewart@maine.gov.

Sat 6/25 - Bonnie Studdiford, "Culinary Herbs", 10:30 am, Community Room, Patten Free Library, Bath. Part of a six-week series for beginner gardeners, featuring Master Gardeners from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension as instructors. To register for an individual session or for the entire series, please call Patten Free Library at 443-5141 x12, or sign up in person at the reference desk. This program is free and open to the public.