Unity gears up for Common Ground fair

UNITY – With a name like Common Ground and being held in a town called Unity, it certainly follows that the annual fall fair would focus on connections and simplicity and a rural lifestyle.

For the 31st year, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association will host the annual Common Ground Country Fair, a distinctive event that has celebrated rural and sustainable living in Maine for 30 years. More than 50,000 people annually attend the fair, lured partly because it has no midway carnivals, fast food or games of chance. The draw is education: education about sustainable living, alternative theories and products, and entertainment.

All vendors, demonstrators, entertainers and exhibitors are from Maine, and almost all of the food is grown locally, making the Common Ground Country Fair a true Maine state agricultural fair. It also includes a full farmers market featuring local produce and products.

The fair will be held daily, from Friday, Sept. 21, through Sunday, Sept. 23. For a full schedule of events, directions and other information, go to www.mofga.org.

The fair’s associate director, Heather Spalding, said Wednesday that the grounds are especially beautiful this year as the gardens and plantings begin to mature.

“The grounds look so different from when we first moved here” from Windsor, she said. “We have come so far.” The fair is held on 40 acres between Unity and Thorndike, part of 250 acres that contain MOFGA’s headquarters.

Throughout the fair’s three-day run, there are more than 150 talks, demonstrations and exhibits each day focusing on healthful and environmentally sound living.

“I look at the fair as a way to connect for the whole year,” said Russell Libby, MOFGA’s executive director.

From alternative political viewpoints to holistic health practices to Maine-made products and food, the annual Common Ground County Fair is always a crowd-pleaser.

This year, a windmill will greet visitors to the south parking lot, a windmill that Spalding said should not only generate enough electricity for the fair, but also for MOFGA’s offices for the remaining year – with some to spare.

“MOFGA is committed to using as little energy as possible to operate the Common Ground Education Center,” said Buildings & Grounds Coordinator Vernon LeCount, who has been working with wind power since the early ’70s. “To accommodate our staff, volunteers and visitors during the course of the year, we are adding alternative systems to demonstrate possibilities that can be tried at home. First we focus on energy efficiency – high levels of insulation, zone heating, fluorescent light bulbs, and now systems that will produce energy.”

The Bergey windmill, which Kelmscott Farm donated to MOFGA, is the latest in a series of installments designed to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, Spalding said.

“MOFGA’s energy-efficient main building, which houses its offices, library, exhibition hall and commercial kitchen, has an ecological design with high energy efficiency, siting for solar gain, and use of local materials,” she said.

Spalding said exhibitors at the fair will showcase various electricity generating products, using solar, micro-hydro and wind power. Fair-goers will be able to see firsthand some of the more robust wind generators, that are sized for the homeowners or small business that would like to take advantage of wind energy. There will be two wind-energy workshops on Friday at the fair.

Other speakers and demonstrators will offer numerous presentations and workshops on topics such as seed saving, growing grains, organic gardening, farm marketing, working with animal fiber, raising livestock, environmental concerns, social and political initiatives, working with stone, traditional and practical Maine folk arts, Maine American Indian culture, low-impact forestry skills, Maine’s media sources, and practices for healthful living.