BY NOEL K. GALLAGHER

Blethen Maine Newspapers

With all the headlines about the benefits of local and organic food, local farmers say there is increased interest in people looking to become organic farmers or switching over their traditional farming methods to meet organic standards.

To help out farmers, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association is hosting a two-day workshop in Springvale Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We definitely are seeing a lot of interest in the market for local, organic food," said Heather Spalding, the associate director of the association. More than 5 percent of Maine farms, about 350 farms producing about 30,000 acres of crops, are now certified as organic, she said.

The two-day workshop, an annual event, is mainly geared toward farmers who want to switch their traditional farms to organic ones, she said. It will include lectures by staff about soil, plant nutrition, composting, raising organic livestock and a primer on how to become certified as an organic grower.

A marketing specialist will discuss the best way to market organic crops, whether through a share program, a farm stand or selling wholesale. Several sessions will be led by organic farmers from York County discussing their experiences with organic farming.

"We get people calling or e-mailing us all the time," about starting an organic farm, said Stacy Brenner, who runs Broadturn Farm in Scarborough with her husband John Bliss.

Bliss is scheduled to make a presentation Wednesday on using row covers, crop rotations and how to get started in farming. "We've never farmed any other way."

Starting and maintaining an organic farm isn't easy, and Brenner said the people interested are ones who are looking for a lifestyle more than a job.

"We're not getting rich fast but we eat really well, we get exercise every day and we have a good life," Brenner said. "There's a lot of buzz about farming and getting into producing your own food. I think it has a lot to do with the skepticism about the industrialized food system."

Many organic farms have share programs in which people can pay for a weekly allotment of food. Brenner said they have an "enormous waiting list" at Broadturn Farm for shares.

"It all speaks to the need for more farmers," she said.

More than 80 Maine farms currently provide food shares to about 4,000 Maine families, according to MOFGA.

The workshops will be held at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Springvale.

Registration is $50. More information is available at http://www.mofga.org.