| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Click on Photos to Enlarge -
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jennifer's Potato Bounty.
|
|
Our Wood Prairie customer, green thumb Jennifer Conley of
Winchester, Virginia, was kind enough to share this photo of her wonderful
Potato harvest. This Spring she
purchased two Wood Prairie
Organic Experimenter’s Specials With twelve tubers or her choice in each Collection, the twenty-four
seed tubers - of eight different varieties - fit perfectly into a 4’ x 8’ garden
bed. As you can see, Jennifer
enjoyed a beautiful and huge harvest!
Maine Rain. Here in Maine we remain wet, but
thankfully, most of Maine has dodged the heaviest rains which have plagued
Vermont. Here we’ve had over 13
inches of rain since the weather shifted over to wet on May 21. Our crop of
Organic Maine Certified Seed Potatoes is growing well. However, like a lot of crops Potatoes really
would like more sunshine than they have been getting.
Wood Prairie Survey. Our thanks to all of you who took the
time to fill out our recent Wood Prairie Annual Survey. Your responses will help us to understand
your needs and our strengths and weaknesses and allow us to serve you
better. We’re grateful for your
help!
Drawing
Winners. Today we held the
drawing of Survey-Takers and our three winners will now each receive a $100 Wood Prairie Gift Certificate. Congratulations are in order for
Bridgett Ellis of Waterford,
Connecticut; Peggy Barrett of Oil
City, Pennsylvania; and Nita Daniels
of Glenn Heights, Texas.
Thank you
all!
Seed
Potatoes Still Available. Our
Reefer is keeping our Organic Maine Certified Seed Potatoes in excellent condition and we continue to
ship these Ready-to-Sprout Maine
Certified Organic Seed Potatoes every day. Most of our varieties are
still in stock and we will continue shipping orders as long as we can, but
please order now to avoid disappointment when we run out
NEW Wood Prairie Seed Piece. This issue of the Wood Prairie Seed Piece includes a brand new Maine Tales,
entitled “Maine Farmer Geography,” about one Maine Farmer’s simple
lesson in geography. We have a Special Offer for FREE Huckleberry
Gold Seed Potatoes. Plus, Megan shares her Recipe for “Carrot Cake
Muffins.” As well, Betold Brecht offer his thoughts on
Heroes in our new Notable Quotes.
Happy
Gardening and Please Send Maine Some Sunshine!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Special Offer! FREE Organic Huckleberry Gold Seed Potatoes!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Maine Tales. Maine Farmer Geography.
Bridgewater, Maine. Circa 1917.
|
|
|
|
Human Map of the U.S.A. Circa 1925.. In
this clever photograph, housed in the Library of Congress, women were dressed
in white and established the borders. The men wore dark clothing and constituted America’s
belly in the region way-below-Bangor.
|
|
Of course, it has the markings of a Maine outlook, but who might have thought a
Maine Potato farmer could impart such a deft distillation of American geography?
New Vistas
With Covid now in
the rear view mirror, Americans are traveling again and making up for lost
time. New vistas, new experiences and
new territory. At least that’s what Mainers imagine is going on in the rest of the
country.
As a breed,
Mainers are home bodies and are more or less happy with their lot in life. One friend recently confided that he hasn’t
been outside of the State of Maine in over twenty years. This
fact would not surprise that many Mainers, folks mostly accustomed to thinking
the Pine Tree State is a pretty could place to call home.
Eloping Into Canada.
Our old next door
neighbor Joshua (“Josh –shoe –way”) Morse – everyone in Bridgewater called him
by his nickname ‘Doss’ – was a farmer his entire life. Doss
was born in Bridgewater in 1899, when this side of Town was still the ‘Wildlands’
that had ruled Northern Maine ever since the last glacier melted. Unlike the east side of Town, the trees in
these western parts had never been cut to make fields where potatoes could be
grown.
When Doss was 18,
he eloped into Canada with 17-year old Etta Sharp. That move kept them out of earshot of townsfolk who might have liked to otherwise
cast aspersions on his idea of marrying Etta. Time would
prove Doss & Etta had got it right and their solid marriage lasted 67 years,
until Etta passed away during the Fall of 1984.
Frugal Potato Farmer
Doss and family would
grow six or eight acres of potatoes, and oats and hay for their horses, cows
and pigs. They kept a big garden and cut
many cords of firewood to keep their rambling farmhouse warm during the cold
Winters. Doss was a wise man, and like
many of his contemporaries, he had benefitted from eight years of grammar schooling. Taught practical skills by his father and kin,
Doss knew how to do everything needed of
a pioneer farmer, including skillfully hewing out beams with a broad
ax.
Frugal to a fault,
that classic Maine characteristic no doubt helped Doss and Etta raise their big
family during some very tough times. They held onto their farm and in this
country that counts for something.
True
to their Maine upbringings, as a couple Doss & Etta were not much geared
for traveling. Etta, a Bridgewater farm
girl herself, was sixteen years old before she ever laid eyes on the County
seat of Houlton, twenty-three miles away.
In that era, seldom did one ever need to set foot outside one’s little
farming Town. A foray over to “The
Province” of New Brunswick, Canada, six miles away, or an infrequent train trip ‘Down
to Bangor’ represented the outer reaches
of Doss’ domain. As is the reality
of farmers yet today, there was always plenty of work to do and traveling
outside of Town was rarely necessary or contemplated.
Geography Simplified
For Doss, geography was a simple matter and his United
States was divvied up in thirds. So,
first there was “Down to Bangor.” Then next, there was “Below Bangor” which approximately meant the various other corners
of Maine, including Portland. Finally, the
mother of all geographic catchalls, “Way
Below Bangor,” was reserved for the entire balance of the United States,
from Boston to Bozeman to Bakersfield.
Below Bangor
things may get complicated, but be that as it may, it doesn’t change course for a Maine farmer like Doss Morse.
Jim
|
|
|
|
Megan's Kitchen Recipes:
Carrot Cake Muffins.
|
|
|
|
2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup chopped pecans or raisins
1 1/2 cup grated carrots
Preheat oven to 375º F. Sift together dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix together with dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in carrots and pecans or raisins.
Bake 25 minutes. Makes 12 - 16 muffins. Megan.
|
|
|
|
Notable Quote: Brecht on Heroes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quick Links to
Popular Products.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Caleb & Jim & Megan Gerritsen
Wood Prairie Family Farm
49 Kinney Road
Bridgewater, Maine 04735
(207) 429 - 9765 / 207
(429) - 9682
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
