Friday, April 8th, 2022

Volume 31 Issue 4

Maine Tales: Sugar Creek Ethic. Sydney, Maine. Circa 1990.

Wood Prairie Family Farm Photos.


This edition of the Seed Piece may be found in our Wood Prairie Seed Piece Archives. 

Child Oyster Shuckers. Those who came before us knew how to work hard, yet in some circumstances that work was grim. A group of young girls on a break from their job as oyster shuckers at a seafood cannery in Port Royal, South Carolina in 1911. From left to right, Josie six years old, Bertha six years old and Sophie ten years old.

About three decades ago some Amish farmers in Sugar Creek, Ohio, traveled to Maine with the intention of expanding their herds with new bloodlines. From Maine farmers they purchased and paid-for-on-the-spot some dairy cattle and even a few Percheron draft horses.

Within a month or so, livestock haulers had been engaged to transport the livestock from Maine to Sugar Creek. Soon after, the same Maine dairy farmers who sold the Amish some of their cattle began to receive letters in their mailboxes. These letters were sent by the Amish farmers and they contained additional unexpected payments for the Maine farmers.

It seems that in the intervening month the market price for cattle had risen. The Amish farmers in the Sugar Creek community believe in making their living off of their own efforts, from their own sweat. In their practice of this unselfish belief, the Amish judged that the rise in market value justly belonged to the Maine farmers who had bred, birthed and raised the cattle.

We can tell you we were very much impressed back then when we first heard about this story. In the years since, we have often reflected that those Amish farmers had a simple but highly developed model of the right way to do business. Imagine if the rest of us followed suit. There absolutely would be a lot less strife and a lot less war.

As well, there would be far, far less exploitation by the rich and powerful over the weak and disadvantaged.

In the last 25 years, several Amish communities have been established here in Aroostook County. We have found the Amish to be hardworking and honest. We go out of our way to do as much business with the Amish as we can.

Caleb, Megan & Jim

Wood Prairie Family Farm Photos.

The Cool Job of Packing Potatoes.   You wouldn’t be far off the mark to say our life revolves around potatoes. And a lot of that means catering to every need of a potato. All winter long we keep our packing shed – pictured here - at 45ºF so we can maintain the highest quality and greatest vigor in the short-term storage of our Organic Maine Certified Seed Potatoes as they are on their way to being shipped to our customers in all 50 States. Here, braving the cold (left to right ) are packing shed co-workers Caleb, Zach & Cassidy. Recent late-season cold across the entire Northeast forced us to hold back packages to prevent freeze-damage en route. The weather has moderated and we’re now catching up and watching thousands of packages of Seed Potatoes exit the farm on their way to a new life in warmer climes.