For ‘wanderers,’ farming appeals

    Steve and Barb Miller are living proof that “Not all who wander are lost.” Thirty-five years ago, they wandered from Wisconsin to northern Maine, they wandered onto a piece of land in Westmanland, then they wandered into a different, more grounded life as subsistence farmers. Their efforts to grow their own food led them to wander into production from bees, fruit trees, and lots and lots of vegetables. Because they did not borrow money, they did not have a huge push to move faster than their comfort level allowed. As a result, they had no particularly risky ventures or spectacular flops. As their confidence in their own abilities expanded, they were able to produce commercial crops of small fruits like strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, fruit trees including apples, pears, and plums (yes! In Aroostook County!), a moderately sized apiary of 30 to 35 hives and, at one time, major crops of garlic. The latter sold “by the bucket load” at the Common Ground Fair each fall.
    As their depth and breadth of knowledge expanded, the Millers were able to wander away from “day jobs” as adult education instructors, adjunct faculty positions at both UMPI and UMFK, as well as a stint as a television weatherman. Steve supports the net result of their wandering with the simple statement, “Farming appeals.”
    Like many farmers, this couple found that some things worked better than others, some products and processes were more fun than others, and some efforts paid the bills and some remained a hobby or went by the wayside. Over the past 10 years or so, they have become suppliers of grafting and nursery stock for Fedco Seeds, Inc. Many tree fruits do not “breed true” from seed, so to get the same variety of fruit on a new tree, a nurseryman grafts tissue from the original onto root stock and persuades it to grow.
    Steve’s voice softens with fondness as he describes his forays with other dedicated nurserymen into “the wilds” to hunt down and claim the genetics of apples, cherries, and blackberries that thrive without human intervention and take all that a northern winter has to throw at them. He mentions a blackberry named Fort Kent King, the Dudley Winter apple from Castle Hill, and the Garfield Plantation cherry of unknown origin but great determination, aspiring to a long, productive, disease- and insect-resistant life. As he speaks of his efforts to preserve and propagate heirloom varieties in his orchards, you just know that his nursery stock acts as a living testament to these friends.
    Now “of a certain age,” what Steve refers to as the-stand-on-your-head-crops have been rotated out and other species have taken over. Recently, he and Barb have started another important crop, the next generation (or two!) of dedicated farmers. They have entered into an internship/partnership with Kurt Margeson and Sigrid Houlette, young people who arrived to build a new house for them and stayed on to live, learn, and work on the homestead. Their two boys, Oli and Tate, frequently come to the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market in the parking lot at the Aroostook Centre Mall on Saturday mornings with their mother, both to sell honey, blueberries, and rootstock and to charm the pants off the other venders and their customers! They and their parents have invested sweat equity in current enterprises and express interest in taking the farm in new directions as well, an idea both Steve and Barb support.
    As the Millers approach retirement age and seek to preserve the land and lifestyle so precious to them, it is obvious that they remain satisfied with wandering where the fates take them.
    Editor’s note: This weekly column is written by members of the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market. For more information or to join, contact their secretary/treasurer Steve Miller of Westmanland at 896-5860 or via e-mail at beetree@xpressamerica.net.