Mary Quinn Doyle, a Maine writer, photographer and certified teacher, is preparing for the release of her book, “Unique Maine Farms,” which is to be printed this month. Doyle volunteered to travel throughout Maine over the past two years visiting 178 farms. She wrote stories about each of the farms and took many photos and created complimentary webpages on the Unique Maine Farms’ website. She has conducted slideshows and discussions and set up traveling photo exhibits of her project.
Twenty-four of the stories in the book focus on farms or agricultural endeavors that are located in Aroostook County. These farms include Pelletier Island Farm on Long Lake; Wood Prairie Farm in Bridgewater; Aroostook Hops in Westfield; Bouchard Family Farm in Fort Kent; Future Farmers of America in Caribou; Wholesome Valley Farms in Smyrna; Micmac Farms, Aroostook Farm and SAD 1 Educational Farm, all in Presque Isle; Friends of Aroostook in Houlton; Richards Christmas Tree Farm, Maple Meadow Farm and Chase’s Organic Dairy Farm, all in Mapleton; Zook Family Farm in Fort Fairfield; Knott-ll-Bragg Farm in Wade; Misty Meadows Organic Farm in Grand Isle; Mt. Springs Trout Farm in Frenchboro; Flat Mountain Cattle and Horse Ranch in St. Agatha; and Sunrise Farm and Orchard Hill Farm in Woodland.
Also included in the book are profiles of Maliseet basketmaker Fred Tomah of Houlton, Micmac basketmaker Richard Silliboy and the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum, both in Littleton; and Eldon Hanning, a Micmac brown ash harvester in Limestone.
Doyle felt that it was important for “Unique Maine Farms,” her 296-page book, to be printed in Maine on Maine paper. The book profiles 178 unique Maine farms and contains 440 color photographs. To help meet printing costs, she is taking pre-orders for the book. Information about pre-ordering can be found at www.uniquemainefarms.com.
