The Presque Isle Farmers Market vendors gather in the Aroostook Centre Mall parking lot on Saturday mornings between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Occupationally, we break down into two major groups. The first group is The Plant People, who have some animals, and the second is The Animal People, who have some plants.
There are some obvious differences farming “biological units” that are rooted in the soil and those that blow through fences to explore the hillsides. However, at this time of year, there are more similarities than might be obvious to the uninitiated.
As noted last week, our seedlings in high tunnels or on windowsills are mostly Gashlycrumb Tinies at present. Twisted, spindly stems and tiny doublets of leaves emerge like zombies staggering from chilled, earthen graves. Desperately they yearn toward a paltry light source that surrenders the preponderance of its solar power to grey clouds and rain. Plaintively, they cry out for sun, warmth, and less water, please.
Unlike the seedlings, livestock suffer more from appetite than actual hunger. Industrious Animal People store solar energy as hay, silage and grain. But what animals want now is grass. Cattle, sheep, horses, even pigs and chickens, stare moony-eyed over fences that confine them to “sacrifice paddocks” awash in mud puddles and churned to muck by impatient feet. They will not have access to promised pastures until we have enough sun, warmth, and less water, please.
Gashlycrumb Tinies of the animal persuasion enjoy the harvested, stored feedstuffs vicariously through their solicitous mothers. The milk bar is designed to be convenient to these little sprouts, but the soft ooze makes the design less than ideal — lunch is sometimes liberally spattered with mud. These babies sleep curled up in balls against the chill and totter about on their twisted, spindly stems in a sea of mud. Instinctively, they fetch up on islands of straw bedding, rings of round bale rejects, or, in the case of lambs, the deeply padded fleece of their own mamas. As the youngsters perch aboard broad backs, ewes patiently drowse and chew their cud, dreaming of better days to come…sun, warmth, and less water, please.
We all dream of better days to come. The growing season is upon us. Market members invite you to sally forth on Saturday, gather fresh greens, frozen meat, delicious bakery items, and seedlings for your own solar harvest in your garden or on your windowsill. You can even purchase an outdoor rocker to perch on. See you there.
The Presque Isle Farmer’s market’s president is Kevin Ehst of Hidden Meadow Farm in Bridgewater. For information about participating or visiting the market, contact him at 425-4050 or via email at kevins@ehst.com.
