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| Spraying for Potato Bugs |
I didn't think we would leave the farms until we talked about Maines' number one crop, potatoes. At one time Maine was the largest producer in the country, that was about 50 years ago. Now it's still the most important crop. Crops are rotated, so last years field of 'taters is probably going to be canola or oats this year. Broccoli is also grown but hasn't reached the point of being an "important" crop.
Every year at picking time, or digging time, that years crop of rocks is piled up, Maines' rocky soil still presents a problem, even as the machinery gets larger those rocks are a problem, there are large piles at the edge of a lot of fields, large piles, small rocks (baseball size).
Most of the crop from Maine goes to frozen french fries or for potato chips (they're called chippers), and important part of the crop are seed potatoes. You just can't cut up any old potato for seed, those are grown, sent to Florida (mostly) replanted and then cut for seed. That is the biggest part of preventing plant diseases - there's a reason for everything I guess.
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| Seed potato crop in blossom, there are white or purple blossoms. |
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| Off the fryer |
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| A lot of Central Maine farms raise chippers for Frito-Lay |
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