P = Potatoes

Maine has 16 counties. One can be referenced without its official name. If a Mainer tells you they are from “The County,” they’re from our northernmost area: Aroostook County. From my observation, no Mainer is more proud of their region than someone from up north. They have a right to this definitive article designation. The County is huge — greater in size than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, and the largest county east of the Mississippi.

The Aroostook folks use this land mass primarily for one crop. In 2019, around 52,000 acres of Maine were dedicated to growing potatoes; the vast majority of this took place up north. There is more than one type of potato that comes out of the Maine ground. You can find brown russets, round reds and round whites, Yukon gold, purples and blues…nearly a whole rainbow of spuds.

The best time to visit The County is when the potatoes blossom — typically the middle to end of July. It is understandable if you’ve never associated beauty with something that’s grown in the dirt, but a trip to Aroostook County at this time of the year will change your mind. You’ll find the green plants covered in white, purple, and pink flowers. It’s cause for a celebration so the Maine Potato Blossom Festival in Fort Fairfield puts on a week of fun. The event has been held for over 70 years. Tens of thousands take part in the festivities.

As you might imagine, it is “all-hands-on-deck” when it’s time to harvest the potatoes. It is tradition for the high schools to take a three week Harvest Recess so students can help with this work (they start school earlier than the younger students in order to make up the time). For many, it has been a much anticipated tradition for generations. Folks from The County are known for being hard workers. For many of them, this trait was developed harvesting potatoes.

Here is a brief peek at a potato harvest, if you’ve never seen it for yourself…

This post is part of my A to Z Challenge Series with the overall theme, “This Maine Life.” I am covering a Maine-related topic with a different letter of the alphabet every day except Sundays throughout the month of April 2020.