THROUGH THE SEASONS
Farm life followed a pattern that was determined by the cycle of the seasons. Through the rhythms of spring, summer, fall, and winter, the work on a farm was both familiar and new as farmers continually adapted to the changes brought by mother nature.
COME SPRING
Spring brought thawing earth and new growth. Farmers tilled soil, planted crops, sheared sheep, watched and waited as their animals gave birth, and tended the mothers and their young. Farm families savored their first fresh spring foods like dandelion greens, rhubarb, and the fish returning to run in the streams. Florence Dole Brown remembered how she and her sister went “greening” in the spring:
In the spring Ruth and I dug [dandelion] greens. We had to get enough for Mother and Aunty, then we could dig to sell. We would come home from school, change our clothes, feed the hens, get in the wood, grab a handful of cookies, a pail and knife, and away we would go into the field and were usually gone until Mother’s big tin horn would call us to supper. We got ten cents a pail, full, cleaned.
Some farmers kept regular diaries and their daily entries provide a glimpse into activities on the farm and around the home. Dorothy G. Beveridge wrote in April 1964:
The sheep are lambing. Baby has twins. Phoebe has twins. Honey has a big black ram. Found one of Baby’s twins dead. Gigi has twins. Cherry has twins. Tiny has a single little girl we are naming Sweet Pea. I cleaned the stove and painted the kitchen.
In the spring Ruth and I dug [dandelion] greens. We had to get enough for Mother and Aunty, then we could dig to sell. We would come home from school, change our clothes, feed the hens, get in the wood, grab a handful of cookies, a pail and knife, and away we would go into the field and were usually gone until Mother’s big tin horn would call us to supper. We got ten cents a pail, full, cleaned.
Some farmers kept regular diaries and their daily entries provide a glimpse into activities on the farm and around the home. Dorothy G. Beveridge wrote in April 1964:
The sheep are lambing. Baby has twins. Phoebe has twins. Honey has a big black ram. Found one of Baby’s twins dead. Gigi has twins. Cherry has twins. Tiny has a single little girl we are naming Sweet Pea. I cleaned the stove and painted the kitchen.
Will Sampson plowing, circa 1900
SUMMER DAYS
The summer months brought the daily tending, cultivating, and harvesting of crops, as well as gathering wild growing fruits and berries. With summer, came days spent over a hot stove canning fruits and vegetables, continually preparing for winter when those foods would fill bowls and bellies. Florence Beverage Brown recalled:
We picked a lot of berries, raspberries, strawberries...We would pick at a place where the berries were real thrifty -- great big berries!
Summer was also haying time, when field after field of island grass was cut, dried, and stored to feed farm animals through the winter. Edward Waterman, who served in the Civil War, wrote letters back home, inquiring about activities on his family’s farm. Even when far away, the rhythms of farm life were on his mind. He wrote in August 1863:
How is the hay this year? Did you cut the hay on the island? How does the crops look this year?
Allan Beverage recalled haying time at the farm belonging to his grandparents, Fremont and Lottie Beverage:
We usually visited in August, which generally coincided with the haying season when extra hands were put to work to help get the hay in and stored in the loft for the winter. As a young boy, it was great fun for me as I had the role of stomper in the hay wagon and in the barn loft to help compact the hay and make room for more. The adults took great delight pitching up the hay faster than we kids could stomp it down so inevitably we got buried. That led to an accumulation of hay, hay seed, and sweat everywhere between clothing and skin. When the tide was right, a quick dip in the brook end of the Cubby Hole got most of it rinsed away. Otherwise, itch, itch.
We picked a lot of berries, raspberries, strawberries...We would pick at a place where the berries were real thrifty -- great big berries!
Summer was also haying time, when field after field of island grass was cut, dried, and stored to feed farm animals through the winter. Edward Waterman, who served in the Civil War, wrote letters back home, inquiring about activities on his family’s farm. Even when far away, the rhythms of farm life were on his mind. He wrote in August 1863:
How is the hay this year? Did you cut the hay on the island? How does the crops look this year?
Allan Beverage recalled haying time at the farm belonging to his grandparents, Fremont and Lottie Beverage:
We usually visited in August, which generally coincided with the haying season when extra hands were put to work to help get the hay in and stored in the loft for the winter. As a young boy, it was great fun for me as I had the role of stomper in the hay wagon and in the barn loft to help compact the hay and make room for more. The adults took great delight pitching up the hay faster than we kids could stomp it down so inevitably we got buried. That led to an accumulation of hay, hay seed, and sweat everywhere between clothing and skin. When the tide was right, a quick dip in the brook end of the Cubby Hole got most of it rinsed away. Otherwise, itch, itch.
Alton, Patsy, and Ann Calderwood loading a hay wagon, circa 1945
FALL TIME
As summer turned to fall, it came time for selecting livestock for slaughter, then butchering and preserving the meat. In addition, butter and cheese were made in large quantity, enough for the family and hopefully enough to sell or trade. Ruth Dole Parsons recalled:
I’d sometimes make 3 or 4 earthen jars of butter in the fall and ‘twould last all winter...You put a good layer of salt in the bottom of the jar...and you would make layers, salt, butter, salt, butter...And put a wet cheesecloth over your last layer of butter and then the lid. In the winter, you just go down and cut a wedge.
The last of the crops was harvested before the first snowfall then sold off or stored away for winter eating. Whether dried, canned, salted, or smoked, the activities of food preservation were vital to a family’s ability to endure the long cold winters. The skills of food preservation were passed down through generations as families worked together to put up food for the winter. Recipes and techniques were learned by heart and carried on year after year. Florence Dole Brown recalled the fall harvest and storage of vegetables as well as the hog slaughter on her family’s farm:
In October we used to get the apple barrels and crates out in the sunshine to make sure they were clean and sweet. Soon we would be busy picking and sorting apples. The small ones and bruised ones were kept in the barn to feed the sheep and pigs on. The large ones were carefully packed and a thin cover spread over them to keep the light off them….Next two large bins were filled with potatoes and a large box of turnips finished filling two sides of the cellar. Small turnips and small potatoes, pumpkins and squash were kept covered in boxes on the barn floor to be boiled and mixed with cornmeal for the pigs….Later, in November came hog killing time with a lot of hard work which involved rendering the fat into lard and sweet pickling ham and shoulders for later eating. The hams and shoulders had to be thoroughly washed and put in a large cask….The meat was kept under brine weighted down with a large rock for six weeks….Next work would be picking over peas and beans which Father and Grandpa threshed on the barn floor on an old canvas sail. This job took many evenings but provided a lot of good food and a bribe of a plate of Mother’s good sweet-cream fudge was all that was needed to put us to work, a contented and happy family working together.
I’d sometimes make 3 or 4 earthen jars of butter in the fall and ‘twould last all winter...You put a good layer of salt in the bottom of the jar...and you would make layers, salt, butter, salt, butter...And put a wet cheesecloth over your last layer of butter and then the lid. In the winter, you just go down and cut a wedge.
The last of the crops was harvested before the first snowfall then sold off or stored away for winter eating. Whether dried, canned, salted, or smoked, the activities of food preservation were vital to a family’s ability to endure the long cold winters. The skills of food preservation were passed down through generations as families worked together to put up food for the winter. Recipes and techniques were learned by heart and carried on year after year. Florence Dole Brown recalled the fall harvest and storage of vegetables as well as the hog slaughter on her family’s farm:
In October we used to get the apple barrels and crates out in the sunshine to make sure they were clean and sweet. Soon we would be busy picking and sorting apples. The small ones and bruised ones were kept in the barn to feed the sheep and pigs on. The large ones were carefully packed and a thin cover spread over them to keep the light off them….Next two large bins were filled with potatoes and a large box of turnips finished filling two sides of the cellar. Small turnips and small potatoes, pumpkins and squash were kept covered in boxes on the barn floor to be boiled and mixed with cornmeal for the pigs….Later, in November came hog killing time with a lot of hard work which involved rendering the fat into lard and sweet pickling ham and shoulders for later eating. The hams and shoulders had to be thoroughly washed and put in a large cask….The meat was kept under brine weighted down with a large rock for six weeks….Next work would be picking over peas and beans which Father and Grandpa threshed on the barn floor on an old canvas sail. This job took many evenings but provided a lot of good food and a bribe of a plate of Mother’s good sweet-cream fudge was all that was needed to put us to work, a contented and happy family working together.
WINTER WORK
In winter, with the land blanketed in snow and animals tucked in the barn, farm families turned their attention to indoor work. They made furniture, knit fishing nets, built and repaired boats, spun yarn, wove cloth, sewed clothing, and made baskets, candles, and soap.
In addition, farmers found work outside cutting wood. Besides what they needed to heat their homes, islanders also harvested wood for shipment to the mainland to fuel the kilns of Rockland’s lime industry. Beaches along North Haven’s shore became known as “wood landings” where vessels could land and load wood to carry back to the mainland. Florence Dole Brown recalled how her family cut wood both for their home and to sell:
Grandpa and Father and my Uncle used to cut wood every winter. For home use we had about 8 to 9 cords including a large alder pile. After this was out and hauled home they usually cut 5 to 6 cords to sell. Good heavy brush was sold to weir fishermen. Also straight poles were saved to sell. Grandpa sawed the wood by hand saw and father split a great deal of it by moonlight and lantern light.
Islanders also found winter work cutting ice at the Fresh Pond. The ice was loaded into ice houses for storage and then sold for use in home ice boxes on the island. In addition, the ice was exported off the island as North Haven, like other towns along the Maine coast, sent ice, known as “frozen gold,” to ports in the southern United States, the Caribbean, and South America. Elmer Hopkins recalled:
We had 15 fellows cutting ice up on the pond...Each area was called a “field.” We plowed our field with the ice plow. We could put up about a hundred ton of ice in a week if things were going good.
In addition, farmers found work outside cutting wood. Besides what they needed to heat their homes, islanders also harvested wood for shipment to the mainland to fuel the kilns of Rockland’s lime industry. Beaches along North Haven’s shore became known as “wood landings” where vessels could land and load wood to carry back to the mainland. Florence Dole Brown recalled how her family cut wood both for their home and to sell:
Grandpa and Father and my Uncle used to cut wood every winter. For home use we had about 8 to 9 cords including a large alder pile. After this was out and hauled home they usually cut 5 to 6 cords to sell. Good heavy brush was sold to weir fishermen. Also straight poles were saved to sell. Grandpa sawed the wood by hand saw and father split a great deal of it by moonlight and lantern light.
Islanders also found winter work cutting ice at the Fresh Pond. The ice was loaded into ice houses for storage and then sold for use in home ice boxes on the island. In addition, the ice was exported off the island as North Haven, like other towns along the Maine coast, sent ice, known as “frozen gold,” to ports in the southern United States, the Caribbean, and South America. Elmer Hopkins recalled:
We had 15 fellows cutting ice up on the pond...Each area was called a “field.” We plowed our field with the ice plow. We could put up about a hundred ton of ice in a week if things were going good.
Using a horse and ice plow on the frozen Fresh Pond to mark out an ice field, circa 1930