Contributed photo/Lynda Quint
PICKING PARTNERS — As soon as he was able to lift a full basket of potatoes, 6-year-old Aaron Quint joined his sister Amy, 10, in John Whited’s potato fields on the Calais Road during the 1987 harvest. They are the children of Lynda and Royce Quint of Hodgdon.
Contributed photo/Lynda Quint
ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO — The oldest child of Royce and Linda Quint of Hodgdon, Clay, who was 12 in this 1987 photo, had the special opportunity to pick potatoes on a farm planted by his father and uncle, Philip Quint. Like many Aroostook County youth, Clay preferred to pick “from the ground level.”
Contributed photo/Heather Williams
HARVEST HELP — Heather Williams of Oakland sent this photograph of her father, Carl Bustard, taken approximately 60 years ago in southern Aroostook. He is now 81 years old. Williams writes: “When I was growing up, Dad worked all day Monday through Friday at Friel’s mill in Smyrna Mills. He worked a half day on Saturday, and the other half of the day during harvest he would come and help us pick potatoes. I always loved to see Dad coming! He was the best potato picker I had ever seen. I loved it when he helped me because I would get lots of barrels full. Looking back, it’s hard to believe he worked five and a half days a week at a mill, then spent the other half of Saturday working with us in the potato fields.”
Contributed photo/Eileen Bustard
BLOSSOMS — Eugene Ivey of Houlton surveys blossoming potatoes for as far as the eye can see.
Contributed photo/Eileen Bustard
SISTERS IN THE FIELD — Vada, left, and Zoe Jewell from Auburn check out some Aroostook County potato blossoms during an August visit.
