Joseph Zook and his family are part of a long line of Amish farmers. Their trodden trail is in many ways similar to that of other local farmers, though the details depart in terms of accomplishing day-to-day tasks with no electricity or telephone, no tractors or trucks, and no screen time.
Joseph speaks with pride of his wife’s jams and jellies and of his oldest daughter’s increasing assistance with planting chores (she is 5). The workday includes essential horsemanship, harness repair, wagon maintenance, and tending to the oil lamps or lanterns to extend the day into darkness on both ends. These things are, of course, in addition to the business of farming that occupies all farmers.
You might consider that there was enough to do that anything “extra” would be unwelcome, especially this past winter. However, Joseph and his family clearly thrive on extra. Though chores might be a bit more involved when it is well below zero, the comparative quiet of the winter months opens up time for him to busy himself in his workshop.
Once spring arrives, Joseph brings to the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings a wagon neatly stacked with furniture he has fashioned and assembled over the winter months. The cargo must fit together without wasted space and remain stable enough to make the trip from Fort Fairfield behind two horses. The load includes several different types of single- and double-seated chairs and rockers, picnic tables, benches, and other designs of sturdy, comfortable, wooden furniture, some stained and some as-is. It presents a spatial challenge, hands-on proof geometry.
Joseph sets out a long row of handmade outdoor furniture across the Aroostook Centre Mall parking lot near his table of homemade soaps, preserves, and early vegetables. Like children drawn to an old fashioned carrousel, people flock to try out the wooden seats. Some go directly to a favorite, sit down and settle back. Some “switch horses” several times, trying out all the selections. All depart with a smile on their faces.
Stop by between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. any Saturday for a test drive; you could go home with food, beverage, and a place to sit and eat it.
The Presque Isle Farmers’ Market contact person Gail Maynard, who operates Orchard Hill Farm in Woodland with her husband, Stan. Their phone number is 498-8541 and their email is orchhill@gmail.com.
