By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
With summer in full swing, annual family gatherings, parades, class reunions and vacations filling most everyones’ calendar, one of the best treats of the season isn’t necessarily that daily trip to get an ice cream, but rather the availability of fresh, locally-grown vegetables and fruits.
Aroostook Republican photo/Barb Scott
Ernie Caron purchases a bag of new potatoes at the Caribou High School FFA farm stand, from FFA members Colby Johnson and Jeremy Miller, as Tom Hale, FFA adviser looks on. Located at the first driveway to the school, the farm stand is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering fresh vegetables grown by the Caribou FFA students.
For those of us who grew up in this area, we probably all associate Saturday night dinner with home-baked beans, hotdogs, cole slaw, hot rolls (or bread) and some type of dessert. Just as this combination has historically been the norm, come June, July and August, the duo of new potatoes and peas is featured on many a family menu — and you can’t have one without the other (preferably cooked together and left to simmer after milk has been added, along with butter, maybe some onions and of course seasoned with black pepper).
Regardless of one’s preference, new potatoes and peas served together is a sure palatable wonder — or if you want to mix things up replace the peas with fresh string beans. Then of course there are the delicious beet greens, never better than when served with vinegar.
One of the best things regarding these wonderful, fresh veggies is that one can easily purchase them at any of the numerous farm stands that appear during the warm summer months, and the members of the Caribou High School Future Farmers of America just happen to operate one of these convenient, one-stop shopping farm stands right at the beginning of the first driveway to the school.
From the end of June through the first part of August, six Caribou FFA members run their chapter’s farm stand from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. However these students don’t just show up to work and sell veggies (yes, it is their summer job and they do get paid — they even get pea-picking bonuses) they have been responsible for the planting and growing of their crops as well as weeding the combined two acres that produces their products. They also harvest their crop of potatoes daily, digging and picking the tubers, the same as with any large scale agricultural business.
Throughout the school year and into the summer and fall, FFA members, under the guidance of Chapter Adviser Tom Hale, learn through hands-on experience the responsibility, the trials, tribulations and the satisfaction of farming and as well as other agricultural avenues.
Hale, who has been the Caribou FFA chapter adviser for 37 years, said that the farm stand was established in 1992. “This year has been excellent for potatoes — probably the best we’ve ever had, he added. Joking with the students who were manning the stand yesterday, Colby Johnson and Jeremy Miller, Hale said, “I will say this though, this is also the first time in all of these years that any of the student FFA members have ever gotten the tractor stuck in the field — we had to shovel it out.”
Miller and Johnson both laughed as Johnson said, “It wasn’t me.” Miller explained that he found himself with the tractor mired to the point of immobility in one of the fields, due to the heavy rain and hail from the July 4 storm.
Hale also remarked that as a result of that storm, “We lost nearly one-third of our peas — it looked like a steam roller had been in that field — but that’s agriculture.” The FFA adviser stated that the group’s second pea crop was doing very well and they expect to have the fresh peas to sell within a week or so.
On the counter at the farm stand there is a large glass jar — “That’s our Joplin, Missouri Jar,” said Hale. “ When the F5 tornado hit that location, the Joplin FFA chapter’s school was wiped out. Initial donations were coming in to help the school but one of the things that was said was, “Remember us three months from now.”
Hale said when he heard that, he knew the Caribou FFA chapter was not going to let people forget about the Joplin students, after the tragic event faded from the daily news. “We set up this jar and our group puts all the money we get from bottles/cans and tell our customers what it’s for and along with our members, some individuals donate their change or more. I can’t wait to meet these FFA members when we go to the national convention this year.”
Produce that is available at the Caribou FFA farm stand includes potatoes (available in 1, 3 and 5-pound bags; beet greens; tomatoes and very soon green peas.
With 54 FFA members, Hale said that he would expect the membership once school starts for the 2011-12 year to be close to the same. Jeremy Miller, a junior, is president of the Caribou chapter and Johnson, a senior is vice president and also serves as secretary/treasurer for the state FFA. Desiree LaVallee is the Caribou chapter secretary and is the state FFA president.
