Best of 2015: Folks on the farm

It’s no secret I’m based in Portland, Maine’s biggest city. But I do get out to farms from time to time. This year, I visited two in Harpswell, one in New Sharon and a few down on Merrymeeting Bay. Each time, I was reminded just how much hard work is involved in raising the kind of food I put in my mouth.

09/02/15 -- Sophie Lapointe, a Hampshire College students, stands among Jim Cornish's draft horses in Harpswell. In her year-long study at Cornish's Stone Soup Institute, Lapointe learned to plow and drive the beasts. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

09/02/15 — Sophie Lapointe, a Hampshire College students, stands among Jim Cornish’s draft horses in Harpswell. In her year-long study at Cornish’s Stone Soup Institute, Lapointe learned to plow and drive the beasts. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

09/02/15 -- Jim Cornish checks a sample of fruit wine he made with Hampshire College student Sophie Lapointe as part of her homesteading instruction at the Stone Soup Institute in Harpswell. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

09/02/15 — Jim Cornish checks a sample of fruit wine he made with Hampshire College student Sophie Lapointe as part of her homesteading instruction at the Stone Soup Institute in Harpswell. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

11/24/15 -- Joe Grady feeds the pigs at Two Coves Farm in Harpswell where they raise pastured beef, pork, chickens and turkeys. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

11/24/15 — Joe Grady feeds the pigs at Two Coves Farm in Harpswell where they raise pastured beef, pork, chickens and turkeys. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

11/2/15 -- Marvin Storer snatches a turkey by the legs before bringing it inside and dispatching it at Bob Neal's farm in New Sharon. Storer has worked on the farm for 26 years. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

11/2/15 — Marvin Storer snatches a turkey by the legs before bringing it inside and dispatching it at Bob Neal’s farm in New Sharon. Storer has worked on the farm for 26 years. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

09/17/15 -- Nate Drummond carries crates of celery to a van at Six River Farm in Bowdoinham. The rich bottom land adjacent to Merrymeeting Bay sustains a handful of small vegetable farms. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

09/17/15 — Nate Drummond carries crates of celery to a van at Six River Farm in Bowdoinham. The rich bottom land adjacent to Merrymeeting Bay sustains a handful of small vegetable farms. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

11/2/15 -- Bob Neal, 75, helps herd birds on his turkey farm in New Sharon on. The former newspaperman is selling the operation after 30 years of farming. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

11/2/15 — Bob Neal, 75, helps herd birds on his turkey farm in New Sharon on. The former newspaperman is selling the operation after 30 years of farming. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

09/02/15 -- Sophie Lapointe, a Hampshire College student from Vermont, carries an armload of tomatoes back to Jim Cornish's house in Harpswell. Lapointe has spent a year studying homesteading with Cornish. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

09/02/15 — Sophie Lapointe, a Hampshire College student from Vermont, carries an armload of tomatoes back to Jim Cornish’s house in Harpswell. Lapointe has spent a year studying homesteading with Cornish. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

09/02/15 -- Jim Cornish and Sophie Lapointe walk back to his house in Harpswell after checking up on their garden. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

09/02/15 — Jim Cornish and Sophie Lapointe walk back to his house in Harpswell after checking up on their garden. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

10/14/15 -- Bison roam a pasture at Beech Hill Farm in Waterford. Ted and Doretta Colburn keep 23 head of the beasts on their spread in western Maine. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

10/14/15 — Bison roam a pasture at Beech Hill Farm in Waterford. Ted and Doretta Colburn keep 23 head of the beasts on their spread in western Maine. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

Troy R. Bennett

About Troy R. Bennett

Troy R. Bennett is a Buxton native and longtime Portland resident whose photojournalism has appeared in media outlets all over the world.