Potatoes are the ‘Maine’ thing for retired teacher’s family

Retired Notre Dame teacher still helps out on the family farm in New England.

Potatoes arrived in the pre-U.S. colonies in 1621 when the governor of Bermuda, Nathaniel Butler, sent two large cedar chests full of potatoes and other vegetables to governor Francis Wyatt of Virginia at Jamestown. The first permanent potato patches in North America were established in 1719, most likely near Londonderry, New Hampshire, by Scots-Irish immigrants. From there, the crop spread across the country, including due north to what is now the state of Maine, which has been growing potatoes for more than 200 years.

In recent years, Maine potato growers have produced between 1.5 to 2 billion pounds of potatoes annually. Included in that total are the 17 million pounds of potatoes grown by the family of longtime Notre Dame faculty member (now retired) Ken Parent, who said that there have been eight generations of Parents involved in the potato business.

“My father was the sixth generation,” he said. “My three brothers were the seventh, and now, my nephew, who currently is managing the farm, is the eighth.”

Marist-educated

Parent said the farm today, which is located near the town of Hamlin, Maine, on the U.S./Canadian border, has nearly 2,000 total acres of which about 1,200 are tillable for growing potatoes. 

“Six hundred acres are potatoes and 600 are grains, such as oats, barley, and rye grass with clover,” he said, “which are plowed under every year to enrich the soil for the following planting season.”

Parent, who grew up in Hamlin and attended a Marist Fathers-run high school nearby, had nearly 40 years experience teaching and coaching at both Notre Dame High School in Harper Woods and Notre Dame Prep in Pontiac before he retired in 2008. 

His trips back to Maine to see his family have become a bit more frequent since then.

“Now that I'm retired, I usually get back to the potato farm three times per year,” he said. “From Thanksgiving through the holidays, then Easter and again for about a month during the summer, usually July.”

Potatoes are ‘us’

The Parent family, which was selected recently as a “McCain Top Ten Grower,” also was named “Farm Family of the Year” in 2012 by the Maine Potato Board. It has been supplying potatoes for nearly 30 years to McCain Foods USA, which processes them for for use in restaurants around the U.S., mostly in the fast-food market. 

“Beside McDonald's, our potatoes end up at Wendy's, Burger King and Friendly's, among others,” Parent said.

He noted that the potato is northern Maine’s primary agricultural product and at one time the state’s potato production was tops in the nation. 

The Maine Potato Board says that potatoes play a vital role in the economic prosperity of the region because of its large farms and fertile land. The total number of acres of farm land devoted to potatoes, however, has decreased in recent years because of rotational crops, conservation and fewer farmers. Fortunately for the Parent family, nearly 90 percent of Maine’s current potato crop comes from Aroostook County, which is where the family farm is located.

Ken Parent said the growing season in Maine typically lasts about 120 days. 

“Depending on the severity of winter, they are usually able to plant in early May and then harvest sometime in mid to late October. Different varieties of spuds require varying growing seasons, but the average is usually around 120 days.”

Working the farm

The oldest of eight children — five boys and three girls — Parent said three of his brothers were initially involved in farming. “But today, the torch has been passed on to one of my nephews whose brother also works for him.”

But what about “Uncle Ken?” Does he still do any farm work when he’s back in Maine?

“It's always great getting back to my roots on the farm, but it’s been years since I attempted to operate any of the big machinery,” he said. “It's so computerized today, with GPS, etc. I wouldn't trust myself — and neither would my nephews likely trust me anymore, I'm sure! The extent of my involvement now is landscaping — on a John Deere mower, of course — and painting around the farm, which I’m very happy to do.”

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.

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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy

Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.