Appleton Maine Farmstead
"The Captain's Keep"
151 Searsmont Rd.
Appleton, Maine
1998 - 2007

September 14, 2007: Sold

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Lay of the Land

Land Cover

From the Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems, the GOMLC7 map provides land cover data from five interpretations of Landsat data and wetland cover for the Gulf of Maine watershed; it is available at http://megis.maine.gov/catalog. This Appleton property, approximately within the circle, boasts a pleasing variety of archetypal Maine landscapes and microclimates, from undeveloped river shore to forest to open grassland. There are beaver lodges and a dam at the river. The fields fill with fireflies in summer.

Farming in Maine

Maine's economy, once highly based on manufacturing, is moving toward a service-based economy. Still, natural resources - pulp, fishing and farming - are highly important sectors of Maine's economy.

The soils of most of central and northern Maine are characterized as glacial till. The soils of this region are somewhat acidic but treated with lime they are highly productive for farming.

Much of the soil in southern and central Maine are lake and ocean bottom soils which are free of stones and are excellent for farming. Maine leads the world in production of wild blueberries.

Maine is 2nd in the nation in the production of maple syrup and Maine's Somerset County produces more maple syrup than any other county in the country.

Maine ranks 8th in the nation among producers of fall potatoes.

Many Maine farmers are producing fresh fruit and vegetable crops and value-added agricultural products for direct sale to consumers.

Maine boasts a vibrant and diverse organic farming community and many Maine farmers are involved in sustainable agricultural production.

Maine's dairy industry is consistently among the state's leading agricultural sectors. Maine leads the nation in production of brown eggs.

Maine's beef industry is rapidly expanding and finding important new markets. Sheep, goats, hogs, equine and poultry have always been important on Maine farms; new livestock ventures such as elk and deer herds, as well as camelids (llama and alpaca) and ratities (emu) are becoming more common on Maine farms.

Maine's weather is characterized by rapidly changing conditions. In Maine, the saying goes, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."

The normal daily mean temperature ranges from38.8° F in northern Maine to 45.4° F in southern Maine.

The average number of days in which the temperature reaches 90° F or above ranges from one in northern Maine to five in southern Maine, while the average number of days in which the temperature is 32° F or below ranges from 187 days in northern Maine to 156 days in southern Maine.

The cumulative annual precipitation is 45.4 inches.

The growing season is about 135 days.

The St. George River

Along with nearby ponds, a 15-mile stretch of the St. George River, from Appleton to Warren, supports an assemblage of rare plants, invertebrates, and natural communities that is found nowhere else in central or coastal Maine. The River meanders from its headwaters in Lake St. George, Steven's Pond, and True's Pond southward through Searsmont, Appleton, Union, and Warren. Outstanding plant communities include a hardwood floodplain forest south of the aptly-named White Oak Pond. This floodplain forest contains both a high floodplain type, dominated by red oak, and a low floodplain type. Unlike most other floodplain forests in Maine, which are characterized by silver maple, this low floodplain forest contains an abundance of the rare swamp white oak, a tree at its northeastern range limit in coastal Maine.

http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/stats/maine.pdf



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