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Who Am I?
Well, I am a Maine native who, a long time ago, (20 + years ago) worked a portion of my summer vaction in the blueberry fields fo Maine. I think I was about 14 years old when I first picked up a rake. My brother-in-law's dad in his retirement ran a blueberry crew seasonally for many years. We harvested berries in the towns of Union, Hope and Pittston Maine.
As I recall, I was paid about eight cents a pound. It was hard work but on a good day I could rake about 1000 to 1400 pounds of blueberries. As I grew in size (it took a couple years) I also operated the winnowing machine powered by a Brigg's & Stratton gas engine. I poured the five gallon buckets of blue berries onto a short horizontal conveyor belt at chest height. The berries then fell to a belt with a steep incline. Between the two belt was a fan blowing away the leaves that were mixed in the buckets with the berries. Any crushed blue berries would stick to the incline belt, ride to the top and drop off the end.
The good berries, now free of leaves and twigs, rolled to the bottom of the belt falling into a wooden crate where usually two people kept a crates in place to catch the nearly constant flow of berries.
So, now that I play in the mud instead of berries --- blueberry pottery seemed to fit a piece of my past. And here we are .... Yes we --- I also work with my wife at www.cabinpottery.com as well as other pottery project I enjoy. Andrea is a talented potter and we both support each others business ventures with man hours and words of encouragement. It was my wife Andrea who pulled me from the corporate world several years ago. I was already a part time potter aiding Andrea. The decision to to be a full time mud slinger was not easy to make, but in hind sight it was the most rewarding one possible.
So thats me .... Joe Ford a.k.a mudman. Thanks for your time and attention and take a few minutes to enjoy the world around you!
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