Ecology at the Desert of Maine

One-hundred years ago, these woods were still “desert” sand. In fact, the sand covered six times the area that they do now. Before that they were farmland, but each of our families that lived here enjoyed a surrounding forest. The Tuttles logged their woods for the Maine Central Railroad during the time when the locomotives burned wood. And they would also have come to the woods to harvest different plants for food and medicinal purposes.

Haircap moss is abundant here starting in April up until the first snows come. If any of the Tuttles had kidney stones, they would have harvested haircap moss and made it into a tea. It’s also good for inflammation. Starting in July, the farm children would have harvested blueberries for pies and jams, popping most into their mouths before they ever made their way into the bucket. But Abigail Tuttle would also have harvested the leaves of the blueberry plant to brew teas to strengthen the immune systems of anyone in the family who was under the weather. Blueberry leaf is also high in potassium and helps prevent heart disease. Goldenrod, which blooms in September, is like the ibuprofen of the forest. It reduces pain and inflammation. The same is true of willow bark, which Abigail would have harvested and made into a tea to cure headaches.

When Henry Goldrup wasn’t giving tours of his favorite place, the Desert, you would probably have found him in his second favorite place, the woods. As a boy growing up in Freeport, Henry was kind of like Tom Sawyer in that he didn’t make it to school if the fish were biting--and the fish were often biting. But while he might not have learned all his school lessons, he was a great student of the forest and an expert in the ways of native wildlife. According to Henry’s sons, one summer he walked around with a posse of friends who followed him wherever he went. First in line was a duck, followed by a skunk and then a porcupine. Birds were so comfortable with Henry that they were known to alight on his fingers. He was also an expert hunter who frequently went on adventures with his friend, L.L. Bean. In fact, Henry and L.L. Bean are buried near each other in a cemetery a little over a mile from here.

Elaine Polakewich was an animal lover herself and would go for long walks in the woods with her dogs. In her later years, she went on yearly hunting trips with the Freeport fire chief. She was very comfortable in nature, but I bet she would have tried to entertain guests like you with some tall tales about how these woods are haunted and cursed and will one day turn to sand. The woods of the Desert were well-traveled by the families that came before us.