In 1924, when Kosti Ruohomaa was a child, his family moved to Dodge Mountain in Rockland, Maine, where they’d purchased a hillside farm.

“Placed just below the mountain crest, the original granite foundation of the Dodge homestead was situated upon 241 acres of spring-fed hillside land facing east, toward the splendor of Penobscot Bay, providing a spectacular view from the dooryard… Witnessing the views, the labors of farm life, and the seasonal weather patterns from dawn into night, this site of his youth became a place from which Kosti Ruohomaa could never fully depart, and would play a strong role in his mature photographic imagery. More than mere records, his views dramatically portray the seasonal work that takes place in the blueberry fields, the haying, burning, and harvest.” (excerpted from The Photographer Poet by Deanna Bonner-Ganter, 2016)

A section of the Ruohomaa farm was planted in low-bush blueberries. Ripening in July, the berries were raked, winnowed, and packed by hand. Every other year the blueberry fields were burned to suppress weeds and enrich the soil, much as was done hundreds of years earlier by the Wabanaki.

Click the image above to browse the photographs.