A Wednesday in July, Freeport town landing. So bright you can barely keep your eyes open. The parking lot buzzes with trucks and hatchbacks as island-goers wait for rides, fishermen and oyster farmers set out for the day, a family dressed in matching lobster sweaters poses for a portrait, seagulls watch over us all.
Engines to skiffs and tenders hum to life, coming and going.
Down on the dock with a camera in hand, I wait for the Little Busters crew: aka ‘2 girls, small skiff, 3 coolers!’ per farm manager Caitlin Hopkins description. A few wakes later, the nose of a small skiff emerges weaving its way through the mooring field. Caitlin and Nicole (2 girls) sidle up to the landing as expected, in their small skiff (1 small skiff), with three oyster-heavy coolers (…3 coolers) puzzled tightly together.
They drop off their gear and Nicole runs to grab the truck while Caitlin swings the boat around below the pier to access the lift. The lift at the landing will allow them to hoist up their coolers & drop them straight in the truck bed rather than lugging them up the tide-steep ramp.
At a couple thousand, today is a heavier harvest day for the farm, a boutique-sized farm founded by current owner Greg Foote and a business partner in 2016. He reflects on growing oysters as both ‘fun & rewarding,’ especially watching the influence of farming decisions and environmental changes on the oysters—and the farm—as they grow. "We can taste the difference between oysters harvested on an outgoing versus incoming tide. That’s incredible, right?" Yes, it is. I chat to Greg on the road to pick up seed, which will go in the water as soon as its in the farm’s hands.
Back at the landing, Nicole operates the lift, sending the hook down to Caitlin who attaches the coolers and sends them up top. We chat as the cooler filled with oysters comes into view then we gently detach the hook sliding it into the covered truck bed. We’re sweating in the high summer heat; meanwhile today’s harvest chills on thick beds of ice in the insulated coolers.
Nicole and Caitlin are used to this choreography. As the two primary farmers, they’re used to each other’s company out on the farm site & to the shifting daily demands of their oysters. Which means what exactly, for Little Busters? Ok. Little Busters are a ‘boutique line of oysters’ grown in the cold waters of northern Casco Bay (near Freeport, relatively speaking). Named like a diminutive for the two nearby islands—Bustin’s and Little Bustin’s—the oysters have a noticeably smooth shell and ladle-shaped cup (when all goes to plan, according to Greg).* A thin brush of surface algae gives them a glowy, caramel tone. Nursery tactics, tumbling trials, and a surface grow-out set up help the crew cultivate these sought-after characteristics. Still, every year is a little different, which is cool, according to the crew. That variability is natural, emphasizing how oysters can act as a mirror to/from their environment. Greg points to the familiar connection with wine, too, in that annual variability is anticipated, even celebrated, every year is a little different, he says. Actually, so is every season. Like this one ie July:
Glidden: Can you talk a little bit about what the farm looks like in July? Can you describe the flavor profile and the appearance of a little buster in the summer?
Greg: So July on the water is all about getting the best quality market oysters off the farm…Typically we don’t do a lot with the seed in July, we’re just totally focused on moving through our 3rd year product for market, getting that sorted and organized on the farm…
Glidden: And how would you describe the flavor? Give us a portrait of Little Busters in July.
Greg: Yeah, Little Busters in July should be brimming with meat. [They] should be nice and full because there’s a lot of food in the water. The flavor profile is going to be briny with a creamy almost buttery finish.
Glidden: I might have one today when I get into work.
Greg: Well, let me know if I hit the nail on the head.
Back on the pier, Caitlin and Nicole pose for a photo (per my request) with the fully-loaded truck before we head out to meet Parker, Glidden Point’s driver, at the Sea Meadow Marine Foundation to offload today’s harvest. Typically, Thursdays & Fridays are for husbandry etc., from seed work to sorting to submerging oysters pre-harvest. After three years farming oysters, Caitlin is hooked on the magic & the mystery & all the other elements of growing these animals in their natural environment. Nicole, who also runs a kelp nursery and works with various other aquaculture projects, seems equally enamored. Neither shy away from the work; scratches on their hands & mud on their boots.
As the drop-off begins, the oysters glisten in biodegradable bags as Caitlin and Nicole hand them to Parker, not a blip in the ‘cold chain’ they travel through. We step into the cooperative’s walk-in cooler to deal with some tags before parting ways. Today, Nicole is off to tend to other projects while Caitlin drives the rest of the order down to buyers in Portland.
Caitlin picks up her pace as the midday heat intensifies, the oysters’ temperature her primary concern. We part ways, Little Busters little travelers on their harvest and distribution day, perhaps on their way to you.
*A note on naming oysters: ‘Little Busters’ came to Greg and his founding partner Luke while they were out on the water—looking at the surrounding islands—bagging oysters they were ‘finally excited about,’ per Greg. So the name emerged organically. They also liked that its approachable, playful, a name someone might be drawn to while sitting at a raw bar in front of a map of the Maine coast dotted with names. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are no hard and fast rules for how to name your oyster farm, nor each variety. Place is a common theme. Not just place like ‘ocean’ but place like ‘this one very narrow channel between a ledge and a special cove.’ I don’t have the statistics, but I would estimate ‘love’ broadly speaking would take second place for common themes in naming. Think Aphrodite, Beso del Mar, Love Point (!). If you had the opportunity to name an oyster (or a farm), what would you cook up?
