Lester. Yes google maps has very poor rural imagery depending on the location. It's just like you say, a patchwork of images. Sometimes they have some without recent update so the fill the gap with an older image which may be from winter. Most of the google images are not very recent though,some are several years old.
There isn't really a better source for aerials on your desktop computer than google. However if you have an iPhone the Navigator Pro by Tremble Outdoors is an outstanding app. Is has some more recent aerial photos, topo maps, street maps, or hybrid. It's $9.99 but its the best 10 bucks I've spent since I got a smartphone. Some of the aerial photos are the same as google bit the big difference is you can zoom way in with good resolution.