The News from Lewis Waite Farm

This spring is finally feeling as though it is here to stay. The winter in shirtsleeves in January, frozen solid in February and snowing through April now has us going from hats and jackets to bare feet and sweatshirts. Our spring farm projects have begun with the spring fencing repair. Without reason for the cows and pigs to wander too far from their hay in the winter, the trees and branches that fall on the fences are not as much of an issue. It is also hard in the deeper snow to follow all the fence lines to see the damage or reposition fence posts in the frozen ground. The new spring grasses entice the cows farther afield and across downed fences. We are cutting brush away from all the fences (miles of them!) and spending lots of time and extra effort since we have no desire to take the easy way out and spray herbicide along the hedge rows. We are pounding in some new fence posts as some of the posts are over 40 years old – good old black locust posts! We are using our new 4-wheeler to carry the fencing equipment more easily around the pastures and hayfields. We can also attach a seed spreader to this little machine to spread pasture grasses in the fields that this winter and spring were very muddy and trampled by hundreds of cows feet eating hay. We disc these fields and then seed to ensure the seeds come in contact with the soil to sprout. Red and white clovers, trefoils, ryegrasses, orchardgrasses, bromegrasses and alfalfa are some of the varieties easily available as seed. Harder to obtain are the natural and native forages like plantains, other herbs and the myriad of short grass and tall grass prairie type seeds

We have also started planting the garden which feeds us most of the year. We are still eating our potatoes and turnips from the root cellar but we are longing for greens and fresher fare. We are eating our spring scallion onions; the garlic is sprouting; and the spinach is almost ready for picking. We are planting Swiss chard, carrots, beets, lettuces, onion sets and seeds this week and have broccoli, cabbage and arugula seedlings in the greenhouse. The raspberries and grapes were pruned in the winter and the giant blackberry bush is still to be pruned. Bright red rhubarb sprouts are popping out of the earth and no sign yet of the asparagus tips. The old hay bales are all staged in the garden to mulch between the rows after the seeds are planted. We use about 50 bales per year to prevent weeds from growing between the rows, preserve moisture in the soil, and provide to the soil bugs, worms, bacteria and myriad of soil life all of this material for their meals. In one year, a flake of hay about 3 inches thick simply melts into the garden. There is never any need to till, dig, or turn over the soil using this method. I push aside the hay, hoe the row, plant the seed and place the fine remnants of last year’s hay lightly over the seeds to help conserve moisture while they are sprouting.

We have excavated the area for our new freezer and order packing barn and are planning the building layout and the preparation of the slab pour. Alan is the general contractor and builder with Colin and we are hoping to find some part time carpenters to help get the shell done quickly.

We have gotten two sets of weanlings piglets recently from a farm in Easton near Willard Mountain (we can see the mountain from the farm). One group has been mixed with the older group of pigs and are wandering the pasture area each day in search of grubs, minerals, grass, sprouts and who knows what. The 10 newest little ones are still in their stall in the barn getting used to the new sounds, new feed, me, the new schedule of their life and their neighbors, the older pigs they meet through the fence slats, the dogs, the roosters, and the cats who patrol the barn. They’ll be out soon.

In our evenings we have been attending the local agricultural land trust, ASA’s annual dinner (Nancy is on the board) where we heard our new representative Kirsten Gillibrand speak on the issues challenging the farmers of our area, as Washington County has an abundance of dairy farms. The dairy farms are increasingly under financial pressures as the price of fuels, feeds and labor rise with no rise in the price of the milk they produce. They are some of the farmers who have no say in the price they receive for their product regardless of their expenses – the milk processors determine the price per hundred weigh of milk they are paid. This price has not increased in years. Kirsten was appointed to the Agricultural committee of Congress so hopefully some help will come. There has been a great deal more money appropriated this year for purchasing development rights from farms and ranches so ASA is encouraged in their goal of protecting farmland for farming. Alan has also been on a preservation committee for the covered bridges in our county. There are three covered bridges in Jackson alone along the Battenkill River (of trout fishing fame). Two are being restored for modern use and one is a museum. On August 4 there will be a covered bridge ceremony celebration for the completion of these two projects and the re-opening of the bridges. We are also planning for a farm tour in conjunction with the annual Al Fresco dinner celebration in Salem. This dinner serves over 400 people using all local ingredients sourced from an average of 12 miles (not counting the Italian olive oil – which makes it 125 miles) from the historic Courthouse for which the event raises funds. The last weekend of July is when this event takes place. So take a weekend up in the country this summer and visit our farm and the others that are coordinating to bring your our farm goodness.

Take care, Nancy and Alan Brown

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Argyllshire Lamb May Newsletter

This is the time of year when the farmers SPRING to action. Anyone who has spent time at a farm during this season knows this is how the name originated.

The first calls of the Spring Peeper frogs act as the bell at the beginning of a race to regional farmers. These simple creatures are excellent weather forecasters. They are more accurate than the most experienced meteorologist and their expensive equipment...

The restful appearance of a field of hay in no way indicates the prolonged effort and high investment involved to create that picture. Although there can be variations to the system the normal process is to plow the ground. This turns over the soil. It breaks the root system for weeds and other plants that are growing to give the soon to be planted seed the best change to germinate and grow. It also exposed the rocks that lie buried beneath the surface which must be dealt with later.

The second step to the seeding down process is to disc the ground. This cuts the turned rolls of soil and unwanted plants into smaller pieces and starts the process of leveling the land again. (There is little difference between driving a vehicle over a pot hole filled or debris covered road and driving a tractor over a rough field.)

The field usually needs a second trip with the disc to cut the sod into small enough pieces that they don’t plug the drags. The third time drags are then used to further level the field and to bring the exposed rocks to the surface for more ease in removing them.

The fourth trip over the field is to get those offending rocks off the field. Often this is accomplished with a bucket tractor and one or more farmers walking over the field manually picking up the rocks and dropping them into the bucket to be moved.

It would seem reasonable that after many years of this process all of the rocks would eventually be gone from the fields. However there are rocks to pick when a field is plowed. As if the soil is growing them but, frost heaves the buried rocks to the surface.

The field must be dragged one more times to fill in holes left by removing the rocks and the tractor tires of the bucket tractor. The fifth time on the field is time to actually plant the seed. A roller is needed to cover the seed and to get the most level surface possible.

The above process allows one of the lengthy items to be crossed of the long list of spring projects. There are still fences to build and repair, accumulated manure to deal with, hay to bale which is another whole lengthy process PLUS the regular work load.

Mother Nature waits for no one. Before we are ready those Spring Peeper Frogs will silent, in hibernation waiting to usher in another spring into action for the farmers.

.Live well. Laugh often. Love much Barbara