I come from a family of 10. Born and raised on a sustainable farm not too far from where I currently live in Turner. Teamwork was essential and understood from the day you were able to help in the gardens, household tasks, or farm duties.
The reward was not of monetary value, but rather that of play time, rest, and relaxation, doing whatever we chose to do. We built tree houses, forts, snow tunnels, went fishing, swimming, exploring, etc…..
When I left home, it was one of the values that I took with me and taught to my kids. Trust me, they, like myself at the time, didn’t always understand and or appreciate the tasks at hand. I hope that, as young adults, they too will bring this skill wherever they may end up.
Outside of my Wednesday through Sunday duties in the store, my days off consist of catching up on farm tasks, checking on the bees at our sister farm, spending time with Minerva (my guard dog at the North Farm), harvesting, planting, cleaning, and always planning. My days off give me the quiet time away from people that I need in order to get my thoughts together and to stay grounded in what I am doing and care about.
Lately, those thoughts have been about how to prevent Nezinscot from becoming a statistic. Turner used to have over 30 family dairy farms; today, there are three left. The latest statistic from Maine is that there are 300 dairies left in the state, down by more than 50% from not too long ago.
What is the solution?
With my daughter Mackenzie back working the business alongside me, we conitnue to strategize on one of many ideas. One that I will share with you this week, with more to follow. Rather than the idea of a CSA (community supported agriculture), we thought it would be interesting to look at the idea of a CAA (community assisted agriculture). It is important to us to encourage others to understand where their food comes from and to know who their farmer is, and our farm’s existence goes above and beyond doing that by offering tours during certain events, classes, and workshops, and having the farm open and available for all to walk around. However, at the end of the day, there are still lots of chores to do and fewer hands.
What does this mean, and how do we implement this idea, you ask? What it means, is we want teamwork from our customers so that at the end of the day we can all sit and relax knowing that the weeds haven’t taken over the carrot row, that the barn aisle got swept, produce picked before it rots on the vine, the chicks beds are dry and that the cows got milked; all in a timely fashion so that we can all go play before the sun goes down.
This concept is not new to me, but it is to so many of you who have not grown up on a farm, whether it be animal or vegetable. Trust me when I say, it will be the best thing you can do for yourselves and or family to spend a few committed hours weekly helping your neighbor farmers with tasks. Your reward will not be monetary, but rather in the form of food, along with the cheapest form of therapy you could ask for.
Feel free to reach out to us if you are interested in this concept.
I like to end my blogs with a story that seems fitting to the message I am conveying. I hope you enjoy it.
This story is about a young man who has worked for me all summer. I will call him Joe, and one of our dearest customers, I will call him Pete.
A little about Joe. A 16-year-old boy, very dedicated worker, and likes to get things done in a timely fashion, ending his day in Roy’s “gains” room; he wants to be the best athlete that he can be.
A little about Pete. A retired veteran who stops in daily for his dose of coffee, a cookie, a treat for his companion dog, and good conversation with me and staff before heading off on his errands, whatever they may be.
Last week, Pete stopped in for chicken eggs and found none in the cooler shelf. Duck eggs were not an option, and he asked when there might be some available. Being one of our most valued customers, I gave him an egg carton and suggested he go across the road, peek his head into the door where Joe was working, and kindly ask him to go get him some eggs.
Joe was nowhere to be found, so he returned with an empty carton in hand. I then directed him to the further end of the barn where Joe was probably getting sawdust; he would be driving a gator. Halfway there, I see Joe cruising around the corner and stops to see what Pete wanted. I see hand motions, Pete gets into the gator, and they disappear into the barnyard. Two minutes later, Joe returns with the gator, no Pete in sight, and continues with his task of bedding the chicks across the road.
Fifteen minutes pass before Pete returns with his carton of fresh eggs and a rendition of what transpired in the gator.
Joe only had a little bit of time left, so he dropped Pete off in front of the henhouse with clear instructions on how to pick eggs.
“There is an empty Gatorade bottle inside the door. Be sure to smack the side of the nest boxes with it before you try and pick eggs under the chicken. This will startle them enough so that they won’t bite you when you go to get the eggs away from them.”
No matter how long the days are, these experiences and stories are what make us get up every day to do it all again.
Thank you, Pete and Joe