The Bovine Bugle

Extra farm hands volunteer for the weekend

We had some extra help over the weekend. Saturday, son Ben had his buddy Seth Erno over for the day to help us catch up on some chores. My sister, Patty, and her husband, Marty, arrived in the afternoon and stayed until early Sunday evening and they gave us a hand with some things, too. With my mom recovering well from her surgery and my dad spending time taking care of her, Karen, the boys, and I have more work to do around the farm. It's nice when an extra hand shows up. My brother-in-law, Marty, helped Ben and Seth put sawdust in half of the freestalls Saturday afternoon, and he helped me milk Saturday night and both milkings Sunday. He really impressed me Sunday morning, showing up at the barn at 5 a.m. just as I was starting to milk the cows. No one had been up that early in the morning to help me in quite a while! He really lifted my spirits, going out of his way to help me when he could have been snoozing in bed.

Marty's pitching in and helping me was a great of example of what happens on a family farm. When there is a special project going on here, or it’s a busy sugaring weekend, or its time to put in a couple thousand square bales of hay, or when some one is laid up or hurting, someone always shows up to give us a hand. And we always return the favor when we can. That's why small family farms built such strong communities and why the large factory farms are tearing apart this sense of community in towns all across this country.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

Posted by Blogger Chris at June 7, 2004 08:55 AM