It's a small farm, but still we had a traffic jam
We were running low on sawdust for bedding, so I had called my supplier, across the border in Quebec, to order a load. He called this morning to say they would be here in about an hour to deliver the load. That gave me just enough time to clean out the bays and repair the back walls before the load got here. I ordered their larger load size, hoping that it will carry us through a good part of the winter. I want to avoid buying the bagged sawdust if possible because it is so expensive.
Pelletier's arrived with the tractor trailer load of sawdust and had unloaded about half of it when the milk truck pulled in to pick up the milk. The milk truck driver had just enough room to get his rig backed up to the barn. While he drained the bulk tank of its 3500 pounds of milk, the sawdust truck finished unloading and headed down the road. I joked to the milkman that it was too bad the grain truck, which was due at the farm sometime today, hadn't shown up at the same time as the other two trucks making stops at the farm.
It took me about half an hour to push what sawdust I could into the two bays of the shed, and later that afternoon I loaded the dump trailer four times and brought that sawdust around to the end of the freestall barn to put it under cover. With rain expected tonight, I wanted it all taken care of.
--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Posted by Blogger Chris at September 26, 2005 03:33 PM
To Jonathan & Family,
Its really great to be reading your blog every few days. I plan to own a farm in the next 2years or so, so its great to get an insight into what life is like on a real farm.
I've spent quite a bit of time searching for blogs on organic farms but the search threw only a few....and the most readeable being your blog :-). Can you recommend some more organic farm blogs that you know are as readeable as yours?
Thanks and wishing you many more bountiful harvests,
Pauline.
Dear Jonathan,
Your contributions to the environment, community,and to your family is a continuing inspiration to me.
Here in Southern California, the weather is does not present as many challenges in growing healthy plants. My company, GardensByDesign, is new (2½ years old) and is dedicated to creating landscapes and gardens using only organic mehtods. No pesticides ever. It seems that I really have no real competition and have been busy from the time that I handed out my first business card. Like you, the biggest challenge is getting the information to the community about:water conservation thru choosing healthy plants suitable for the climate zone and healthy soil thru sustainable methods.
I love what I do. You and your family are a continuing inspiration. Thank you.
Elaine Wilson
GardensByDesign with GardensToGo
Jonathan Gates reports from Howmars Farm in Franklin, Vermont.