Gwyneth Harris & Neal McNaughten,
sons Cole (8, not pictured) and Grayson (6)
I met Gwyneth and Neal at their farm in Wolcott on a hot
summer day. Their farm is situated North of Route 15 on a dead-end dirt road in
Wolcott, with beautiful mountain views. Gwyneth and Neal and their two boys had
been looking for quite some time for land to buy to farm and build on. They
looked in Maine as well as Vermont and finally found this piece, moving here
three years ago. They have recently put it under conservation with the Vermont
Land Trust to protect it from development and keep it a working piece of land.
When they arrived the work was significant, the land had been neglected for
years. The barn was collapsed and only a partial foundation remained of what
was the house. The family currently lives in a foundation on that site, a walk
out basement with two large windows. It was pleasantly cool inside and Gwyneth
explained that eventually that would be come their cheese cellar and plant.
We headed out into the heat and first met the livestock,
they have Jersey and crossbred cows for milking and Percheron draft
horses that they use for working the land, using their tractor only when
necessary. As Gwyneth and I wandered through the animals’ fields they all came
up to say hello, obviously used to such human contact and recognizing Gwyneth.
She admitted to having a favorite, Tilly, a large tan Jersey cow who was very
happy to stand next to us and get a few scratches. From there we visited their growing fields.
The long rows had been worked this spring by the horses. The family planted peas,
tomatoes, garlic, peppers, carrots, potatoes, kale, and other miscellaneous
crops. Neal spoke of how well carrots grew in the soil, as if that’s what was
meant to grow there. For those of you who have ordered some of Cadence Farm’s
carrots I think you will agree, they are picture perfect, straight and smooth
and taste delicious (particularly delicious eaten raw on the drive home as I
often do!)
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| Cows grazing on pasture |
As we walked to the barn I stopped to snap
a picture and Neal chuckled; the roof of the barn is covered with a variety of
colored metal siding. One might think it odd, but I found it quite beautiful
and as he pointed out “you can’t just build something with that type of
patina.” The metal had been purchased as scrap from Poulin’s Lumber in Hardwick
and Cadence Farm made good use of it The same can be said about their chicken
tractor, made from one of those pop-up garages you often see, and salvaged
blowing across the neighbor’s field one winter’s day. (A chicken tractor is not
really a tractor, but it is a shelter for the chickens that is built on wheels
so that the chickens can move around, still coming back to roost at night.)
Grayson, 6, informed me that we like the chickens because “they eat the cows
poop.” While it may seem like they eat the manure, they are actually eating the
flies that are attracted by the manure or bugs that are living in the older
“cow pies.” This is often seen on diversified farms, where animals living
together compliment each other. The
chickens, and their tractor, follow the cows from field to field. It doesn’t
take long for chicken to figure out that there are bugs living in the older cow
pies, and even less time for the chicken to scratch the dried cow pie apart,
eating the bugs and breaking down the waste to be absorbed by the land.
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| A colorful bar roof, rows of veggies and hay covered up from the rain |
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| Mountain views from Cadence Farm. Chicken tractor on the left |
Next we checked out this years garlic
harvest. These tall long stalks were in baskets and wheelbarrows in the barn,
ready to dry out for the fall. Gwyneth planted many varieties but the labels
faded in the field, so we had some fun picking up bulbs and trying to guess
what variety each was.
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| Garlic harvest |
A lot of our time was spent discussing
what we had in common. Neal spoke fondly of parts of Maine I had never been to,
despite being born and raised in the state and Gwyneth explained her connection
to Sterling College, where we had first met. Years ago she worked there as the
Farm Manager, on their working, educational, diversified farm. Now Gwyneth works
as part-time faculty in their Sustainable Agriculture program.
I left as the mid afternoon heat was
setting in, Grayson was playing with the water hose after collecting many
“treats” in the field and barn as we walked. Gwyneth decided that dinner would
include some garlic, as she and Grayson had peeled several heads.
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| Grayson finding ripe tomatoes |
Questions for Cadence Farm...
What are the challenges, and rewards, of this farming lifestyle?
Particularly of raising a family at the same time?
Being able to fit everything in! We believe strongly
that a farm is a great place for a kid to grow up, because of all the lessons
they learn, and all the time outside. However, some of those lessons are
hard for a young kid--like that we have to get through chores each morning
before we can do anything else. They are starting to get the hang of it,
though, and will really pitch in to get things done on a good
morning--especially if there's something fun to do after chores!
Where do you see the farm in 5 years?
In
five years we hope to be set up and producing cheeses, milking around 6-12
cows, and have narrowed down the crops we produce to those that fit well with
our site and the rhythm of our year. As we see it now, there will be
pork, chicken, garlic, potatoes, and some other root crops.
Why did you choose this area of Vermont?
It
was really a coincidence--We looked for land for five years before finding this
piece that was the right size, the right soils, and something we could actually
afford. Gwyneth's family is from Vermont, and she had worked at Sterling
College and in other parts of Northern Vermont many years ago, and knew it
would be a good fit for them. We looked at land that fit our criteria in
Northern and Central Vermont and Central Maine. We knew we wanted enough
land for grazing and hay, some woods, and to be in a place that would give us reasonable
access to markets, and a community we could become involved with--preferably
where we had some existing connections.
If you were not farming, what would you be doing?
Sleeping!
No, really, we'd always have animals and gardens. I've always
worked in agricultural outreach and education and Neal has always been a
carpenter. I think the only thing that would change is the scale!
