Category: Agriculture

Webmaster’s note: The format of this column includes all of the Quill’s Endians participating at various times and in various ways! Phil writes this month’s column.

Gather, Laugh, Eat

Last week, we had a wonderful reminder of what a good snowfall can do. The browns and grays of late fall, along with the murky weather, gave way to a brilliant landscape of snow and sun. The reflected light, blindingly bright, brought with it cold weather that invigorates the body and mind.

It changes routines this new environment. The driveway, the paths, every coming and going must be cleared or recorded in a frozen memoir. The hose to water the livestock now receives more attention than any other time of year. Careful metering means running water that does not overflow the troughs. Careless metering means frozen lines or flooded places. The need to drive anywhere now has a time before takeoff component, to clear, to warm, and to scrape. Careless summertime steps now must shorten and become mindful of the ice beneath.

Bernd Heinrich, in A Year In The Maine Woods, reminds me that the coming of snow also shows the evidence of traffic. The pastures record but a fraction of the night traffic that occurs. The snow records it all. Walking the pigs’ fence line shows me who else I’m feeding when they dare venture into the open field, where they came from, and where they went. It truly is fascinating how populated everything is and how many wild things walk the same ground every day.

So, it is with sadness that I reminisce on the past week because today, the landscape has taken a 180-degree turn and pushed us back a couple of weeks. This current weather can only be helped by culinary delights. Beef stew, yup. Veal or beef short ribs…oh, my! Burritos with spice to warm from the inside out, please. Steak, home fries, and a beer? Tastes like summer. Tacos with salsa and Queso Fresco? I’m nearing the equator.

Late fall and winter give us that opportunity to draw closer to our loved ones. You can’t work outdoors as much, so gather, laugh, and eat.

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Heather and Phil Retberg and their three children run Quill’s End Farm, a 105-acre property in Penobscot that they bought in 2004. They use rotational grazing on their fifteen open acres and are renovating thirty more acres from woods to pasture to increase grazing for their pigs, grass-fed cattle, lambs, laying hens, and goats. Heather is Vice President of Halcyon Grange #345 and writes a newsletter for their farm’s buying club of farmers in her area and has generously permitted us to share some of their columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page for more information.

Webmaster’s note: The format of this column has changed a bit, with all of the Quill’s Endians participating at various times and in various ways! Phil writes this month’s column.

Generosity of Spirit

While Heather and I were in our food access talk at the MOFGA farmer-to-farmer conference, one of our fellow presenters uttered a phrase that I think is not often uttered.  They missed 2020.  Specifically, they missed the mutual aid and feelings of togetherness that the pandemic fostered. 

The statement has steeped for a week: they missed 2020.  It reminded me of the eight months that were March through November 2020.  You might recall that Quill’s End had some fortuitous “coincidences” that allowed us to step up our production and pivot quickly to meet a rapid increase in demand at the farm.  We had four heifers calve in early April, and our piglet producer had some hogs from the previous fall that we acquired that did not require six months to finish.  This allowed us to have a more stable and plentiful supply for community members who remembered we existed, and our farm store became a convenient way to shop in an era of extreme caution and increased attention to health.  

That was a transition year for the other farmer as well, as they decided to offer a vegetable CSA as a response to the pandemic.  Once the seeds were in the ground, they had someone volunteer to pay for two shares.  One for them, one to give away.  They publicized the free share and had five more donated.  The work then was to find the need.  There were more donors than willing recipients. 

Despite the tension, guarded nature, and anxiety that COVID-19 produced, it also engendered mutual aid and community care. Our farming colleague shared that they miss the concern, heightened awareness of others, and generosity that came with that shared experience.  Times of difficulty bring out the best in our humanity.  Times of fear bring us to our neighbors.  Times of visible need produce generosity.  

More “normal” times have mostly returned us to convenience, and now they must put in more time to raise money for the CSA shares that go to those in need or lose farm income to provide for the increasing needs themselves.  

At Quill’s End, we saw people in 2020 and 2021 that we don’t see at the farm anymore.  Farm shopping isn’t as convenient as town shopping.  Life has returned us to our busy selves, and somehow, without the six-foot distancing, we see each other and converse less.

The pandemic certainly was awful and has left an imprint on our society that will take time to overcome, but we can move forward still with the same concern for others, principles of mutual aid, and the generosity of spirit that came with it.  Isn’t it great that now we can do it with a hug?

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Heather and Phil Retberg and their three children run Quill’s End Farm, a 105-acre property in Penobscot that they bought in 2004. They use rotational grazing on their fifteen open acres and are renovating thirty more acres from woods to pasture to increase grazing for their pigs, grass-fed cattle, lambs, laying hens, and goats. Heather is Vice President of Halcyon Grange #345 and writes a newsletter for their farm’s buying club of farmers in her area and has generously permitted us to share some of their columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page for more information.