By Heather Retberg, Quills End Farm
The Small Joys
Sometimes, it is necessary to notice the small joys that await while working. That is difficult for those of us who only possess two speeds, full-tilt and stop. It is also difficult when work is constant, because another task always awaits, often an urgent one.
Farming isn’t always joy filled; sometimes, I have to confess, my passion does feel rather like work. This morning, while I milked the cows and after I had finished with Merry, she turned to leave the parlor and stopped to lick my forearm, so I took a second. She is a lover, and she’d be okay to just sit and kiss and hug, so we did for a second.
After milking and before the rain started in earnest, I needed to take a round bale of hay down to the hogs. The last big rain made their paddock soggy where they had rooted up the ground. The round bale covers the scar, seeds the soil, and entertains the hogs for a bit. It is also really entertaining to watch happy hogs.
At the first sight of the tractor and the 4 foot by 4 foot round bale, they followed to where I placed it in the paddock. They lined up and started nosing it instantly, and only moved out of the way as I rolled it slowly and left a swath of hay behind me. Then came sheer joy as they cavorted and galloped and rolled and smelled and ate and collapsed on the fresh carpet of hay. It was so like hearing the uncontrolled laughter of a toddler…pure, unbridled joy. As the rain poured down this afternoon, I wasn’t just glad of the moments of pleasure I’d been lucky to provide and witness. I was also glad that their shelter has a deep layer of hay in it, and that despite the elements, they were snoozing away the day in comfort.
Editor’s note: Phil continues to write “View from the Farm” while Heather recovers from her surgery. Send her a card/note at Quill’s End Farm, 192 Front Ridge Road, North Penobscot ME 04476
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 given us permission to share some of her columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page for more information.