Last April when it was finally warm enough, I went out to do a little work in the yard. It must have been close to 60 degrees, the grass was really greening up and the crocuses were showing off their pretty yellow and violet dresses. But when I looked down across the meadow what I saw didn't make sense. Snow? What was SNOW doing in the woods at that time of year??
When I finally figured out what I was seeing (a lot more "snow" than my photo shows) I could hardly believe it. I live at the top of a hill half a mile up from Route #44. How could that snow be those huge white buildings far across the valley at the bottom of Canaan Mountain? But that's exactly what I was seeing.
Those buildings belong to the
Jacquiers who own Laurelbrook
Farm. Bob and Dot were the first
people we met when we moved
to East Canaan almost fifty years
ago. They'd owned our farm and
had sold it to a sea captain from
Brooklyn who'd let it go to rack
and ruin. Bob and Dot were de-
lighted that someone was appar-
ently willing to put Locust Hill back
in shape.
They took us under their wing, explaining all the ins and outs of our little farmhouse, the plumbing and the pump, the electric lines, the outbuildings. They took the time to help repair pasture fences, brought us piles of fresh vegetables from their garden, insisted we come down for meals, introduced us to all the locals. What incredible neighbors!
Back then Laurelbrook Farm had just 40 milk cows, all milked by hand. Today it has 800 cows milked by machines three times a day. The farm, now run by 3 generations of Jacquiers, stretches its acres between Route #44 and Canaan Mountain in East Canaan - immaculate rows of cow corn, neat little calf hutches for newborns, tidy dirt roads leading from one big barn to the next. Such a model farm, it's not surprising they've won the "Farm of Distinction" award given by the state every year for I don't know how long.
Hank and I didn't realize how lucky it was that Locust Hill was in Canaan. From Sharon to Norfolk, the surrounding towns have all lost their farms, but our town still has 7 viable dairy farms, Laurelbrook the biggest. The Jacquiers produce 2500 acres of corn, alfalfa, grass and soybeans to feed their herd. Drive almost anywhere in our area and your eyes will rest on green fields, red barns, black and white cows.
To survive as a dairy farm in today's world, one must constantly grow, renovate, experiment. New laws limiting the use of manure are a constant problem. And that is why those four giant white buildings appeared last year on Laurelbrook Farm. The buildings provide approximately 75,000 square feet of storage space. Manure is brought to the sheds in trailer trucks and laid out in windrows. The windrows are turned with a huge machine that trundles down each windrow, spinning the manure . This is done every three or four days to maintain optimal temperatures of 130 to 160 degrees, which kills all the weed seed.
When the composting process is complete in eight or ten weeks, the end products, which include topsoil, garden mix, compost and mulch, are assembled. Subsoil, sand and 20% pure compost are added to the topsoil mix, woodchips are added to the mulch, and 30 or 40% compost is added to the garden mix. Then each product is passed through half-inch screening, eliminating sticks, rocks, old medicine bottles, etc. These beautiful weed-free products are for sale in bulk for delivery or pick up.
So next time you're stuck behind a giant tractor or a manure truck on Route #44, relax and enjoy the sight of a beautiful piece of rural America instead of getting impatient.
