Life at the Farm
May 28, 2020 | Caring for the Land | Community Impact, Land Stewardship, Programming
The other day I stood outside the Aldermere Farm office with a 42-pound box of beef for the food pantry. When the pantry volunteer arrived, masked and prepared, grateful tears filled his eyes. He said to me, “The need is so great right now…” I watched him drive off, and wondered, as so many of us are, am I doing enough?
As stewards of this farm, we are still in raw, survival mode. Those of us who live on the farm continue to care for the animals and the land while the rest of our Maine Coast Heritage Trust colleagues work from their respective homes. Programs like Farm Hands and 4-H are cancelled or on hold.
So much is different, and yet so much is the same.
My job is to work with the land and with living beings that don’t know anything about Covid-19. We’ve just made it through calving season at Aldermere Farm. Day after day, another Beltie arrived, and the miracle of birth continued. We are working within an ecosystem that doesn’t care for peripheral protocols.
Most mornings when I make my way down to the barnyard before dawn a calm stillness comes over me. There’s faint movement, yet it’s hushed. This silence allows me, for a moment, to just be.
Maybe some of you are finding that on a mountain top, or after a solo run that pushed you past your limits. I hope you are. I hope this mandated distancing helps us realize that we have what we need to survive right here in our community. I hope it teaches us to live in the moment and act accordingly.
Normally, we invite the public into the barnyards for our annual Calf Unveiling Day event. That wasn’t possible this year, and at this point the barnyard and offices are still closed. We did, however, create a video tour of Aldermere Farm Preserve! Visit the farm with Heidi and meet some of 2020’s baby Belties.
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