Random Acts of Kindness – Vermont Style

Well, the Holidays have come and gone, and we had a FANTASTIC holiday season here at the Farm. Kate was here for two weeks, from before Christmas to after New Years.  Her fiancé Colin joined us for about five days.  We skied. We hiked. We played Catan. Busy times that left little time for posting.

But one thing struck both Peg and me over the past couple weeks. We are blessed to have friends and strangers who provide help and advice – even if we don’t know we need it.

Example 1: Mary Ellen. She and her husband Jack are fellow Vermont sheep farmers.  Back in August, we purchased Levi and Schuyler from them to keep Calvin company. Turns out she’s been following our blog and noticed a few things from some of the photos. About a month ago, she called with two thoughts concerning how we were feeding hay to the flock.

1) Make the sheep work harder to get the hay.  Mary Ellen saw a photo of the hay feeders we installed on the inside barn walls. Too much of the hay was falling down to the ground. If we could make the openings in the hay feeder smaller, we’d see less waste.

2) Don’t feed the sheep in the barn. Peg was concerned about all the sheep p@#p that was accumulating in the barn. Mary Ellen suggested using the barn only for shelter – if they don’t eat hay in the barn they won’t spend nearly as much time there.

I need to point out that Mary Ellen couldn’t have been nicer in the way she shared her thoughts. She didn’t want to butt in or be a know-it-all, but really was just offering advice based on her experiences.

Peg and I discussed Mary Ellen’s suggestions and agreed they made a lot of sense.  I had previously built two free-standing hay feeders that sat in the fields.  They only had vertical slats holding the hay in, spaced every 4 inches or so. I cut up some more 1x2s, went out in the fields with my cordless drill and deck screws, and installed horizontal slats in the feeders. That was pretty easy. But what to do about the hay feeders in the barn?

After looking at various designs on the internet, I came up with a plan.  Off to Home Depot for 1x3s, 1x2s, plywood, 1/4 inch metal rods, and braces.  Built the feeder for the girls myself, and Kate helped me mount it. Being just below the window on the outside wall of the barn lets the window act as a roof for the feeder when the window is open. Colin helped me build the boys’ feeder (much quicker and better with two) and Kate also helped me mount that (in the BITTER COLD).

Now, the only things in the barn for the sheep are the heated water buckets (we couldn’t bring ourselves to take those outside) and shelter from the elements. We think we’re wasting less hay AND the barn isn’t getting mucked up as much as before.  Thanks, Mary Ellen!

Example 2: Dan. Colin drove up from Long Island in a pretty big storm. He said it turned from rain to snow at the Vermont state line. Around 5:30 in the afternoon, he called from his mobile – he was at the bottom of the hill, stuck. (Jericho Road leaves VT 14 at the White River and goes UP for 2.6 miles to Savage Hart Farm – and the steepest part of the hill is right at the bottom.)

Kate and I got out some ropes and hopped into Moby.  Threw the big white whale into 4-wheel drive and started heading down the hill. Our thinking was we’d pull him out and find some place for him to park his car in Hartford for the night. We got about two-thirds the way down the hill to find Colin’s car on the road – not stuck – behind a white Suburban pointing up the hill.  We got out and met Dan, who lives just a little below us on Jericho Road. Turns out he came along while Colin was stuck and pulled him out using a tow strap he had.

I asked Dan if he thought I could take it from there. “Do you have a tow strap?” he asked me. Um no.  “Well, it’s probably best if I just take him up.” So Kate and I jumped back into Moby, turned ourselves uphill, and followed Dan (with Colin about twenty feet behind him at the end of the strap), back up the hill and up the driveway. I don’t know how long he had been towing Colin before we got to them, but I figure he took about an hour at the end of his day to help out a complete stranger.

A few days later, Kate and Peg delivered a King Arthur Flour panettone to Dan as a token of our appreciation. Kate was going to make a batch of her great chocolate chip cookies, but friends Karen and David had given us TWO panettones in thanks for hosting a sledding party, so we decided to regift one.  Sorry, K&D.  Thanks, Dan!

Example 3: Marty. There is a small shed on the west side of the farm on Jericho Street. It is too far from the house to be of much use to us, so we lease it to Marty (who has nine tractors) to store some of his equipment. His lease payment – he plows the driveway (which I figure to be about 300 yards). This is a good deal for both parties.

Marty plows over twenty properties in the area. When we had about two feet of snow over three days, we saw his plow plenty. Plus, if the wind is blowing hard, the snow will drift back into the driveway. Marty keeps an eye on things and brings the plow back to take out the drifts.

The main gate to the barnyard is at the top of the hill where the driveway turns toward the house. After the first big snows, we realized we should take shovels out with the grain and water to cut a path for the cart through the snow bank created by Marty’s plow. Marty must have seen the path we made, because one morning we came out after he had plowed and we found he had made a “path” with the plow right in front of the gate. Our shoveling duties became much smaller.

Last night, temperatures rose and we got some freezing rain.  This morning, I had to put the Yaktrax that I’d gotten in my Christmas stocking on my boots to walk down for the morning paper and yesterday’s mail. It was SLIPPERY!

About an hour later, we hear some loud machinery noises outside. When I get to the window, I see a large flat bed truck with a big box of sand on the bed turning around and heading back down the hill. Marty was spreading sand on the driveway.  Wow! Thanks, Marty!

Todd

END NOTE – Moby now has a tow strap stowed behind the seat…

P.S. – Check out Louise in her new coat!

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2 Comments

  1. Lois milburn on January 6, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    Love ready of all the work outside. It’s 3degrees here, and I’m happily sitting inside playing with my new iPad …. Think I’ll stay here all day ! L

  2. Susie on January 15, 2016 at 7:28 pm

    Thanks for the great ideas for hay feeders! We have Katahdin & Dorpor sheep and we’re searching for pictures of hay feeders when we came across yours via Google images

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