(July 5, 2014) by Laura Parker Roerden It was a dark and stormy night. . .and we were celebrating the 4th of July and our dear friend Janice Kimball’s birthday at the farm with the Yankee Independence Day tradition of salmon and peas, a gaggle of children, board games, and soggy fireworks and poppers. We tookContinue reading “A Stitch in Time”
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Farm Kids
by Laura Parker Roerden Growing up, I knew exactly one other dairy farmer in town who had a daughter my age. The other family I knew with a daughter a year younger had moved away to upstate New York before we were teens. Her father had been able to trade his 100 acre farm in Massachusetts forContinue reading “Farm Kids”
Among Large Animals
For My Big Brother David by Laura Parker Roerden (May 9, 2014) This morning I got a call from our most patient of neighbors. It was a familiar refrain: “Your cows are out,” she simply said. Before I could get off the phone this particular neighbor’s husband was already half way up the street toContinue reading “Among Large Animals”
Carrying the Water
(April 14, 2014) by Laura Parker Roerden I spent a fair amount of time in farmhouse kitchens growing up. My dad and uncle would often lend a hand to other farmers and they in turn would reciprocate here. There were the trips to help out old Miss Green and her daughter Miss Green, farmers inContinue reading “Carrying the Water”
Awaiting Lambs
by Laura Parker Roerden (September 24, 2015) Fall 2014 the young people (ages 8-15) of our Farm Camp raised enough money at our annual Farm Camp Friendraiser to purchase two lambs to begin a fiber arts project. The idea of raising wool at Jo-Erl Farm is a symbolic nod to our beloved Blackstone Valley’s storied pastContinue reading “Awaiting Lambs”
Peafowl: Reflections on Love, Rain and Separation
by Laura Parker Roerden Someone recently asked me over a glass of wine in a busy bar why I had gotten peafowl. I fumbled to answer, as the response was not neat or tidy. It was all somehow entangled with grief, a long drought, and my place in a decisive turn of the wheel of time. AsContinue reading “Peafowl: Reflections on Love, Rain and Separation”
A Grateful Heart(h)
Reflections on a Farm Thanksgiving by Laura Parker Roerden A few things we are grateful for: The long shadows of late fall, which ask us to look at things differently. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We sometimes come home to find handmade gifts from customers—from Richard McCaffrey’s delicious cookies, to home dried sea salt, to preserves and the apron Brenda Marshall made forContinue reading “A Grateful Heart(h)”
Everywhere That Mary Went. . .
by Laura Parker Roerden When we first brought our lambs home, our plan was to pasture them with the cows. Cows and sheep have different foraging appetites, making their co-habitation in the pasture more efficient. Cattle are also great predator protection for sheep, aggressively attacking coyote and bonding with sheep within a two week period ofContinue reading “Everywhere That Mary Went. . .”
Yes, Sir. Yes, Sir. Two Bags Full!
7 Random Farm Happenings by Laura Parker Roerden Juliette and Juniper have added a lot of excitement to our lives here at Jo-Erl Farm. We’ve been busy getting a winter paddock ready for them, one that will be safe from predators and close enough to the farmhouse for us to keep an eye on them. This isContinue reading “Yes, Sir. Yes, Sir. Two Bags Full!”
Moo-ving Miss Mezzie Into the Big Red Barn
By Evan Maietta, age 14 For those of you who follow farm camp, or anything Jo Erl Farm related for that matter, you have most likely heard of our beloved Jersey Mezzie. For those of you who have not heard of our farm favorite, Mezzie is our four year old Jersey dairy cow. She wasContinue reading “Moo-ving Miss Mezzie Into the Big Red Barn”