“It is a farewell day – to Courtney, who is off to Keeseville, and to Chad, who has been here full time with us for the busy season, but will now focus on his own projects. We send them both with lots of thanks, best wishes, and a few tears. One of the hardest parts of having employees is saying goodbye, especially after sharing hard work and many farm joys and sorrows together.
Chad is available for horse logging jobs and can be reached at 540-270-7610. We hope he’ll come back and work with us when he has time in his and the horses’ schedule.
Questioning Horse Power?
Speaking of horses, I been having a crisis of belief. It began last season as a niggling tickle in the back of my head, and has grown to a full-fledged internal conflict. Ask me what my favorite part of this farm is, and I will always tell you it’s the horses. That has not changed. But I’ve been needling Mark lately with questions about horses and efficiency, scale, and energy inputs.
Such as: Is horsepower workable for us, at this scale, and at this level of diversity? Will we be able to keep up with spring work using horses alone? Can we balance our budget, given the added cost of payroll due to the slower pace of horse power? Can we find or train enough teamsters? Can we keep all the horses we need for the busy season productive year-round? Is biodiesel a more sustainable alternative? Mixed power?
I am the last person you’d expect to be asking these questions, but the latest phase of growth has put them in the forefront of my mind. We welcome the input of readers and members as we hash this out in the farmhouse and among the farmers here…” (Continue reading about Kristin Kimball’s Essex Farm.)
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