“It’s been a stressful week around here. Mark is still wrestling with his injury, trying to find a balance between the rest that his body needs and the work that needs to get done. All the plants want rain, and there is nothing we can do about that.
Cash flow is tight – the legacy of last year’s flooding, which necessitated the purchase of $60,000 of grain. Then Ashlee broke her foot, Gwen got an impacted wisdom tooth, and Gus worked himself sick!
Everyone is working very hard, doing the best they can with less guidance than usual. The good part is that Ashlee’s absence brings Mark and me back into the dairy two mornings a week. I have so missed the cows. Just being in the barn with them calms and soothes me.
I remember when Mark and I first met, he told me that if things got bad, I should just send him out to plow something, because soil and sweat were a balm to him. He knew then, like I do now, that working at what you love and believe in will ground you when you feel a little lost.
There are lots of good things happening this week, beyond the above tribulations. Building is about to start on two covered barnyards, thanks to grants from the USDA. It’s a big $200,000 project, and Cory is managing it. All the dry weather means plenty of opportunities to make hay, which is what is happening as I type…” (Continue reading about Kristin Kimball’s Essex Farm.)
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