THE MAMAS' ARE "SPRINGING" INTO ACTION

Susan and I were up at the farm last weekend and got to witnessed the birth of one calf after another! That was something very special and something I will never forget. James said last night (Thursday Feb. 18 th.) he has 8 new calves on the farm which means a lot of little mouths to feed from the milk bottles.


First we have Bownie's calf and her name is Beech (like the tree). Below we have Hickory and Hickory came from Marcel's farm in Shoreham with another calf named Hemlock.

On Valentine's Day Lavender gave birth to Valentine. I walked in the barn around 5 A.M. and there she was sitting behind her "mama".

Then on Monday the 15th RoseMary (one of Libery Farm's first heifers) had a baby bull calf. She was a proud new "mama" and would be joining the milkers from this point on.

Dory and Her Friends Living at Liberty Farm

I thought you might want to meet Dory my gift that I mentioned in the previous blog given to me at retirement. She is one of the best milkers' at Liberty Farm. Dory has a heifer calf named Damariscotta and maybe some day she will be producing as much organic milk as her mom. If you look closely at Dory's ear you can see her name tag. All of James and Sarah's cows have names and they know each one by their name. I think that is pretty neat. They all get the best of care! They also have a really nice barn to live in with plenty of pastures for the cows to move around on.

James is not only busy with his dairy cows producing organic milk which is being sold to Organic Valley but he also raises organic beef and organic pork. If your interested in purchasing some of the best beef (only grass fed) and pork call James at the farm after 7:00 PM at 802-265-4062.

Working on the Farm-Liberty Farm Poultney, VT

The new barn has worked out just great for James and the dairy cows love it! I have been busy working with James on small projects in the barn and then of course the feeding and milking of the cows (James does all the milking, but I keep him company). The barn is set up for 70 cows and a pipeline that will handle 50 cows that are ready for milking. James has around 30 that are milking presently but is pretty confident that he will be close to 40 milkers by this summer.
I am continuously amazed on how much work it takes to keep the barn clean, the milking system clean, the cows fed both grain and hay, and of course the cows milked. James does a great job at this every day-365 days a year with a great deal of support from his wife Sarah. It is so different for me to work on a farm after spending so many years working inside a school building. But if I had not worked at North High School and had so many great friends then there would be no Dory at the farm. I let you know a little more about Dory and her calf in my next blog.