Walking the llama trail - The North Star Monthly

www.northstarmonthly.com NOVEMBER 2009 27Are farms coming back?Signs are abundant across the KingdomBY VAN PARKERIn a recent article in the magazine“The Nation,” MichaelPollan writes, “For the first timein many years the number offarms tallied in the Departmentof Agriculture’s census hasgone up rather than down.”Pollan continues, “The newsecretary of agriculture hasdedicated his department to‘sustainability’ and holds meetingswith the sorts of farmersand activists who not manyyears ago stood outside thelimestone walls of the USDAholding signs of protest andsnarling traffic with their tractors.”We all have to eat and what weeat sooner or later goes back to soil,to the earth, to farms. There is noway of getting away from that. Thetrouble is that too much of what weeat goes back to oil. In a recent interview,President Obama told a reporter“our entire agriculturalsystem is built on cheap oil.”Before I get too deeply into aNovemberHours VaryPlease Call AheadRoute 5, Lyndonville, VT(802) 626-9396subject on which I’m at best in thefirst or second grade, I would like tooffer a few observations from alocal perspective.Our Vermont home, the onlyhome we own, is partially surroundedand almost enfolded in an800-acre tree farm.It’s really nice to be able to gofor a walk, through the woods onthe left or up on the plateau to theright. It’s kind of like living in a nationalpark.This is a truly a diversified treeand woodlot farm.Christmas trees are one of itsproducts, but only one. Nurserytrees are another. Selective loggingoperations go on winter and summer.For a very modest fee, peoplemake arrangements to cut their ownfirewood. Woodchips go to helppower local electric plants. It seemsyou’ll scrape your plate!Dine-in or Grab’n Goas though everything is used. Nothingis wasted. The harvest from thewoodlots is sustainable, seeminglyforever.Every year, a neighboringfarmer fertilizes our field of sevenor so acres. I feel fortunate to havean open field, beautiful at all seasonsof the year. He benefits from gettingat least two cuttings of hayevery summer. If I need some cowmanure for the garden, he will bringme as much as I want. No moneyever changes hands.We have a vegetable garden,which means we eat pretty well, especiallyin late July, August and September.Our raspberries andblueberries vary in productivity, butthere’s usually a good supply. Howeverwe are far from growing everythingwe need. So we go to thefarmers markets in Danville and St.Johnsbury to get potatoes, early andSANDWICHES • BAKED GOODS • HOMEMADE SOUPBEER BATTERED FISH FRY ON FRIDAYSDAILY LUNCH SPECIALSLocated inside Petty Co Jct Storeat the corner of Rt 2 & Rt 18in St. Johnsbury6 a.m. - 2 p.m. / 7 DAYS A WEEK748-5560late tomatoes and other locallygrown products. We buy frombooths bearing intriguing names like“Too Little Farm,” “Mountain FootFarm” and other names I can’t recall.Could farms like this accountfor the very recent increase in theDepartment of Agriculture census?Something is going on, bothhere and in many other places. ADanville United Methodist Church“The biggest little church on the Green”As we begin a new school year, let us rememberthese words of Jesus Christ:“This is my commandment that you you love oneanother, as I have loved you.” John 15:12Rev. Henry E. Cheney684-3389 officeWHEELERTrue ValueBuilding Materials29 Church StreetLyndonville, VT 05851(802) 626-5102or 626-5040Wheeler SportsTeam Sports ProductsImages Of VermontSilkscreening and Embroidery246 Church StreetLyndonville, VT 05851(802) 626-8235Fax: (802) 626-6180Email: wheel56@together.netLyndon Institute Athletic EventsWinter 2009-2010Athletic Director: Paul E. Wheeler (802) 626-9164BOYS BASKETBALL (JV/V)12/8/09 at Hazen 6/ 7:3012/10/09 at Lake Region 6/ 7:3012/12/09 SF Tourney TBA12/15/09 SF Tourney TBA12/21/09 (H) STJA 5:30/ 71/2/10 (H) HAZEN 5:30/ 71/6/10 at Montpelier 6/ 7:301/8/10 at Lamoille 6/ 7:301/12/10 (H) U-32 5:30/ 71/14/10 at Randolph 5:30/ 71/16/10 (H) THETFORD 1/ 2:301/22/10 at Harwood 5:30/ 71/27/10 (H) OXBOW 5:30/ 71/29/10 (H) MONTPELIER 5:30/ 72/3/10 (H) LAMOILLE 5:30/ 72/5/10 (H) RANDOLPH 5:30/ 72/8/10 at U-32 5:30/ 72/10/10 at Thetford 6/ 7:302/17/10 (H) HARWOOD 5:30/ 72/19/10 at Oxbow 6/ 7:30FROSH BASKETBALL Boys12/3/09 (H) U-32 7:0012/5/09 (H) HARWOOD 11:0012/9/09 at Lake Region 7:0012/22/09 (H) LAMOILLE 7:0012/28/09 at North Country 7:001/4/10 at Lamoille 7:301/7/10 at St. Johnsbury 6:301/13/10 at U-32 7:001/15/10 (H) ENOSBURG 7:001/18/10 (H) STJA 7:001/20/10 at Hazen 7:301/23/10 at Harwood 1:301/25/10 (H) NCU 7:001/29/10 at Enosburg 7:002/1/2010 (H) LAKE REGION 7:002/4/10 (H) HAZEN 7:00sailor might say there’s a shift in thewind. It’s hard to predict where itwill take us. One thing seems prettycertain. It’s happening locally, hereand in many other places. No longerare people like Michael Pollan, BarbaraKingsolver and Wendell Berryvoices crying in the wilderness. Theyare bringing us down to earth, theonly earth we have.Sunday Worshipand Fellowship 9:30 a.m.Sunday School During Worship ServiceGIRLS BASKETBALL (JV/V)12/2/09 at Hazen 6/ 7:3012/4/09 at Peoples 6/ 7:3012/11/09 (H) HAZEN 5:30/ 712/14/09 (H) LAKE REGION 5:30/ 712/17/09 (H) HOLIDAY TOURNEY 7:4512/19/09 (H) HOLIDAY TOURNEY 1:0012/23/09 (H) RANDOLPH 5:30/ 712/30/09 (H) OXBOW 5:30/ 71/5/10 at Thetford 6/ 7:301/7/10 at Lamoille 6/ 7:301/9/10 (H) MONTPELIER 1/ 2:301/15/10 at Harwood 5:30/ 71/18/10 at U-32 5:30/ 71/21/10 at Randolph 6/ 7:301/26/10 at Oxbow 6/ 7:301/28/10 (H) THETFORD 5:30/ 72/2/10 (H) LAMOILLE 5:30/ 72/4/10 at Montpelier 6/ 7:302/9/10 (H) HARWOOD 5:30/ 72/11/10 (H) U-32 5:30/ 7FROSH BASKETBALL Girls12/3/09 (H) U-32 5:3012/9/09 at Lake Region 5:3012/16/09 at Oxbow 6:0012/22/09 (H) LAMOILLE 5:3012/28/09 at North Country 5:301/4/10 at Lamoille 6:001/7/10 at St. Johnsbury 5:001/11/10 (H) OXBOW 5:301/13/10 at U-32 5:301/15/10 (H) ENOSBURG 5:301/18/10 (H) STJA 5:301/20/10 at Hazen 6:001/25/10 (H) NCU 5:301/29/10 at Enosburg 5:302/1/2010 (H) LAKE REGION 5:30SOUTH MAIN AUTOSALES & SERVICE448 Main St., St. Johnsbury, Vt. • 802-748-3219 • ww.southmainsalesandservice.comICE HOCKEY12/2/09 at Peoples 6:0012/5/09 (H) NORTH COUNTRY 6:0012/9/09 at Milton 6:0012/12/09 (H) ST. JOHNSBURY 6:0012/16/09 at Northfield Tourney 5:3012/16/09 vs. St. Johnsbury 5:3012/18/09 at Northfield Tourney TBA12/22/09 at MSJ 5:0012/30/09 at Montpelier 6:001/2/10 (H) STOWE 3:001/9/10 at MMU 7:001/13/10 (H) MIDDLEBURY 6:001/16/10 (H) PEOPLES 7:001/20/10 (H) MILTON 5:001/23/10 (H) MSJ 5:001/27/10 (H) MISSISQUOI 6:001/30/10 at Brattleboro 2:452/3/10 (H) U-32 7:002/6/10 at Northfield 4:002/10/10 (H) WOODSTOCK 6:002/13/10 at St. Johnsbury 6:00GOVIKINGS!