Brunch and fresh farm air – a tour of Dickinson College Farm with friends Matt and Jenn – May 21, 2017
OUR HOSTS
Jenn and Matt fed us local eggs, blueberry pancakes, and sauteed asparagus with oyster mushrooms and spring onions, then took us for a walk where Jenn picked a four leaf clover for Camille.
COOKING WITH GAS
Matt shows Bob their biogas production house, then hauls a full bag to the house to hook up to the kitchen stove.
FUNCTION
There is nothing more beautiful than things that work. Matt shows Bob their Solar Thermal system. Jenn explained how she came to design this well-used shoe rack for their back porch.
BEAUTY AND INTENTION
What pleases us the most about Dickinson Farm, is the seamless balance between form and function.
LOVELY COUNTRY
The perfect place for man and dog. Bella has the run of the place and revels in her games.
KINDLY SHEPHERDS
It’s lambing season and Matt explained how he and Jenn check on the sheep several times a day, how they know which mothers are born to motherhood, and who needs a helping hand.
JAIL BAIT
Mama Jail Bait earned her name as a precocious teen. She is easy to pick out of the herd due to her unusually large udder. Her lambs need help locating her low-hanging nipples, often searching much higher. Matt invited Camille to help the little guy find his lunch.
TRIPLETS
An ewe who can sustain three lambs with two teats is a treasured asset.
COMMUNICATION
As far as we can tell, Matt understands the language. We watched a newborn lamb’s attempt to coordinate all four limbs with non-verbal encouragement from its mother ewe.
BEEVES
After Matt was satisfied all was well with their sheep, and that we had been sufficiently immersed, we walked over to the cow pasture. As with the sheep, many of the mothers have already had their spring babies.
WHITE FACE
“Wanna scratch a cow?” Matt invited, walking over to the friendliest animal in the herd. White Face enjoyed the attention and lavished some of her own on Bob.
LUCKY DAY
This was the point where Jenn joined us and gifted Camille a four-leaf clover she’d picked on the way up. Our tour of the farm is one of the highlights of our annual visit. The pace of life, the fresh air, good food, our beautiful and intelligent friends, and their lovely animals fill us with wonder and peace.