Sunday, March 13, 2016

One Less Farm




          When we moved here in 1996, I was eager to embrace all aspects of this small town.
I bought mums from the Boy Scouts, and our Christmas tree from the temporary lot on the lawn of the United Church. (By the way, as that tree warmed up, our living room was filled with more than just the sweet scent of pine. Several local cats had sociably sprayed many messages on its lower branches.) 


      

    I also drove down to Bennett’s Turkey Farm on Main Street to reserve my fresh turkey for our first Thanksgiving here. 
 

          My husband is a local boy, and went through school with Don Bennett. In elementary school, word was that Don’s grandmother could deal with a turkey in one whack. Another story, that domesticated turkeys would stand staring up at the sky and could drown in a rainstorm if they weren’t herded back into the sheds, has since been debunked. 


          The farm began in 1925 and in 2007 it was still a major local supplier, filling 5,000 orders in the week before Thanksgiving. But the sales declined over the years, with competition from huge plants in distant states. The sons decided not to continue the business and another local farm disappeared. 




          The market shed is now gone and the 16 acres behind it is now a field of mud and machines.
         By this time next year there will be a street with shiny new houses.

8 comments:

  1. Our population needs to live somewhere, and as we get more and more crowded together, the vacant lands will continue to disappear. I never heard that myth about turkeys. :-)

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  2. Replies
    1. Progress = change, and change usually means we lose something.
      But River (below )has a good point.

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  3. Sad to see a farm disappear and a street of houses take its place. On the other hand, people need to live somewhere, so the houses will be welcome.

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  4. Ewww on the cat sprayed Christmas trees!

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  5. Too bad about a family farm going, but I have to say that when we lived in Colorado we lived near a turkey farm and when the wind blew in our direction it was far worse than cat wee on a tree.

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    Replies
    1. OMG, are you ever right. When we first moved here, I went to vote at the elementary school a few fields over from the turkey farm. It was November and my car windows were rolled up. Was I in for a surprise when I stepped out of my car.

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  6. Sounds like they cashed in! You can't blame them, really.

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