American Way Farm: Start the Tractor for Me, Please!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Start the Tractor for Me, Please!

“Would you start the tractor for me please? I'll make you some breakfast and a hot cocoa.”

“Oh sure, honey—let me just grab my industrial-strength flamethrower and a prayer.”

That poor tractor looks like it’s been cryogenically frozen for a hundred years. You’d need a jackhammer to find the ignition, and a team of sled dogs to pull it out of the snowbank. I’m pretty sure the steering wheel just snapped off in protest.

But hey, for hot chocolate and breakfast? I might be persuaded. Just don’t be surprised if I come back in looking like a snow yeti and muttering about betrayal.

(And I hope your definition of “hot chocolate” includes a little something extra in it—I’m gonna need it after that expedition!)

--Linda Chappell photo

Please leave a comment below. I love hearing from you.

5 comments:

goatlady said...: oh my god, does this tractor have a door?; January 12, 2010 at 12:37 PM
L Chappell said...: missing just one. The fact the rear window is gone too might have something to do with it. It made for some awesome photos. Hubby thinks he'd like to find a door and window to fit. Wonder why?; January 12, 2010 at 5:11 PM
Tonia said...: WOW A little frosty in there!! Lol!!; January 12, 2010 at 10:53 PM
Unknown said...: Wow i couldn't live there lol
How do you guys do it?; April 25, 2015 at 6:26 PM
Sandy@American Way Farm said...: We get used to it. Plus the summers are incredible, even if they are short.; April 25, 2015 at 6:54 PM

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When my husband, Jim, and I moved from southern New Hampshire to way, way up north in the fall of 2001, we thought we were just “getting away from it all.” You know—peace, quiet, maybe a moose sighting or two. We weren’t planning a major lifestyle change. We certainly didn’t think we’d be trading paved driveways for muck boots and birthing kits. But life (and nature) had other plans. The thing about the North Country is that it’s very good at growing trees. Tall ones. Fast ones. Persistent ones. Left unchecked, they’ll take over faster than a toddler with a jar of peanut butter. We were starting to lose our view—and not just a “I think the horizon looks a little hazy” kind of loss. I mean, we were being reabsorbed by the forest. So we came up with a brilliant plan: let animals do the work! We figured a couple of pigs and sheep would chew down the underbrush, fertilize the land, and maybe keep us entertained along the way. A few goats joined the team, because apparently we thought chaos was missing. Chickens showed up next, mostly for fly control—but also because they’re hilarious, not to mention that farm eggs are the best. And then, of course, a dog. You need a dog to guard the animals from the coyotes and the goats from each other. Before long, we had an entire ecosystem going. And then the questions started rolling in. “Hey, could you raise a pig for us?” “Do you sell your lamb?” “Got any extra eggs?” “Do you actually drink the goat milk?” And just like that… we were farmers. Not the bib-overalls, pitchfork-wielding kind (well, okay, maybe on Mondays), but full-on livestock-managing, early-rising, hay-in-our-hair kind of farmers. And honestly? We’re loving every minute of it—yes, even the goat-wrangling, fence-mending, rooster-escapes-at-5AM parts. We never saw it coming. But sometimes the best things in life are the ones that sneak up on you—preferably not in the form of a loose pig, but you get the idea.