Between The Brook and The Cedars

About this episode

The episode reflects on the changes in a family farm and the challenges of maintaining the land over generations.

When my mom was a child, there were cows and pigs on our property and chicken coops, and barns to explore. But by the time she and my dad built their house “in the cow pasture between the brook and the cedars” - and filled it with five kids, the cows were long gone. I think with all of us in tow, my dad figured that he had more than enough livestock to care for, and there was no need to add to the chaos. The cows never returned, and the field stopped being grazed. Where he mowed twice a year, it remained an open field, but the rougher areas that couldn’t be mowed immediately became a battle ground for invasives. At first, it was the bittersweet and honeysuckle, later came barberry and multiflora rose. He spent much of his free time maintaining it all by hand, trying to stay ahead of the ever-encroaching vines, brush, and brambles. He used a walk-behind sickle bar, brush cutter, chainsaw, mattock, and clippers. When we got older, he paid us to dig the roots out, but it never worked. Pieces of roots were invariably left behind, and the plants always came back in the spring with a vengeance. It was, at best, a losing battle. Each year, as he got a little older, he cleared a little…

People in this episode

Host: Bobbie Emery

Topics covered

• family history
• nature
• invasive species
• farming
• childhood memories

Keywords

• cows
• pigs
• invasive plants
• farming tools
• childhood
• pasture
• nature

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