Katie Rose Leonard never intended to be a farmer. After graduating from college, she pursued her dream career in environmental education. But while working on water quality restoration on the east end of Long Island where the land forks, her own path diverged from that plan.
There is no hiding from COVID-19. This virus has no borders and travels at will, menacing people and businesses in every sector of society. The pandemic threatens agriculture and with it our food security, as farmers work to produce the food on our tables.
Charlotte is blessed with dreamers and doers on the land. A visit to Stony Loam Farm on a cold dark evening confirms this.
Unless you drive with your eyes closed, chances are you’ve recently noticed acre after acre of land in Charlotte with leafy green plants shooting out of black plastic-covered mounds.
It was Bob Titus’s grandfather who came to Vermont from upstate New York to farm. “He brought all of his cattle over on the ferry … he had a kind of wanderlust,” is the way Bob’s wife, Bernice, tells the story.
When the snow comes down heavy and hard, it’s time for farmers to start thinking about barn roof safety….