Tuttle's Red Barn, is it the end?

I have struggled many weeks with the words I would chose to tell you about the farm.As always there are many sides to this story. It breaks my heart to see the farm leave the hands of the Tuttle family,but, it's a decision that has been in the making for many years. For 384 years the Tuttle's have been re-inventing themselves to continue on a course chosen by their forefathers. I'm sure it was rarely an easy road ,but it was done successfully time and time again. The energy and imagination that was needed to do it one more time did not exist.The fact that the farm was very much needed as a leader in the growing Eat Local community was not of any concern to the decision makers at the farm.The farm has been passed down from father to son and that was never to change. In the 80's Will Tuttle was called to step forward and accept the task. Being the only son,pickings were a little slim for the right person to take the helm in this monumental task. Perhaps it would have been the proper time to change the rules but this was not to be. This article from the Yankee magazine, dated March 1981,brings to light the feelings of the last generation to be running the farm.

The love of the land was unable to tether these children as it had so many times before. The almost zen-like chore of working the soil in the open greenhouses was not a thing of joy for Will Tuttle. Pictured here is Lucy Tuttle and other farm workers slowly raking the soil in preparation for seeding spring plantings. However,as always, my emotional state can not change history's march forward.We will have to see what comes of all this. I know the farm deserves to be nurtured and made useful. There is an easement that prevents housing development so we will just have to be patient and see what the future brings.

And now I must stop complaining and remind myself of the good things the farm has brought to me.This is my good friend Lucy Tuttle. We were at the farmers market in Union Square in N.Y. city. That's Rick of Rick's Picks.He is an active promoter of local food with an office right in the heart of Manhattan. Lucy would take me to the city every year and together we discovered new and exciting products that we thought the people in our area might find appealing. We started at the Fancy Food show at the Javits Center on the Hudson and worked our way to the Farmers Market.We managed to make the task last about 5 days. She introduced me to the city itself,always setting aside time to walk The Park, where we would come up with wonderful ideas to improve the barn when we returned.

The friends that join me every Tuesday for Stitch and Bitch started in the back room at the barn. Donna was the first to say "Will you guys teach me to knit?",and that's how it all started. Great times,good friends,for this I am so grateful. I will miss the barn as it use to be and look forward to its rebirth in the future. When I'm in need of a little assurance that all will be well I will read the poem. It helps,one should always look forward and never forget the past.....................said the hobbit