Monadnock Food System Spotlight of the Month
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Holly Gowdy is the kind of person you would want in your foxhole. She seems to know just about everything you can think of. Let's start with windrow composting.
She and her husband, Christian, (I'd find room for him in that hole, as well) form piles of organic matter (cow poo) into long rows. The size of the piles can be from 4 - 8 feet tall and 14 - 16 feet wide (!). This is done so that red, wiggly worms and other "good" bugs will break down the manure. This, in turn, will be added to their pastures and hay fields to sustain their 40 head of certified, organic milk cows. And where does their milk go? To the Organic Valley cooperative who sells it to Stonyfield Farm yogurt.
When the climate is right, the farm is able to grow enough hay and forage to feed their cows without having to outsource feed. As Holly recently said in the Keene Sentinel, "It's a great cycle...a cycle of life that produces milk and nutritious food for consumers."
Holly and Christian will be selling ground beef and steak at the Keene Farmers Market this summer and also at Pete's Stand in Walpole. Organic meat can be purchased directly from them.
Listen to Holly tell a story about how she became a farmer in the "2021 Stories From the Field: Celebrating our Local Food System in Words" event!
