As some of you may know, I long to leave my small plot of land behind and move to the country to a much larger piece of land. To a real farm. I’d like more goats, more chickens, my horses, some sheep, and at least one cow. Probably an alpaca for kicks and most certainly a donkey. And a barn cat. Jim and Maia are allergic, but I figure in a barn it could keep the mice down and it won’t bother them out there.
An area that I am continually drawn to is Litchfield County in northwestern Connecticut. It’s one of the few remaining areas of Connecticut that still has a small bit of farmland left undeveloped. I’ve been up there quite a few times over the past few months for various reasons, and I’ve yet to see anything I don’t like about the area.
While I was driving up there yesterday I had some extra time so cut off the main route to take some back roads. I found the most beautiful roads with old farmhouses from the 1800’s and rolling hills and pastures. This kind of land is becoming pretty scarce in Connecticut.
And many of them were still working farms. I actually saw a lot of cows.
This farm had mostly Holstein cows, but they had this beautiful Brown Swiss steer. I love the color of these cows.
I saw one simple but beautiful farmhouse that appeared to be empty. I turned into their driveway to take a better look, and there, behind a hedge, I was greeted by this lovely flock of ladies. I guess the house wasn’t empty after all, since they certainly looked happy and healthy.
Every street I turned down seemed to take me on an even more beautiful road than the one before it. It was a lovely fall day which certainly helped. I was coming up a rather steep hill, and I’d already been climbing quite a bit. I stopped to take a picture of the views.
All of a sudden, there on my left, was a field full of Randall cattle. This had to be Howland Homestead Farm. When I first became interested in heritage breed animals, Randall Cattle were one of the first I looked into after reading an article on them in Hobby Farms Magazine. I actually called this farm and took the kids up there one cold and snowy early spring day, where we all got a chance to milk a cow. It’s an image that the kids love finding on Google, and it was there on their website when I got home to confirm that it was, in fact, the same farm I’d visited probably 7 years ago.
I was so surprised to come across a field full of Randall Cattle on my back roads side trip.
And here's the picture of us milking a Randall cow at that very farm probably 6 or 7 years ago.
One day I will own a Randall cow. Maybe in this very area.
This barn had a similar decorating style as my newly completed goat house has I thought.
My goat house.
It was a lovely day spent in a lovely area.
The covered bridge in Cornwall, Connecticut.
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