ABOUT OUR FARM 

We purchased the first portion of our farm in 1958 and the second portion in 1961. My father, Lewis H. "Jack" Stowell Sr., had cut wild Christmas trees all over Vermont and parts of Canada since 1925. He wanted to have his own Christmas tree farm. He had cut wild trees on this property and knew that they would grow well here. 

The farm is located in the central part of Vermont where the majority of the farms were on hills and hence called hill farms to differentiate them from farms in the river valleys. The farm was operated as a dairy farm before my family bought it and we rented out the fields and pastures to farmers with young dairy or beef cattle in those fields or pastures with Scotch Pine or Spruce Christmas trees growing in them. As we shifted over to more fir trees, we discontinued pasturing. Cows love to rub on the soft fir trees and damage them badly. 

Our farm is located on the top of one of a series of ridges that run from North to South. The top of the ridge above our house is approximately 1200 feet above sea level. In the Summer this usually gives us a pleasant breeze even in hot weather. In the Winter this elevation not only can give us a cold wind but provides significantly more snow than there is in the valley. Although Twin Ponds Road connects East Street with Route 14, it is only open from East Street to our farm in the Winter. The town only plows up to our driveway. In a typical Winter the snow is too deep to drive any further.

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