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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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