Garden State Rural Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder, Circa 2014
Last year on July 13, I wrote a post, noted below, which focused on the amazing beauty that lives in the Garden State – and right around the corner from where I live. For many people who live in rural areas of the country, the sighting of cows grazing happily is not an uncommon occurrence. But, here in northern New Jersey it is.
I guess I may have been feeling a little defensive about all of the skeptics’ opinions and all the razzing we take on an ongoing basis. We seem to get the “trash pail award” constantly about where we live, our politicians and the general state of affairs here in New Jersey. And yes, while the long-term tales of paltry doings here in the politics department are generally accepted to be well-deserved, there is indeed an incredible wealth of beauty and wonder to be seen in New Jersey. So, just in case my photos from my back yard don’t convince you (me) of just how beautiful it is in certain parts of New Jersey in the height of Summertime, I have decided to continue my little chronicling of life here and around:
last year’s post: http://www.kitchen-inspirational.com/2013/07/13/garden-state-rural-beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/
When we moved to our town back in the mid-1980s I was already intimately familiar with the surrounds. That it has been a long-storied haven of incredible beauty was never lost on me. When I was a kid we drove to either Wightman’s or to the farm stand which used to exist at the corner of Blue Mill Road and Featherbed Lane to get fresh corn. I can remember driving there with my grandmother in a very old car – must have been in the late 1950s…….
So, I knew, when we started looking for homes here, just how gorgeous and coveted this area of New Jersey was. We lived in our first house for a long while and purchased our present location in 1996, moving in in 1997. Here, I met two of the most impressive people I have met in my life – two one of a kind’s: Julia F. Averett Peet and Hal Scaff. These are the two people I most associate with the quality of life in this little area of the world – two people who, in essence, have in so many ways defined this town – in the very best of ways. Julia Peet was the owner of our property, deciding to sell in what I found to be a confounding situation. She was ready to let go of the last piece of coveted acreage of what were her former vast holdings, which at one time cut a wide swath from Young’s Road all the way across to Glen Alpin.
At the same time as I wondered how she could possibly part with this land, I felt incredibly lucky to be getting a little piece of it. Julia Peet is a formidable woman and someone to be completely in awe of. I found her to be incredibly independent, bold, and admirable for many reasons – never forgetting the image of her as she backed her pick-up truck, black dog in the back, up to the stable to empty out a few things and later watched her in awe in a yoga class (she was in her 80s at the time, I believe) and discussed a few important details about how to properly care for our property.
One of these discussions included the referral of the gentleman who mows the fields that we share with our next door neighbors. I have been incredibly honored to come to know Hal Scaff over the 17 years we have lived here. To me, he is one of those rare individuals, and in the quintessential sense, I’d say he is – A Man for all Seasons. While I usually only get to have a substantive visit with him once a year, we often get to have a great catch-up chat, often lasting for a couple of hours, which covers basically every single possible topic you can think of – politics, the state of bees, butterflies, bears, predators, town issues, quality of hay, hunting, dogs, bluebirds, bobwhites, his insights on egg-laying schedules, spraying of chemicals, other methods of field maintenance and preservation, development of choice properties in town, his kids, my kids and the general state of affairs in the economy and child-rearing and what to do about it all, and on and on.
Last weekend, Hal came to mow and I was fortunate enough to get some great shots while he was raking and bailing. This ritual of life that occurs every Summer here, right outside my kitchen window has become a dear time to me. Our yard is incredibly beautiful at every time of the year and draws much wildlife here. We have bear, fox, deer, hawks, vultures, coyote, rabbits, possum, skunks, raccoons, mice galore and the aforementioned highly-coveted bluebirds – the siting of which never fails to take my breath away.
Hal is always talking about the hawks eating snakes out there but I prefer to not think about that…….
Anyway, here are some “vintage” shots of the haying of this year. Thank you to Julia Peet and Hal Scaff for making this wonderful homesteading experience possible. It’s just a little oasis in New Jersey that most people wouldn’t think about.
The raking:
Up close and personal, the bailing:
To me, these images are an awesome sight and the source of much fun and reflection. They are the earthy, rugged reminder of real work and the desire for prudent land management. In New Jersey, where farming is an increasing rarity, I thank our lucky stars for people like Hal. He is a dying breed of dedication, passionate and caring stewardardship, scholarly pursuit and dogged dedication to his love of the outdoors, his way of life and the value of land here where the urban border is so close by.
It is a great gift to reside on such a gorgeous piece of land here just 25 minutes west of Newark Airport and the NJ Turnpike. And, I will be forever indebted to Julia Peet for, in a singular moment of great luck, passing on this little parcel and her charming farmhouse to us. We have come to love it here and have put down deep roots of attachment. I can only hope that whenever she passes by that she is not sorry that she let it all go….. I assume this land lives in her heart forever as well – how could it not?
Next year, I’ll get the actual mowing, too……….