Change is the Only Constant: A Walk Down Memory Lane

by Rob Terry, Exective Director

In his seminal work The Republic, the Greek philosopher Plato famously wrote “Our need will be the creator.” In modern parlance, this idiom has evolved to the oft-quipped “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

While Vermont may lack the stately Doric or ornate Corinthian columns that dominated Ancient Greek architecture, its aging barns are a testament to ingenuity—veritable temples of pragmatism. On-farm resourcefulness is a thing of beauty, and to the careful observer, old barns offer insight into the practical genius of generations.

An example of the type of simple innovations born out of need that abound on the farm can be found on the gable end of the Harwood Barn. There, just under the crown of the roof sits a heart-shaped hole that was carefully cut into the siding. At first glance it strikes the viewer as nothing more than a charming bit of ornamentation. However, in addition to adding a touch of character to the barn’s otherwise unadorned face, this often overlooked feature, called a Martin Hole, serves an important purpose. The hole provides easy access for predatory birds, such as small owls and (surprise) purple martins. Sited directly over the hay loft, the martin hole is a subtle, sustainable, and ecologically sound means of pest control that uses native predators to help manage rodent populations in the hay.

While the martin hole has served the same purpose since it was first cut out of the barn’s siding in the early 19th century, the Harwood Barn has been repurposed countless times since it was first built nearly 200 years ago. When it was raised, global demand for wool was high and “sheep fever” swept the Vermont hills. By the middle of the 1800s, two-thirds of the land that is now Merck Forest and Farmland Center had been cleared for pasture and nearly 1,000 sheep grazed the mountainsides. Around 1850, global markets shifted, and demand for Vermont wool declined precipitously. In response, hilltop farms diversified production to butter, cheese, and potatoes. In the Harwood Barn, lambs made way for calves and potatoes were stacked in crates in newly framed and vented root cellars. Over time, these systemic changes to farming in Vermont signaled the end to the hilltop farms as medium and later large-scale valley-based dairy farms began to dominate Vermont’s agricultural landscape.

It was around this time that George Merck purchased the three major properties that form what is now the heart of Merck Forest & Farmland Center: Masters Mountain, The Gallop, and lastly the Harwood Farm. Since this transition, the Harwood Barn has dutifully served MFFC in a variety of ways, including (but not limited to):

• storing hay

• housing the Executive Director’s office

• providing space for educational programs and informational exhibits

• storing vegetables for MFFC’s CSA

• sheltering sheep during lambing and shearing

• growing a year-round poultry flock instead of housing springtime chick incubation program

• storing decades of items too valuable to let go, but too obscure to be of use

• keeping Fern and Arch, our Suffolk Punch draft horses, safe when the weather turns

Unfortunately, all of this activity has come at a cost, and the Harwood barn is beginning to show its age. The weight of the slate is too much for the barn to bear, and the rafters are showing through the roof like the ribs on an aging horse. Meanwhile, gravity is slowly pulling the entire structure downslope, inching it southwestward towards the Sap House. As if that weren’t enough for the stalwart old sentinel to bear, centuries of freezing and thawing have created fissures in the stacked stones and cracked and heaved the concrete that has been added over the years to shore up the foundation.

Thankfully, there is hope. Through the institutional master planning process, MFFC has affirmed the Harwood Barn as a critical cultural asset. Tentative plans involve raising a new barn to serve the agricultural needs of the farm, while fully restoring the Harwood Barn to its original double English form, and in the process creating spaces suitable for four season permanent and temporary exposition, banquet, educational and workshop space. Be on the lookout for updates on these projects in upcoming Ridgelines as MFFC trustees and staff dig into what is possible and what is feasible as we finalize the plan to save this treasured barn and, in so doing, convert it into an asset that will better serve our members and visitors for decades to come.