North Farm, Deering
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Photo: Pat Nelson |
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A porcupine and five turkeys
by Roberta Chapin Walmsley
From my desk I look out on a broad expanse of fields. The table at which Arthur and I share three meals a day offers the same vista. It is not the breath taking view that one might associate with a mountain top. Rather it offers a quiet, almost soothing window into the changing seasons, and the wildlife that inhabit this area. Occasional deer cross the field. A resident porcupine frequently waddles over to feed in our apple tree. Fox appear after the fields have been hayed in late July or August. A variety of birds feed in the field. Grouse strut their stuff near the old barn hole. Right now five turkeys are pecking away at the edge of the field, feeding on whatever turkeys feed on. This past summer we were visited by a cow moose, trailed by her calf, crossing the field about 200 feet below our house. Big!! As I write this, the bright colors of Fall have been reduced to a dull rust hue. Soon the snows will come and with it the tracks of many creatures which we can’t normally see from a distance will be revealed. Our fields are not only a joy to us but also a home we share with the local fauna.
We purchased North Farm in 1961. Arthur was ten years into his ministry as an Episcopal priest. We were living with our two young children in a small apartment in Brooklyn. In those days, it was possible for a family living on a modest clergy salary to imagine buying rural property as a vacation home, a replica of what life was like when we were growing up. We found an 1800 farmhouse and 25 acres in Deering for which we paid less than the cost of the new septic system we later had to put in. For the past forty-six years, the North Farm on Old County Road has been our family homestead, a constant in our children's lives as they grew up, and since 1993 Arthur’s and my retirement home.
How does one give back to the land and to a community of neighbors and friends gratitude for such a place and the way of life it makes possible? How do towns in our region balance their rural and small community character with the inevitable march of housing developments and McMansions? And what, after all, is a balance between our personal and family agendas and the Common Good? One way we have found has been to place a conservation easement on a portion of our property - fourteen acres of pasture and woods. That parcel happens to form a niche in the midst of a sizable green belt in our section of town. Today upwards of 25% of the acreage of Deering is protected in some fashion, thanks to the leadership of the town's Conservation Commission and a growing rank of donors. Arthur and I are pleased that through the PWA we can contribute to the maintenance of the eco-system of our remarkably-diverse and beautiful watershed.
The Piscataquog Watershed Association is thrilled to have helped Arthur and Roberta Walmsley successfully protect the open spaces of North Farms by agreeing to hold an easement on their property. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Walmsley family on making such a valuable gift to their community and to the residents of Deering for their vision and their commitment to conservation.
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