Bernice Gallant Clark

Country-Slickers: Lifestyles of Happily Rural Alumnae
An excerpt from Alumnae Quarterly, Winter 2004
By Emily Harrison Weir

Since around 1920, more Americans have lived in urban areas than in rural ones. Yet when many of us think of “America,” we still envision waving fields of grain and majestic purple mountains celebrated in patriotic song rather than the gleaming alabaster cities. According to the 2000 census, only 21 percent of the country’s population lives in rural areas. What is country life like today for Mount Holyoke alumnae?

Bernice Gallant Clark FP 01

Barre Massachusetts (pop. 5000)
I live with my husband and four children on roughly 25 acres that is a mix of woods, pasture, and hay field. Bernice Gallant Clark We raise beef cattle on a small scale, generally having between two and ten at a time. Holsteins, the familiar black and white milk cow, are a tall breed with big calves. A dairy farmer breeding a young heifer (female) may prefer that she have a smaller calf to reduce the chance of a difficult birth, the goal is, after all, not a baby but milk! In that instance, a Hereford bull would be used. Herefords, a beef breed, are stockier and tend to have calves that are less leggy. We purchase these mixed breed cattle from local dairy farmers, who would otherwise send them to auction where they most likely end as veal (ick!!! Poor things). We also purchase dairy breed bull calves, who are surplus to the dairy farmer (one bull in a herd goes a long way). The horned ones in the photos are Jerseys. Once neutered a bull is a steer. We bottle feed them because they're only a few days old when we get them. The cattle are kept for two to two and a half years depending on the season (for instance, if she is two in the spring we would keep her as late into the fall as there is still grass growing). They have all 25 acres to roam through, except for when the hay field is fenced off. When haying is done they can graze there too. We also have laying hens and a vegetable garden. The point is to have chemical-free food that is ethically raised. With a family our size, a half a cow in the freezer is good for a year and we sell the rest to help pay for taxes and farm equipment.

The main difference in our lives is the connection to the environment. In the fall we watch for when the grass dies back and we have to start to feeding out hay. Firewood has to be brought in because we have no back-up heat. Winter means chopping holes in the ice so the cows can drink. Spring means mud, repairing fences, and new calves. Summer means being glued to the weather channel trying to figure out when to cut hay because several days of hot weather are needed to cut, turn over (sometimes more than once), and then bale hay. Inevitably we find ourselves scrambling to pick up a field full of hay with unexpected, threatening dark clouds looming overhead. When I get in the car and drive into the city it is like leaving one world for another. I see all the growth around me and I realize that the world that I inhabit is inevitably doomed in this part of Massachusetts, but at least I could raise my kids here and I'm glad for that.