July 18, 2025
Parallel Polis Publishing
by Shawn and Beth Dougherty, Plain Values
The new apple trees in the orchard are bearing well this year, with russet and yellow-green fruit studding the young branches. In the convent orchard, some of the older trees are taking a sabbatical year. They will only produce a tiny crop, but enough mature trees will bear that there will be plenty of apples for the farm.
by Shawn and Beth Dougherty, Plain Values
July Fourth is an important day in our village. We always say Hinton has the best fireworks display in the valley, and people come from all over to watch. The park is full of strangers as well as neighbors, and the lines in front of the two village ice cream stands are backed up for miles. It’s a big event.
Weaving through the crowds until we find a place among our friends on the already-crowded park benches, we can finally slow down and take a deep breath. What with all the holiday preparations, as well as the ordinary farm chores, it has been a busy day. And since community picnics wouldn’t be complete without our molasses ginger cake, we really had to prepare ahead.
by Shawn and Beth Dougherty, Plain Values
A child comes in the back door with a full milk can; the screen door slaps shut behind him. There is the sound of a bucket being set on the bench, the clang of a bail handle against the side of the milk can. In the kitchen someone is frying bacon; the smell reaches into the basement, where at a simple counter and sink we process raw milk twice daily.
Sometimes we wonder how we got here! When we first thought we might keep a dairy cow, we worried that the chores would be too much work and that we would not be able to maintain a rigid schedule. Not only were we taking on twice-daily milking, but we would be moving our intensively grazed dairy cows onto fresh grass each time we milked. With all the other farm chores and homeschooling our eight children, were we going to have time for the added work? But while milking a cow does require commitment, it turned out to be not nearly as much work as we expected.
By Shawn & Beth Dougherty, Plain Values
Sometimes keeping milk cows isn’t about the cows; sometimes, it’s about weddings, cancer, and love.
For example: One morning almost exactly four years ago, a girl arrived on our farm. She came with her brother, who wanted some farming experience and had been doing some work around the place. That day Ashley helped in the garden, planting late carrots and cabbages, and weeding the onions; in the evening, she helped milk the cows. It turned out that she loves cows: she’d studied veterinary science in college and later worked at a dairy in Pennsylvania.
By Shawn & Beth Dougherty, Plain Values
The corn in the garden is already more than knee-high, and the first planting of green beans has been gracing the supper table for more than a week, so summer must really be here. And even with temperatures in the high eighties making heat wrinkles over the county road, we’re happy to see the seasons advance. Pretty soon there will be okra to fry and tomatoes in our salads. The land is generous in July.
by Shawn & Beth Dougherty, Plain Values
A Child comes in the back door with a full milk can; the screen door slaps shut behind him. There is the sound of a bucket being set on the bench, the clang of a bail handle against the side of the milk can. In the kitchen someone is frying bacon; the smell reaches into the basement, where at a simple counter and sink we process raw milk twice daily.
Sometimes we wonder how we got here! When we first thought we might keep a dairy cow, we worried that the chores would be too much work and that we would not be able to maintain a rigid schedule. Not only were we taking on twice-daily milking, but we would be moving our intensively grazed dairy cows onto fresh grass each time we milked. With all the other farm chores and homeschooling our eight children, were we going to have time for the added work? But while milking a cow does require commitment, it turned out to be not nearly as much work as we expected.
By Shawn and Beth Dougherty, Plain Values
There’s no time like spring for seeing how bountifully God provides for His creatures, and that’s especially true here in central Appalachia, where young, green grass and blossoming fruit trees are everywhere we look. Our seven dairy cows put gallons of rich, creamy milk in the bucket every day. Their calves race around the pasture or lie in the soft grass and nap in the sun. Chicks in mobile pens scratch and forage, new feathers pushing through their baby down. Pigs are growing fast on skim milk and forage. We’re never more grateful for our small farm lifestyle than now when life is so beautiful and abundant.
