In addition to being “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer” for Gold Brook Farm’s bed & breakfast guests and chief tractor mechanic around the farm, I also have the privilege of managing the County’s two airports at Dunkirk and Jamestown. Most days are spent juggling these many and varied duties and it can be rather stressful…
DetailsFor the three prior summers our attention was focused on rehabilitating the stately Ruben Gridley Wright house while the barn languished in the shade of benign neglect. The wildlife that considered the barn their home and exclusive domain were glad for the relative peace and solitude they enjoyed while we devoted our time and energies…
DetailsOrdinarily, maintaining a balanced perspective and practicing safe and healthy habits would seem to go hand-in-hand but this year COVID19 has confounded that conventional wisdom. Staying safe means isolating oneself from the many social interactions that are a large part of our human existence. So much so that we have a tendency to lose our…
DetailsWhat a crazy year! Gold Brook Farm, like most family farms or tourism centered small businesses, embarked on 2020 with high hopes for bountiful crops and a steady influx customers and guests. … and that’s how the year started; the guest rooms booking calendar was filling up fast, winter was showing signs of retreat and…
DetailsDear Katie and Jason (and the Westfield Academy Class of 2020), Congratulations and thank you! You have achieved an important milestone in life and, thanks to the innumerable lessons and examples of your teachers, you have developed habits of thoughtful curiosity and critical thinking that will take your far and reveal opportunities you haven’t yet…
DetailsDecember 21st – the shortest day of the year is upon us – this is mother earth’s cue that we should be hibernating! Although this year, we seem to be getting mixed signals from our environment; wild oscillation in the weather are a constant reiteration of a climate that is on the verge of a…
DetailsThe Westfield Farmers’ and Artisans’ market shared the village common this weekend with soldiers from the past. Reenactors from the Union’s 9th Cavalry Regiment held their annual encampment at Moore Park on June 7th – 9th. While the reenactors whet through their drills on the common, the Amish farm horses kept a nervous watch on…
DetailsMother Nature has finally eased her grip on a very wet spring and we’ve seized the opportunity to get some field work underway. “The Plan” for 2019 is to plant 30 acres of canola on ground that has sat fallow through the winter. So, the first step is to have a plan… that might seem…
DetailsWe officially opened our doors to guests on Saturday, May 18th with the arrival of a rather rowdy group of ladies from Rochester, NY. The occasion of their visit was birthday celebration for Marilyn, who, for many years has played the role of gracious host at her and husband Dave’s summer home on the finger…
DetailsSometimes the weather delays and complicates spring planting and some years mother nature just wrecks the plan entirely. Thus far in the spring of 2019, the weather has been more hindrance than help. But at least it hasn’t dealt us a crushing blow like the shear front that blew along the Lake Erie littoral and…
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