Nature Done Wright

The other week, Hans and Dora Sammer showed me a collection of photos taken roughly 25 years ago, just before the Bajor Farm sold.

Part of the land was turned into residential developments, most notably Fox Run, and another part became part of the Celery Farm. The tractor still stands.

Hans and Dora were kind enough to share them here. (Thanks, Hans and Dora!)

As a bonus, I've asked Patricia L. Cooper and her sister, Marie Breen, to provide the commentary, shown here in italics. (Thank you, Pat and Marie!)

I love these photos for so many reasons. They are a part of Allendale and Celery Farm history. They are part of our local heritage. And they remind us how rural parts of Allendale were not all that long ago. (That's the old Bajor barn above)

                            The Driveway (up to Franklin Turnpike)
As kids, we sledded down this hill in the winter, and it was a challenge to drive up when snow-covered.

It was exciting to be in the car with Mom when she tried driving up this driveway when snow-covered. Sometimes it took a couple of tries to get to the top and in between tries, she would have to back all the way down to the bottom of the hill to try again.

                       The old barn

This is the barn that housed my grandmother’s (Baba’s) cow. Baba loved her cows and was the only one who ever milked them. There were always cats on the farm, and they would gather at milking time to get a treat of fresh milk.

There was a hayloft where cousins and friends would often stay when visiting during the Depression and WWII.

Many of these people were military since Vincent was in the Airforce and Anne was in the WAVES during WWII and John was in the Army in the Korean war, and they often brought home guests for a good meal.

                            Greenhouse
There was a furnace in the greenhouse for warming the soil and growing plants to be planted in the fields to bring in an early harvest.

Since it was still cold when these plants were put into the fields, glass sashes were lain over the rows of plants to create a mini greenhouse. They would be propped open during the warmer days and closed for the night, then removed when the plants got established and grew bigger and the days got warmer.

                           Chicken Coop
There were always chickens on the farm, and many a visitor had a wonderful chicken dinner, especially when family came to visit on Sundays.

Eggs were hatched and baby chicks were kept in incubators in the greenhouse until old enough to manage in one of the chicken coops.

                            The Cletrac tractor.

Plowing the fields was always an event. It was always said that when my grandfather (Gagi) plowed the fields, he would sing at the top of his lungs to stay awake. It was discovered that this was due to diabetes, and those were the days when insulin had only first been discovered.

Gagi was an early organic farmer. His feeling about pesticides was: If the bugs don’t want to eat it, why should I?

And the fields were fertilized with horse manure from Kennedy’s Horse Farm what was on Boroline Road.

You can see a pile of the glass frames called sashes behind the tractor. In the winter we would go into the greenhouse, which was warm and humid and smelled so wonderful with the soil in the planting beds. This was a magical place to be in the winter.

                             A stack of vegetable crates.

These crates were filled with vegetables, and our Uncle Mike took them to the Philadelphia Market and Hunts Point Market in New York on Sunday nights and one day during the week.

Baskets of vegetables accompanied visitors home, which assuredly was a blessing during the years of the Depression.

Do you have memories (and/or photos) of the old Bajor Farm or the Allendale Produce Gardens in the old days?

Please share them with me at celeryfarm@gmail.com.

Tomorrow: A poem about the Celery Farm in the old days, by Patricia L. Cooper