Large Turnout Prepares Barn For Deconstruction At North Amherst Community Farm

Source: North Amherst Community Farm Newsletter

On Sunday April 2, over 40 volunteers from the NACF farm community arrived to clear out our historic barn. The youngest were a trio of 12 year-olds; the oldest a 91 year-old. In between was a cross-section of Amherst as well as a chap who now lives in Albany, NY, but who played and worked on the farm in his youth.

The barn dates from the mid 19th century. It supported the original dairy farm but hadn’t been used as such for almost 50 years, and in that interim had become a storage-of-last-resort. There was an unimaginable array of stuff within: old farm equipment; livestock feed bags; furniture accumulated for tag sales that never happened; boxes of magazines; crates and crates of unclaimed personal belongings from former occupants of the farmhouse and farm laborers; abandoned appliances; forgotten haybales; lumber of all shapes and sizes; and at the bottom of it all — layers of encrusted cow manure.

With all barn doors swung wide open, a beautiful blue-skied Saturday ahead of us, and half a dozen trailers, a pickup, and one dumpster in position, the large volunteer crew was organized into 12 teams of two to four people. Each team was charged with ferreting out one specific class of detritus. Team focii included burnable wood, useful building materials, metal to be recycled, cardboard, useful stuff to be claimed or cleaned and put out on the street to be taken. We had someone looking out for items of historical value, another person eyeing hazardous waste, and finally a crew hauling out stuff of such diminished prospect that it was bound for the dumpster. We had a team charged with snagging refrigerant-laden appliances as well as electronic equipment, tires, and fluorescent lamps — all of which are “controlled substances” so far as the municipal waste stream is concerned. They loaded up a large trailer and headed for the dump where they were greeted by a DPW employee. “Hey Joe” he said to his mate, “Get over here — they have a magic load — all the stuff we don’t want”.  It cost us over $300 to have them change their mind.

Meanwhile, back at the barn, an old piano was hoisted out on the forks of the farm tractor and trundled off up to the burn pile. Burning Mozart felt sacrilegious, but we liberated the 300 pounds of metal harp frame inside and returned it to the metal recycling pile. The many boxes of “Hoards Dairyman” we’re judged beyond redemption but portions of someone’s folios of old LPs were apparently taken to Mystery Train for appraisal. Pieces of furniture were cleaned and placed on the street. Most went by mid-week. Crockery, utensils, Mason jars, lamps, and other such were cleaned to be taken to Goodwill. EcoBargains in Springfield was contacted about some old doors and windows. Even with all that redirection, by early afternoon the dumpster was full, or so it appeared until Dave arrived with the farm tractor and crunched the contents down. Suddenly there was more room, and we filled it up again.

By the end of the day the barn, its entire mezzanine and the adjacent milking area were entirely cleared. We had done in five hours what we had scheduled to be done over three weekends. It was a memorable moment of utter satisfaction. We had totally crushed it.

What’s Next?
Originally, NACF planned to use the salvaged materials from the barn to build a pavilion for public events on the farm, but the application for community preservation act (CPA) funds was turned down because dismantling the barn was not deemed eligible for CPA funding. Therefore, NACF has contracted with J-Team, a Deerfield based construction firm owned by Jay and James Clark with experience in working on old barns. The firm will carefully deconstruct the barn in September for a small fee, salvaging almost all materials for reuse elsewhere or recycling. NACF will most likely apply for funding to build a pavilion in the future.