Champlainside Farm Bridport, VT

Circle of Life

Tim and Julie Howlett raised their five daughters on the family farm where Tim’s grandfather settled more than 70 years ago. The family lives in the house he grew up in and Tim always planned to stick around and become a farmer. “I really don’t know of any other thing I ever considered seriously,” he says. “Just being part of the circle of life, all the things that come together to put a glass of milk on the table.”

Raising Capable Kids

When each of the girls turned eight years old, Tim explains, she’d get a calf to care for and could keep any heifers that cow went on to have, and so on. “Kristina’s done the best of all of them and her twin, CareyAnne, the worst,” their dad says with a chuckle. They were all taught how to drive a skid steer at an early age, too. “You can’t ask for a better thing than to raise kids on the farm,” Tim says. “Farming offers an opportunity to apply effort and learning comes whether you succeed or fail.”

Get the Job Done

No matter whether the girls choose a career in farming, Tim says, “They have a rooted understanding of what it takes to get a job done.” So far, Kristina has joined her dad full-time on the farm and Jenna, the youngest who is still at home, helps out. “To work with them and groom them to put you out of a job, there’s nothing more satisfying,” their dad concludes.