Erika's Blog

In early 1986, we purchased 193 acres of mostly wooded land in Bethel, Vermont from the estate of Ethelyn Adams. Two barns, house, garage and several other small buildings were assessed at nothing and worth maybe a little less, but the land held great promise. Together with friends, family, Ethelyn’s family, and Vermont neighbors, we rebuilt the buildings, giving ourselves a special place to live and then began focusing care and attention on the land.

Some of the forest had been clear cut, others parts neglected, and all needed attention. Our first two attempts hiring loggers to help us were disasters. Their heavy equipment tore up the land, leaving it looking awful; trees were damaged, nicked badly, and clean up was incomplete. We heard about a local forester, Carl Russell, who logged with his own horses and oxen. We asked that he take over our forest land management and he did. What a gift! Now, his animals leave minimal traces. The branches and brush of felled trees are collected to provide winter shelter for other living creatures and humus for further forest growth. Assessment of the health of a tree farm can be done by looking up in order to see the sunlight and its patterns filtering onto the land. The forest shines.

We also began developing the 30 acres of land that were not forested. We plowed, green manured, tilled, and green manured again and again. We planted two acres of organic fruit trees and bushes, and vegetables. Twenty years of organic gardening helped with the farming, but another of Ethelyn’s nephews, Albert Whitcomb, has been a partner in this process. One summer, one of the driest in Vermont’s history, we carried water by hand to our baby trees and bushes almost daily. They survived and thrived. We celebrated.

Sometimes as we walk the land, we can almost hear it singing to us. We sing back in gratitude for its offerings and blessings.

Written by Erika Keller Rogoff, inventor of the Healing Cream.