It’s winter here in Western Massachusetts and it was snowing the day I went to Little Brook Farm to visit Kristen Whittle. She was out in front of her house feeding Christmas trees to her goats and sheep.
As we do here in New England, she invited me in for tea and we chatted about her life as a farmer and a home cheese maker.
This is the off-season in New England, so, right now, Kristen isn’t milking her goats and making cheese. She has promised to send us some pictures this coming summer. (Meanwhile, we assume you like to see where milk comes from as much as we do!)
Her story
Kristen was actually raised on a farm in the Eastern part of the state (Acton). She and her two sisters each had their own goat, chicken and horse to raise. Her parents emphasized the importance of saving money and that lesson served her well.
She came to the University of Massachusetts to get her degree in Animal Science and when she was only 23, she bought the land she lives on now and built the barn where her horses now bunk.
7 years later, the house next to her land went on the market and she was able to buy it. 30 years later, she’s still there.
After college, in 1981, Kristen worked at the Putney School dairy barn in Southern Vermont and then she was invited to work as a shepherd at the UMass School of Agriculture.
With the closing of some of the livestock programs and reorganization within the Animal Science program at UMass, Kristen decided to change gears. She enrolled in an accelerated 2nd bachelors degree program at UMass to get her BS in nursing. When she attended her first class, she was a week overdue with her son Travis (who is now 26).
After she graduated, she worked as a visiting nurse before settling into her longstanding position as the Northfield Elementary School nurse and the District Nurse Leader for the Pioneer Valley Regional School District. She retired from there at the end of the 2018 school year.
All that time, she was a single mother, a farmer and a nurse, adding a Masters in Nursing to her resume. 8 years ago, at the age of 54 she married Tom Norwood, the owner and Master Instructor of Western Mass Martial Arts in South Deerfield, MA.
Her life now
Through the years, Kristen has gradually built up her herd of goats (11) and sheep (32). She also has 2 horses, a donkey, a llama, laying chickens (32), and 3 working Border Collies.
Her main barn is connected to her house, so, she can check on the animals in her pajamas on a cold winter morning.
Her milking stand (ingeniously) folds into a wall so it doesn’t take up space all the time.
Every year, beginning in the Spring, she raises 200 meat chickens/turkeys and 7 pigs. She sells lamb, pork, chicken, turkey and eggs year round. She also takes orders for whole/half lambs and whole/half pigs.
5 weeks of the year, she has farm camps for kids. They learn how to care for the animals and how to make cheese and butter.
She sends her wool to a company in Quebec which makes blankets from it. She sells the blankets on her website.
During the season, Kristen makes chevre, mozzarella, ricotta, butter and yogurt. She freezes the cheese for the off-season and she says it tastes just as good as when it was fresh. (Sorry-no pictures. Did we mention that this is the off-season?)
Little Brook Farm
334 Russell Street
Sunderland, MA 01375
413-665-3802
kristen@littlebrookfarm.com
littlebrookfarm.com
Sylvia Leigh says
Love this story when there is such a lot of doom and gloom about. You are an amazing lady and admire your accomplishments.
Kristen Whittle says
Thank you for the kind words. We all need some positive interactions with animals and nature in general in our lives to keep us balanced. I am chuckling as I write this because one of my border collies is trying to get my attention by crawling across my computer and my lap. I love what interactions with animals can do for kids. I make a point of talking with them during the camp weeks about noticing how quiet it makes us feel inside when we spend time in nature. Hopefully they will carry this with them for life.
Mary Mayshark-Stavely says
Fine article about a remarkable person and amazing farm! Especially great that so many children of various ages are getting an opportunity, through her camps, to actually learn about handling and caring for many farm animals.
Kristen Whittle says
Thank you Mary! I love working with the children! They always help me to look at my own farm through fresh eyes!
Wow, reading about all of Kristen’s continued accomplishments and seeing all of the pictures of the work that she does on her farm makes me feel like a total slug! This woman is amazing! Thanks for sharing this interview. I bet that the upcoming photos of her cheese will be equally impressive.
ps to Jeri — I love that you did this interview in person!
Thanks, Susan. I wish I could do all of them in person. I would have especially enjoyed meeting you!
Wow Kristen, I’m so impressed. It makes me want to start up a farm again. I love that you have your wool made into something practical you can sell, and that you have the farm camp so the kids will learn. My earliest and strongest impressions of farm life were from two visits to a farm when I was just 5.
Thanks! I have been fortunate to have had a few different careers in my life that I have loved, but I have always been drawn to livestock farming. Even during times when I was either a full time student or working in another field, I always had animals and almost always had milking goats. Now that I am retired from all but the farming and a few other part time nursing jobs I often joke that my desire to collect animals is at odds with my desire to travel.