This week I will continue with some more introductions. John Bingham is not only my father in law and a supportive grandparent, but he is also Reber Rock Farm’s most senior helper.
I first met John, “officially”, when Racey took me to visit her dad’s and stepmother’s farm here in Essex when Racey and I were both working at Essex Farm. In what would be a telling series of events, John and I got completely side tracked as we walked through their back orchard. I began climbing the apple trees and pruning them, while John and I discussed pruning techniques. Racey and Katharine enjoyed a pleasant walk in the orchard as Katharine asked Racey all the questions about this “new guy”…John and I had a wonderful time pruning, and Katharine had to explain to John later the significance of my visit.
Racey and I would later move our Tiny House to their back field where we lived for the winter before moving to our farm. John and his trusty International tractor helped us make hay for our horses for that winter and many more. As we settled in to Reber Rock Farm John has been instrumental and my go-to helper on just about every project we’ve had since starting the farm. Here’s a brief summary of John’s resume at RRF.
John helped us with taking down the fallen down barns that were here when we started the farm. We had to remove all the trash and metal from the buildings and take them to the dump and metal recycling; John is a dump run professional.
When it came time to build our first barn and my first major building project, John was there to patiently help me sort spilled nails, run to the lumber store twice in one day and show Lewis how to hold a hammer.
With the barn mostly complete, John and I were ready to try our hand at building our house! John helped us clear the site of brush and trees, we lay the water line and electrical to the house together. John was an integral part of just about every phase of construction of our house, including installing the flooring!
When our first barn burned down in early 2015 John helped us clean up the mess of a burned and destroyed barn. I’d guess together John and I collected over 20 five gallon buckets worth of metal debris with our ground magnet. After the cleanup John was ready for barn construction round two!
With a twice built barn and a mostly “finished” house we were not done building. Next John helped us build our Poultry Processing and Custom Processing shop. We had a whole new set of building techniques to learn including floor drains in concrete, water proof walls and ceilings and as you can see in the picture how to design and install a rail system for moving beef and pork carcasses around.
It has been a few years since we’ve had a major building project but John continues to help out on the farm in many ways. John and Stretch have become expert chick movers, from ergonomic chick catching, to safe and calm unloading, John is always ready to learn new skills.
When I first developed my herniated disc in my back in late May, John became my go-to driver for various appointments since I could not drive and had to lie down in the back of the car. We shared many hours in the car over the last few months and the nature of my injury and recovery process have lead to conversations I will always remember. I can only hope that I can remain open to change and growth the way John does. I am always learning from him.
I am lucky to have such a loving, caring, skilled and joyful companion. John is much more than a father-in-law; he is a willing helper and friend. Thank you John, your college nickname is still true today: John Nostoppingham.
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