Saturday, July 16, 2022 | Country Acres • Page 1
Country Acres Saturday, July 16, 2022
Volume 9, Edition 42
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
A cartway past the milkhouse
PHOTOS BY DIANE LEUKAM
Marc Brinkman stands between his barn and Amigo Trail, which runs beside the concrete apron and leads to lake homes and cabins adjacent to the farm he and his wife, Julie, own on Little Birch Lake near Grey Eagle.
Brinkman’s unique friendship with lake residents
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BY DIANE LEUKAM | STAFF WRITER
rey Eagle – Marc Brinkman is an extrovert. This comes in handy for the Grey Eagle farmer, who on any given day may have a visitor step into the barn while he is milking his 40 cows. Oftentimes in the summer, the evening milking can take a little longer than usual. “I can be a bit sociable sometimes,” Brinkman said. “On weekends, it can take an extra hour to do chores because people stop by and talk.” The visitors come from the many cabins and lake homes that are accessed with the help of a cartway that runs through the farmsite, just a few feet from the barn. Not even a township road, the private cartway has been there since people began building rustic cabins along the lake many years ago. Rustic itself, the trail winds through hills along the lake and comes out on a gravel road to the south. “My driveway is literally a freeway on the weekends,” Brinkman said. That was July 5, just after the busy holiday weekend, when many of the cabin residents have hosted large gatherings of family and friends. Visitors are often surprised to find themselves in the middle of
Brinkman page 2
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Publications bli ti The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
(above) A couple walks their dog July 5 along Amigo Trail, which runs through the Brinkmans’ yard. (below) Cows wait to get into the barn on a rainy morning in June at the Marc and Julie Brinkman farm near Grey Eagle.
This month in the
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Down some gravel road Diane Leukam column
6
Butcher shop on wheels Miltona
Watch for the next edition of Country Acres on Aug. 20, 2022
10 Real horse power Upsala
COUNTRY:
13 From “cow-less” to life in the barn Brooten 17 Family farm produces flour Albany 21 The charm of smaller trees: hawthorn and hop hornbeam Nancy Packard-Leasman column
23 150-year legacy St. Nicholas 28 Country cooking Kimball
