This time of year it’s mostly T-shirts, but yesterday we brought in a load of mulch hay so it was back to gloves and long sleeves. I’ve dabbled in all sorts of long-sleeve shirts over the years. Most are too heavy for summer farm work. Long ago I discovered the “seconds” at the Hathaway Shirt factory in Waterville. For 2 dollars a piece (or maybe it was 50 cents) I could pickup half a dozen beautiful white light-weight cotton shirts. A great deal and the feel was perfect. And the look!
Repurposed!
But then Hathaway closed down and I was forced to comb the racks at goodwill looking for shirts that were made of cotton. Eventually I inherited a bunch of old shirts from my Dad. They worked great. Those shirts spent their final years in the orchard on me. Now whaty remains of them can be found in our rag box. Earlier this summer I scored big-time when our friend Bill unloaded a pile of his dress shirts on me. Blues and whites. He hadn’t worn them since he retired. They even had those little strips of paper on them indicating they were fresh from the cleaner.
Meanwhile, more weeding and scything and painting trunks in the orchards. The beat goes on. We’re now eating corn, tomatoes and peaches. What could be better?