Cashua Drive farm stands out amid hustle, bustle of city life

George Harrington’s 30-acre farm stands out like a pastoral scene from a slow-motion era amidst the commercialism that has mushroomed along North Cashua Drive.

And a twisted brick chimney is all that remains of the house where he was born 65 years ago. The unusual chimney has become somewhat of a landmark beside the busy road.

Harrington said he didn’t tear the chimney down along with the house because it was so unusual. It heated the one-room house with a fireplace in the living room, a wood stove in the kitchen and wood heaters in the two bedrooms.

“And that crowded road out there,” Harrington said referring to Cashua Drive, “it was a two-lane dirt road when I was coming along. We played in it all the time because nobody hardly ever traveled it. You can’t even walk across it now.”

Harrington said the area started getting commercialized in the mid-1970s when Canal Wood bought property on each side of his. Canal Wood wanted his place but Harrington said “they didn’t want to give Daddy what it was worth, so he wouldn’t sell it.”

Harrington grows corn, soybeans and wheat on the farm. He has a little garden that serves up sweet potatoes, tomatoes and butter beans — his favorite.

He also farms land behind Auddie Brown Mitsubishi-Suzuki and on Douglas Street.

But all of this farming is presenting a problem to him because of the traffic on Cashua.

“I want to try to find me another big farm somewhere in the country and sell this because it’s so hard to get out on that road with tractors, combines and things like that,” he said. “My leg starts a trembling and just about gives out holding down that clutch on the tractor.”

Harrington said the Cashua Drive property is good farm land.

“We’ve always made crop,” he said. “It’s never made a complete failure since I’ve been here. Dry weather here doesn’t hurt the crop like it does at some other places.”

And crops and the unique chimney aren’t all Harrington has on his spread.

He’s got some guinea fowl, Rhode Island Reds, a rickety wooden grease rack, an English setter named Susie, several seasoned tractors and an old building where “Daddy used to keep his milk cows as long as he lived.” One of the cows was named Sadie and the other Dolly Moo.

He keeps the guinea fowl because they’re good for the garden, eat fire ants and raise a ruckus when strangers are around.

“They’re worth their weight in gold,” he said. “They say they even kill snakes.”

And don’t forget about Harrington’s hog cooker. He cooks two hogs every Christmas.

“I only cook with black jack oak wood,” he said. “It’s hard to find. I have to go up into the sandhills to find some.”

Harrington is assisted by his great nephew, Hunter Welch. He comes out just about every day.

“I run the tractors, the other machinery and work the land,” the West Florence High School student said. “I’ll be out here all summer. I plan to farm when I graduate.”

Meanwhile, Harrington said he doesn’t have any plans to retire because he enjoys farming too much.

“I love digging in the land,” he said. “I thought about quitting several times, but I just can’t quit. I reckon I’ll die digging in the dirt.”