When I was a little girl, I used to go to a place like Putnam Farmers Co-op. It was Mr. Lee's Grain Store on one of the back streets of East Greenwich, RI. My brother and I would go with one of my parents or grandparents. My brother was so young when we went, he always called him "Mr. Wee", instead of Mr. Lee. All those chickens, ducks, goats, etc that made up our menagerie had to eat, and Mr. Lee's was the place to get what they wanted. We'd run up that loading ramp and into the "store". It smelled great in there! All that hay, grain & feed. There were also always a million little kitties running around. My brother wanted to take a kitten home every time we went there! Great memories, and Putnam Farmers Co-op reminds me of just this sort of place. I'll bet the kids love to visit the Putnam Farmers Co-op!
**(I wrote one of my Farmer Nubbins' childrens stories about the Grain Store. It was such a great place to visit as a kid. See the bottom of the blog to read the story).
Next time you are in Putnam, lets go to the Putnam Farmers Co-op! If you live in or near Putnam, I expect to run into you there sometime soon.
I am a Putnamaniac because places like the Putnam Farmers Co-op are great fun!
Farmer Nubbins Visits the Grain Store
(written in June 2006)
Farmer Nubbins awoke early and rubbed his eyes.
He peeked out the window and saw the sun rising in the sky.
He hopped out of bed, put on his work pants and boots,
A farm is no place to wear a fancy suit.
Farmer Nubbins then had a good breakfast, including some juice.
“Squack, Bock” – what was that commotion? “Oh my, some of the chickens got loose.”
Farmer Nubbins ran outside and rounded up the loose chicks.
He put them in their cage and locked it up with some sticks.
Now that things were all settled, Farmer Nubbins opened the barn door.
He went in and picked his feeding pails up off the floor.
“My animals sure eat a lot,” said Farmer Nubbins as he looked into the grain bin.
“It’s almost empty, I’d better get more before everyone gets hungry, and they no longer grin.
This meant a trip to the grain store in town.
Everyone knew it was the best place around.
So Farmer Nubbins finished his chores and hopped into his truck.
The driveway was a bit muddy, but he didn’t get stuck.
Before he knew it, Farmer Nubbins was where he wanted to be.
He had arrived at the grain store, owned by Mr. Lee.
Mr. Lee’s Grain Store was always such a fun place to be.
People of all ages loved it, and some of the little kids called it “Mr. Wee’s.”
“Mr. Wee, Mr. Wee,” called out some kids as they ran inside.
“Can we go out back in the hay bales and hide?”
“Of course you can play. Go have a blast.”
Mr. Lee knew summer vacation would go by very fast.
Not only were the bales of hay piled high on the floor,
There were many other things to find and explore.
If you looked in the corners you could always find a little kitty.
Some were frisky, some fluffy, but all were quite pretty.
Sometimes Mr. Lee would have baby bunnies or chicks.
He even had an old dog that could roll over and do tricks.
Mr. Lee’s store had grains, oats, and seeds of every kind.
They were all lined up neatly so they were easy to find.
Farmer Nubbins shopped for his animals and filled his cart high.
Then he paid Mr. Lee, loaded his truck, and waved goodbye.
As Farmer Nubbins’ truck came into view, his animals’ eyes grew wide.
They could see all the bags of grain piled up over the sides.
Farmer Nubbins unloaded his truck and put everything in its place.
When he was done, he had filled every space.
Every farm animal now agreed, from the goats to the hens,
that Mr. Lee’s grain store was a great place, even though they’d never been.
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