Halloween is over, the candy bowl is empty, and the jack-o’-lanterns on your porch are starting to slump. Don’t toss them. At Miles Smith Farm in Loudon, November brings a different kind of pumpkin season, the one where castoff pumpkins become cattle cuisine.

I’d bought day-old Clark and another week-old bull calf from a dairy farm in New Hampton. Both calves drank milk formula like champs. Then, on day four, Clark quit. He turned his nose up at the bottle, and a calf that won’t drink is in trouble.

You’ve heard of therapy dogs and therapy horses. Even cats and rabbits make excellent companions. But have you ever considered a cow as a therapist?

I entered Sam and Bingo, my Black Angus–Normande cross steers, in the official log scoot class. In this class, teams of steers drag a loaded sled through an obstacle course. Sam and Bingo did everything I asked. The trouble is, I hadn't asked often enough at home.