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I am Cecilia. A New Zealander who farms in Illinois.

My farms are organic and regenerative and full of stories. I have been writing here about environmentally sustainable farming and food and travel since 2011.

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LATEST POSTS


  • Through the Eyes of my Son

    Through the Eyes of my Son

    Yesterday my son took Camera House for a walk and last night he wrote these words for you and me.   He and his family will be going back to wintry New Zealand in a few days and he wanted to add his voice to the blog for a moment. I am so proud of…

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  • Shots of tiny piglets

    Shots of tiny piglets

    Because of the humidity and Molly’s (and my) distress at her slow recovery from the birth of eleven healthy piglets,  I opened the big barn door on the side of her farrowing pen and held my breath.  Usually I don’t let them all out until the piglets are a little older and the yard is…

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  • The Creep

    The Creep

    In the piglets farrowing chamber there are two creeps. A creep is a space that only the baby animal can enter. both these creeps have plenty of dry straw and a warm light. Molly’s piglets decided to make their own. They found a space between the big old sliding door and the wall that had…

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  • One Day Old Piglets

    One Day Old Piglets

    Molly is a nervous mother but holding her own.  Very new and totally shocked at the sheer number of miniature pigs running around her feet. But if a piglet squeals she freezes and waits for the little ones to regroup before continuing. She is eating and drinking well and, as you can see, so are…

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  • ELEVEN PIGLETS

    ELEVEN PIGLETS

    Last night around midnight Molly gave birth to eleven good sized little piglets. I was caught by surprise by the numbers and only had one small  towel with me. This got damp fairly fast drying off one piglet after the other. So I took off my shirt and used that as well, by baby number…

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  • Farm Sex

    Farm Sex

    I don’t mean to be provocative with that heading but really poor Carlos the Tiny was a busy boy yesterday.  Lady Astor came into heat (I was advised by the vet not to give her a break as she would put on too much weight then it is harder to get them bred again –…

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