WELCOME!
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.
Join Us!
LATEST POSTS
-
Talia: the little calf
Special Edition. Here are a few photographs of Talia for you as promised. And yes with all the changes and the Last Dinner for Kevin and Victoria things were pretty stretched today. So I am a little later than I had anticipated. Teensy Talia is inquisitive, hungry and already making herself at home. Aunty is…
-
Meet Talia
When Aunty Del walked into the milking shed, yesterday afternoon, for her pratice milking (standing in the stall eating left overs while I brush her) dripping milk all over the floor, Victoria and I looked at each other and blocked off all her exits. She was showng all the signs of imminent labour, dripping milk…
-
Weather as Entertainment
It rained a lot yesterday, so we all got wet in the morning, then the sun came out and it was hot and humid and we all started to steam dry the afternoon went by damp and breezy but nothing beat the extraordinary lightening show that we watched yesterday evening after dinner. Our county was…
-
Shadows and Storms
Giggles and Guffaws. I have five young people staying – learning how to grow their own food then cook it. And they all get on. There is much to learn from each other and they are working and laughing all at the same time, exchanging information and languages – wonderful. But they are a handful…
-
I am here
Everything is good. I have FIVE young people staying now. So there is a lot of wriggling about until we develop the new systems. The French boys are already making themselves at home – they are so brave to come this far and today we are flying through the work. I have no pictures – it…
-
A Teaching Farm
Having young people to stay on the farm turns the property from a working farm to a teaching farm for half the year. A place of learning. This is the first year that this distinction has become so clear. As well as being the Farmer I have subconsciously arranged my life so I can still…
The Kitchen's Garden
Sustainable. Self Sufficient. Loving the Land. Join Us!
Site Navigation
Letters To My Mother
Want more?
Join me on Substack where I tell stories of growing up in a different time, a simpler time, a time when all those sustainable tips we are relearning now were normal and ordinary.
Join us at The Sustainable Home:
Sign up to our monthly newsletter for tips on managing a sustainable home.
The Kitchen's Garden 