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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
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Japanese Beetles Return
Forget the cicadas. Forget the grasshoppers. Ignore the flies for a moment. The most destructive insect in our organic gardens and in the fields is the Japanese Beetle. And they have arrived. They hatch out of the ground in late June and for six weeks voraciously skeletonize the leaves on our trees and in the…
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Compost for the Win
After a month I turn the compost pile and add more water. This was my main task yesterday. In these compost piles there is manure, straw bedding (containing urine), matured compost and water. But there is way more straw than manure so when I turn the compost I add more water. To turn it I…
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Pink Eye in Calves
Everything was lovely yesterday until I saw the beginnings of pink eye in the two black calves. The symptom at the beginning is a silvery trail of weeping from the eye. Later the eye will film over and become pale and very spooky. Pink Eye Pink eye in cows is an infectious disease causing inflammation…
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An overview
Another noisy night but by morning the wind is down and the clouds seem settled. And listening to a storm is better for a body than reading the news – I know that! The farm is green and fertile and growing like mad. HERE IS a short 10 minute walk about the FARM. We walk…
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The Rain Came with a Vengeance
Last night we were visited by what is described by the weather people as a severe thunderstorm. That’s us – on ‘57. Thunder, lightning and hail. And huge gusty surging high winds. Not steady wind – erratic live furious sometimes gale force winds ambushing the trees and roaring in voices. At one point there was…
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No Flying, Quacker
I keep checking the weather forecast urgently for rain. Again and again through the day, as though the flurry of my fingers will bring in the clouds. Similar to a certain person opening and closing the refrigerator door again and again as though a pre-cooked feast will miraculously appear in the vegetable drawer. We got…
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