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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


  • The Pig’s Flower Garden

    The Pig’s Flower Garden

    The biggest achievement of the weekend was getting the pig flower garden underway. We planted field peas, oats, sweet corn, alfalfa and an assortment of edible wild flowers and sunflowers. I also emptied all the half empty vegetable seed packs into the hopper. It will be a medley of colourful nutritious goodness. Then the showers…

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  • So many pictures today!

    So many pictures today!

    Firstly I got a present from one of my children of a FitBit. I set it all up – proceeded with my ordinary day and here was yesterday. Do you have a FitBit? Or some kind of device to track steps. I am loving it. And I love that it told me I slept well…

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  • The Piglets have Arrived!

    The Piglets have Arrived!

    Sometimes I have a dozen pictures but yesterday because we took three hours out of the day to collect the new piglets the work became hurried. And I just forgot to take photos. 🤭 But our first group of piglets have arrived and they are great! The piglets are all very active. One just started…

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  • Turning Up The Heat

    Turning Up The Heat

    And then my friend R found us some pigs. We have families to feed and one of them is hers. And she is a local with a huge network. She heard back from an old friend and she said come get them tomorrow. Tomorrow is reorganizing day at her hog facility apparently. It will be…

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  • Great news!

    Great news!

    Good morning. Another fine clear morning has announced itself and another hard but satisfying day behind and ahead. Haymaking I have two thirds of the barn sorted and up to date. R is coming today to work with me on the West side while I load another 100 bales into the East side. Here is…

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  • The Best Little Mother Hen

    The Best Little Mother Hen

    This was a tough weekend. Hay making is always hard work. Almost a lesson in perseverance. Pushing through. And it takes a while summer to get in shape when you are a lady of a certain age. We have to make hay. Feeding the animals from our own land is critical to the bottom line…

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