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
-
Summer like cotton sheets
Yesterday I was feeding the chickens and suddenly looked up as I felt a Lull descend like a floating white cotton sheet upon the Farmy. A summer lull. Long before the times of fitted sheets, (which I hate by the way – they are useless when the elastic gives up), my mother would make the…
-
Prone Cats and Sleeping Calves
John has so much work now that he is working six days a week, leaving at 4 in the morning and not getting home until after seven. Lady Astor and I wait for him. John has an habitual cough and when she hears him cough, as he walks from his truck to the barn after pulling…
-
Still alive
Against all the odds, and rattling like an old train when he drinks (antibiotics are not helping him – they seldom do help such young bony animals) The Little Bobby is still alive. Yesterday afternoon I shifted him into the small pen close by my bedroom window and gave him small sips of colostrum (I have jars…
-
Scours in Calves
By late morning yesterday four of the five calves were scouring. Diarrhea. Bad. All except Difficult. Here is what I know. Any loss of fluids needs to be replaced very fast or a small newly born animal like these calves will die. The scouring needs to be attended to immediately. If caught early and I…
-
Bye Bye Amanda
While Godot watches over Mrs Flowers as she sits on her eggs. Mr Flowers swans about the garden eating zucchini flowers or sleeping on the front door step watching us through the window. He is a magnificent bird. And so tame. Amanda drives home to Texas today and her car bears the marks of frequent…
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 