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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


  • Rain

    Rain

    It rained almost all day yesterday. Lovely gentle warm rain. I came in from the evening chores soaked to the first layer and happy as a lark. The trees are blooming. Here are two of my favourites: Magnolia ‘Butterflies’  This is the most wonderful little tree. She  just bloomed yesterday, will not bloom for long,…

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  • Up and Running

    Up and Running

    Yesterday we found a great home for Elsie and Beatrix Potter. The Dutch Belted Cow and calf. Their new owners are cow people with fields and a similar way of thinking to us. Their animals are raised in an old fashioned way on grass.   So I am confident that they will both get the…

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  • … on a Friday

    … on a Friday

    At last. A warm Friday night.  Cold cuts. A jug of wine. Fresh cheese. Fresh Labneh.  Chimi churri with kale from the green house.  Home made sour dough bread. And those good,  good friends – the kiwi builder, (back for a visit) Jake, The Matriarch. And thou. Bliss. That lovely ‘tired from a late night out…

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  • Farmers Hands

    Farmers Hands

    Farmers hands do so much work. All the pigs got the DE treatment. Dust was everywhere. And because Tima’s hair is still growing back she looks like some kind of beacon out at sea. The Big Hereford Pigs are now pie bald. And my farmers hands are dried up and weird looking from the DE.…

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  • Raw Milk

    Raw Milk

    In the evening, just before the pigs dinner I let them out into the field for a run and a grass munch. There is not a lot of grass yet so there is still a danger of them rooting. So their grass break is not very long. But they eat the whole time.Pigs! Then they…

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  • Kids and Kunes

    Kids and Kunes

    This title is a little misleading.  I took the kids in to visit with the kunes but they studiously ignored each other.  There was no  Kids ‘And’  Kunes at all. The pigs were on one side and the goats on the other.  I am still working on the field. No sooner do I plug a hole up…

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