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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


  • Sheila my big fat Pig

    Sheila my big fat Pig

    I realised yesterday that we have started our annual fundraising for Sheila and yet some of our newer readers will  not know why. Sheila is a very special pig.  I have collected some older photos of her for you to show you how special. Sheila is a Hereford Pig. The Hereford swine are still listed as a…

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  • Survivors

    Survivors

    This is what happens when you survive the Polar Vortex. Your comb is burnt off, your wattle disappears, you lose the nails from your toes and sometimes the toes themselves. You are no longer pretty because maybe your tail feathers never grew back. But you never give up. Because you are chook and giving up…

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  • Aunty Del pops in

    Aunty Del pops in

    For a while now Aunty Del and the sheep have been wandering about in the fields down the back, checked every day but without much interaction.   The feed in the fields is good but with the cold coming I decided to bring her in to the barn for some TLC. Really I am just…

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  • The Bat Cave

    The Bat Cave

    You know the cold is coming when Sheila my big fat pig starts building her bed.  Last night she had gathered it all up high,  she stands in the middle of her bed and goes round and round scraping the straw up with her hooves and her nose moving up into the centre of her bed as she…

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  • the face of halloween

    the face of halloween

    “So what happpened on the farm today? ” Our John said, as he tracked his muddy boots across my newly scrubbed kitchen floor. “Oh, nothing much –  I planted 300 garlic bulbs, the cooking oil car got a flat tire when I was out at the old farm so I abandoned it but I got a good shot…

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  • A moments respite

    A moments respite

    You know how we run our lives expecting that all will be well when we get all our ducks in a row or something.  We plan endlessly expecting a perfect life. Save against that –  insure against this.  We roll along thinking I will get over this hump and solve this problem and sort this situation out…

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