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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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Pulling your weight
I was showing Triple T my spiders knees arm muscles yesterday while we were waiting for another flurry of bales to be thrown, by John down below, onto the clatter box and up into the loft of the barn where we stood ready to stack. Triple T tried to look impressed but he suffers from the condition of…
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Every Pig Needs a Fan
Two Hundred and Eleven Bales of Hay. Not a bad days work at all! Above is the toppings bales from Daisy’s paddock and below the alfalfa mix from the haymakers field. The good hay. Lovely green hay just like my darling hay mentor Linda, has been telling me I should strive for. This lady and her…
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Urchin Wind
Yesterday things broke. And my luck began to teeter. But an urchin wind brought my luck back. First it was the dishwasher – broke. Then Tima’s gate – broke. Then I went to rake the hay – Big red Rake – broke. Then I began to hand rake and my fork broke! – BROKE! Then we jumped into…
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Sun, Breeze, Lessons
So is it sunny there? He said. (The hay man is a man of few words. The phone too small to accomodate any more.) Yup, I answered. Lots of sun. We got 2/10ths last night. (Pause.) Well, not too bad, he said. Woke me in the night, he said, thought the niece had flushed the…
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Had to happen
It rained last night. Rained on my four acres of hay. I showed you the forecast didn’t I. Sun it said. But it rained anyway.(sigh.) The daisies don’t care. DINNER! HERE PIGGIE, PIGGIE, PLONKER! POPPY! What are YOU doing in there! You are a naughty naughty girl. You can’t hide from me. I can still see…
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Chicks and Chicks
The hay is cut. We have four days ahead of us with sun, and not too humid. I have even taken a picture of the weather forecast for you so you can see that I am not imagining it. We have had so much rain lately that seeing sunny days ahead of us is a treat.…
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Letters To My Mother
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