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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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Important Advice
From Sheila : Your Big Fat Pig. When engaged in a decadent bout of spring sunbathing. One must always wear a hat. On one’s head. And yes, that is the water barrel. And yes she has plenty of places to sleep in the shade. But this was better. I hope you all have a lovely day. Your friend…
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Look what came in the Mail
Chicks and Ducklings. In the mail! John and the Matriarch want duck for Christmas dinner. But I bought a few extra so I could breed them too. Sadly two of the extra were dead on arrival. So we have four Orpington ducks. The chickens are a selection of cold-hardy layers. Next week the meat chickens come. By…
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The Winters Tail
That nasty Discontented Winter has created some gaps in the gardens. Big gaps. It’s icy tail flicked across the gardens and sent killing shivers down the spines of trees and vines. The peach tree and a couple of a little apple trees -Dead. Also a big apple tree and a pear – Dead. Sopsta’s bright yellow magnolia only has…
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See that Dot?
It is a barn swallow. Which means that summer can now be spoken of in more positive tones. Gentler tones not those chilled, iceblock, impatient tones we have been hurling out into our gardens. It was not hot yesterday but as I worked I felt a delicious warmth spread into my bones. It was…
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Across the way
There is a family barn across the way (in fact I call it The Barn Across The Way) that has been rented out for many years and has just come back to the family. Yesterday actually. And now (she says with a big grin) it is OURS. I want to write MINE (because I am the farmer…
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Grass makes me Smile
And animals out of the barn and onto the grass makes me smile even more. That wonderful chomp, chomp sound. And laying down where it is clean. Ah yes, I love animals out on the grass. Sheila and Poppy are officially Out of the Barn too. They are back in Sheila’s summer corridor paddock with access…
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Letters To My Mother
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