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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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The trap
Yesterday morning I found the chewed carcass of another murdered chicken where John had parked his truck overnight. Something had eaten it under the truck in the dead of night. Plus another was dead in the run. Something bad was in the chook house again. Something hungry. So far it has killed and eaten seven chooks. And…
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Battening down the Hatches
Yesterday was cold and icy on top of the small amount of snow that sat around all day. However the cold weather did not deter the daffodils. Bless their beautiful nodding heads. Bowed down under the ice but still smiling like crazy. They are universally joyful. I drained the yoghurt to make Labneh. Daisy and…
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Ribbons
Yesterday. The ribbons of green that had begun to wind themselves around the fields were covered in snow. Yesterday. My old Carhart jacket that has served me well for years and lay across my back for this entire terrible winter, and just as we plummeted back into the 20’s, broke its zipper. Slopped its dripper. Spat…
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Beginning again
Though that is not exactly what I mean. Not like “oh no here we go again”. More like Right, lets begin again using all the stuff we learnt last season. Farming, like many lifestyles that are governed by nature, runs in cycles, lifetimes, seasons, weather. Nature is definitely the Guv’. Spring has its familiar steps. It…
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Dairy-maid’s Arms
When I was small my Dad used to squeeze my upper arms between his thumb and his forefinger and chant.. “and the muscles on her scrahwny arms stoock oot like spiders knees”. Always in a broad and deeply pretend Scottish accent. I would scream with laughter and wriggle away, long sunburnt arms pumping my skinny…
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Sun-green
This is what is happening in the fields, the sun is greening the ground. Waving its brushy wand. Its hard earned water colours. Colouring at last. I am tired. In fact i am feeling deeply tired. Don’t worry though, it is just an adjustment period. A step, step peck. Daisy has presented with The Mastitis. So…
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Letters To My Mother
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