The Kitchen's Garden

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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

How to make the perfect sponge. Snow. And a little wild sweetness.

This is what I could see from the window when the sun came up this morning. No sun and no land. All white. But more on that later. First we need to discuss Christmas. As you know I am from New Zealand. Christmas in New Zealand means cold ham, cold roast beef, salads, huge bowls…
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Popping up to freezing, and then into the snow

Yes. You read that right. Yesterday our temperatures rose to freezing point and oh it was lovely. Remember, I am not complaining, or comparing, merely reporting. We reached freezing and it was lovely! 32.0F (00.0C).. And for the record Mr Fahrenheit was bonkers! What was he thinking? But who is Mr Celcius? Anyway. Why…
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Sheila’s bedmaking

Sheila spends a lot of time on her bed these cold days. You can always tell how cold it is going to be by how high she pulls the straw up. This is a day time bed. Her day bed. Later when she was out in the fields the chickens came in and wrecked it.…
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Still in the deep cold… just a mite chilly!

Deep cold. Last night it went down to- 2F (-18C) or if you want to add windchill which I find a dubious equation at best, it was -10 (-23C), pretty cold then I’d say. Many people have frozen pipes, no water in their houses and are just waiting it out. I know many of…
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Writing and farming below freezing

Yesterday was colder than ever and the wind was blowing fiercely scoring the skin off my face and the water out of my own eyes. So cold that if you are doing the dishes and your hands are a little wet, and you pop outside for a piece of wood for the stove and then…
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Every day dawns anew, washed, shiny and ready for living in.

Every day there is a new dawn. Every day. Everyone gets one. It is true. No matter what troubles we are dealing with, we all get another chance tomorrow. Yesterday the farmy woke to a little snow and more of the deep chill. Not as deep as some and certainly not as much snow and…
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