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

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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Mama still holding her own and a funny story

Unbelieveably. And against the odds she is still quietly sitting in her pen watching the world go by. She cannot walk more than a few steps, and makes not a sound. I pour her potion down her throat every two or three hours and make her get up to pee. Yesterday about 3pm I noticed…
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Mama, the mother ewe, has had a bad few days..

And has miscarried. She had slowed down in the last few days. And I was cycling through the usual Mama remedies. But then her condition began to really worry me so I separated her from the others. Though she had been standing alone anyway. She was coerced into the barn then lay down on her…
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A Day on the Couch

Well it was SO cold. It never even reached above Freezing Point yesterday. And the day before yesterday I overdid it just a little. So I had to have a rest day which means no sitting down, no bending over and no lifting. My kefir mother had been working for 24 hours so I made…
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The last of the summer work

Kupa resumes his role at the top of the totem pole. Speaking of poles the cats are using the resting clatter box as a pathway to the loft. No more climbing the ladder for them! The chook house was cleaned out. John took over once he saw what I was about and he spread the…
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