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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


  • Do you believe in miracles and magic and angels?

    ‘This is weird.’ John said, as he trudged back from the house to the hay field. He had checked the weather again when he went inside to take his cherry pie out of the oven (the cherries are ripe!) . “It looks like every storm that is coming our way today hits something and kind…

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  • Gilts and Barrows – Goods and Bads

    A little girl pig is a gilt until she has babies then she is a sow, a little boy pig starts out as a boar and becomes a barrow after his wee operation. The Kitchens Garden Farmy officially has six barrows and 2 gilts. The barrows will sell for less than the gilts but are…

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  • And then it rained…

    Only hours before we were to gather to bale the hay. After I had turned it into its windrows and tested it for dryness. It rained. and rained.  A 30% chance of a stray thunderstorm had appeared on the radar yesterday morning, and then in our sky that afternoon. And so I cleaned. When I…

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  • Just when you thought it was safe

    Just when you thought it was safe. The piglets start to hide in the straw to keep the flies off. Charlotte and I had such a time yesterday trying to keep track of them all. And now I have to worry about their mother standing on them again. They are hidden in there. But at…

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  • I can’t find Pania the Peahen .. now what could she be up to?

    Tui  the peahen is still on her nest (her eggs are due to hatch on July 2nd) and Pania the other peahen has slowly become more and more absent.  And now I have no idea where she is. There are a few more hiding places to search but Hmm… I think to myself. I wonder…

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  • Gentle mornings

    When I said good morning to you yesterday, this was the dawn I was seeing (above). Worth being a header I think?  After I had quietly fed Charlotte, visited Sheila, fed the chickens and moved the sheep to a new pasture,  and checked the cows, the dogs and I went for our walk around the…

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