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

Whose tracks are these?

This is not a rhetorical question. Are these from a rabbit? Have to be a rabbit. Our snow hung around for most of the day but it was one of those calm, warmish cold beautiful days that slowly melted into the afternoon. Here is the Bobby Blanc. Now I bet you wish you could do…
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Human Error Kills Bees

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time researching the bees problem. Trying to work out how my two hives died over this winter. I checked all the links you sent me (thank you) and these links took me to other links, I made notes and collated information and a miserable picture has appeared. After playing colour…
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Bad news about the Bees and a Chance to Vote.

We have snow on the ground. Not much. Almost everyone likes to play in the snow, even if you do not have hands for snow balls. Mama continues to get larger and I can literally see her lambs doing flip flops inside her. Some of us have no interest in playing in the snow though.…
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Second-hand Barbie made me do it!

It was way too cold to take children outside yesterday. We need to invent a new weather term for when the wind has nasty hard crystals of snow in it. Not snow that gathers, or drops prettily, just white driving snow that whips through on its way to somewhere else, like a transient doggard mean-spirited…
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Look who’s back!

Mia: Who? What? What’s going on? Why is it so dark in here? Mama: Mia let your eyes adjust to the barn. Slow down. Now, who’s here? Are the little people back? Meadow: Is it the little people? Mia: Daisy has one. Minty:What? Mama: Don’t say What – its rude. Minty: Well what am I…
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Hiding out from the Rain and the Story of Daisy’s name

And then it poured! Isn’t this grand, I said to the animals as they stood at their doors watching the rain come down. Sometimes on rainy days we tell each other stories. Daisy wanted to know why she had been called Daisy. It all started with a rainy day I said to Daisy. With the…
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