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

Big Scary Moggy Mousers: They have arrived!

The new barn mousers have arrived. They came from another barn across the way that has a cat problem, and we have a mouse problem: all good. I took them up into the warm hayfilled mezzanine floor of the barn, high and safe, above the big animals, to acclimatise. When they can climb down by…
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Big Scary Moggy Mousers: They have arrived!

The new barn mousers have arrived. They came from another barn across the way that has a cat problem, and we have a mouse problem: all good. I took them up into the warm hayfilled mezzanine floor of the barn, high and safe, above the big animals, to acclimatise. When they can climb down by…
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The Toughest Thing about getting Ready for NaNoWriMo…

… is the waiting. I am desperate to start my book. NaNoWriMo is a writing challenge. There will be thousands of people doing it in the month of November. We will all attempt write a 50;000 word book in a month. It will be a little book but it will be written. And My book…
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Someone left the Calf out in the Rain

Early, early morning just after the milking and Queenie and I were slogging through the mud to get to the gate to open it for Daisy. The rain is very welcome. The muck and mud; not so welcome. Mia was not feeling photogenic when we were doing the Farmy Walk the other day so here…
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Do you want to hear how John and I met?

Lynda who lives on a farm in Colorado looked at that year ago post from yesterday and asked me how this all happened. That a New Zealand girl could wind up living in the middle of nowhere with an American man. It is not a long story, but I guess it is a sweet one.…
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Rain on The Wet Skunky Dog in The Golden Leaves of Autumn

Hmm. Skunky dog on a rainy day. Not a pretty olfactory picture. Poor fellow saw the Skunk Off bottles come out and he hid under a bush, not realising that the bush was losing its leaves, and his smelly little snout and little eye could be seen peering back out at me. But Ton Ton,…
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