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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


  • Mama hates me today and the Pink Pickled Onion recipe.

    Mama hates me today. I have begun the process of weaning her lambs from her. She is getting worn down, her udder is looking banged up with dry patches  and these lambs at almost three months old are big and  pushy. Watching those two fly at her at full gallop, charging straight at her udder…

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  • How to make Fresh Homemade Yogurt and Farmers Cheese

    Farmers Cheese or Country Cheese as we call it,  is a fresh cheese. It is fast to make for a cheese, and if you do not eat it all immediately it will sit in your fridge for about a week. I have used it on pizzas, in grilled cheese, sandwiches and salads.  And as a…

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  • BLT with Country Cheese

    In the summer, once the tomatoes begin to ripen, we eat bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches on freshly made bread every Friday, for as long as the tomatoes last. Now, you think one would get tired of them wouldn’t you. But we don’t.  Every Friday they are a little different. Yesterday I cooked the bacon…

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  • Water, water everywhere, give me a drop to drink

    Yesterday as I walked about in the heat with my hose making sure animals had water to stand in and cold water in their troughs I began to wonder about how much water I was  using. How much water is needed to run a sustainable, organic farmy. So I did a little research. Daisy (milking…

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  • I got the plum job because Girls can drive Tractors too you know.

    Yesterday in the late afternoon we baled and brought in the hay from The Haymakers Field. Not a lot of hay. After all this is the first harvest of the first season of the Haymakers Field.  It was not a pretty field. We have had  very little rain this season and consequently the alfalfa had…

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  • Walkabout on the Farmy

    Taking stock on a lovely summer day. Kupa was inadvertantly locked in the chook house and after spending the whole day in with the peasants he had to have a wee lie down. Then he went to have a stretch and adding insult to injury his display attracted the wrong attention,  I fear that Kupa…

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