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

Sitting in Bed

Writing to you. I have reverted to an old habit of taking toast and coffee back to bed with me on a Saturday morning. I don’t go in to the mill ’til 10am on a Saturday morning so to just sit in my bed with a cup of coffee and my favourite toast gives me…
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Summery Sunday

We had a sweet little Sunday morning, today. The sun was in and out and the temperature was perfect. We brought the cows back from across the way. The whole herd. Well – all five of them. John will work on the fences over there and in a few months they will go back there…
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A rainy Sunday

When it rains I naturally turn towards the kitchen . This are the chickens when I let them out yesterday – apparently the ducks pond has nicer water! Ooo. Yesterday – I also shifted The Four from one field to another. Pigs shift very slowly – there is a lot to investigate on the way.…
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Stunning Day!

The pond is not quite finished but it has been filled and is circulating as a trial. It really is awfully pretty. My big black cow Tia has been sent to a bull to be bred – Aunty stayed home, much to her disappointment, but I am not breeding her again. As well as losing…
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In Bed

I have decided this morning to quite simply lie in bed and do this mornings work here. It is a still and overcast morning after a night of gentle steady rain. Maybe it is going to be hot – I don’t know. After a year working in the depths of the mill I have lost…
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MUCH BETTER

Not a lot happening on the farm on this mid- summer weekend. The weather is hot and drier lately so John has been baling the straw left over from the wheat crop. As the cover crop of clover begins to take off, I think the straw will become hay! Next year will be corn and…
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