Since I leave fairly early on Saturday mornings to make our deliveries, I do my best to get to bed early on Friday nights. On such a night in mid-December I fell asleep extra early, while getting our son Arthur to bed, only to be awoken shortly thereafter by our daughter Emilie. "Dad, dad!" she … Continue reading A hug before you get sprayed
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When it comes to winter, I always tell people that there is two phases: novelty winter and drudgery winter. Novelty winter lasts until a little after New Years. Snow is still "new" and hasn't become a nuisance yet, and any spells of intense cold are softened by the excitement and anticipation of the holidays and … Continue reading New Year’s Resolutions
In a reverse sequence of what we do in the spring, we've spent the last couple weeks moving the laying hens from their mobile coop on pasture back to their winter quarters in our high tunnel greenhouse. This is a multi-step process, as the habits of a stubborn laying hen are very hard to break. … Continue reading Like perched gargoyles
Weekends are the busiest part of the week in the summer. So anything unexpected that comes up between Friday and Sunday really throws a stick in the spokes. A couple Saturdays ago, after a long day at the Hopkins Farmers Market, I got home late afternoon and began feeding and moving animals around like every … Continue reading ’til The Cows Come Home
When he needed to go grab a spare part for his hay equipment, my neighbor borrowed our small farm utility vehicle to blast down the gravel road and back to his shop to grab what was needed. When he returned, his face was red. It wasn't a redness in his cheeks, like he was blushing, … Continue reading The character of disrepair
In the age of factory farms and food scientists, the color of an egg yolk doesn't tell you as much as it used to... See if you can guess the answer: What does farmed salmon and many brands of "pasture-raised" eggs in the grocery store have in common? I'll give you a hint: I'm dying … Continue reading A darker shade of pale
I think of winter as an anti-fever. A sustained sub-normal temperature, and when spring arrives, it means that the anti-fever has finally broken. Fevers aren't all bad. Of course they can be dangerous and must be closely monitored, but they serve a function - to help the body fight off infection. The anti-fever of winter … Continue reading When the anti-fever breaks
It was an early morning in the first half of October last fall when I was out feeding chickens and saw something baffling. The sun was just above the trees to the east, and the rays were cascading westward across our pastures in the cold, crisp morning air. I stopped dead in my tracks holding … Continue reading Close Encounters of the Herd Kind
As I was exiting the local hardware store the other day, the owner called out my name from across the store and flagged me down. I re-closed the door and stepped back inside, curious to see was important enough to beckon me from an entire store-length away. The store owner had a grin on his … Continue reading The Singing Shepherd
With the Dog Days of Summer behind us, we're approaching the "Cow Days of Fall" here on the farm. We've been lucky so far this fall. We've gotten some relief from the drought with a handful of decent rains this September, and there's still plenty of warmth around to keep the grasses growing as much … Continue reading The Cow Days of Fall