Self-taught farmers confidently raising chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. Our focus is on practices that are environmentally harmonious and respectful to our livestock. We appreciate the beauty around us, clean eating, fermenting, and responsibly utilizing the bounty of the land. If you like thinking for yourself, continuous learning, and connecting with the homesteader lifestyle, check us out.
Happy New Year! I’m not sure how you feel about it, but I’m happy to see the back of 2025. This year just feels like it has more to offer and, with a clean slate, more opportunities. Regardless of how you choose to observe this newly-arrived year, I’d like to suggest that you experience some awe today.
Continue reading “Welcome to 2026”
The year has nearly come to an end, and there are so many things left unwritten. I won’t pretend that I’m going to get caught up, but I do plan to post over the next couple of days.
This poem was inspired by seed pods I spied while doing a walk here one day. A skeletal bush along the fenceline was adorned with these big, woody-looking pods, and fluff was peeking out. As I went in for a closer look, I realized this was a type of milkweed pod, and the mature seeds were simply waiting for the wind to take them to their destination.
As the year draws to a close, I’ll be spending time thinking about where I’m going in the coming year. Am I the seed, released from the pod, looking toward places unknown? Where will the wind take me?
Wishing each “seed” out there a wonderful adventure and a soft landing in fertile soil. May you embrace change (because we are really never free of it, are we?) and flourish in 2026.
One morning, as I filled one of several five gallon buckets for the geese, I noticed a sunflower seed spinning around and around in the eddy created by the water. We feed black oil sunflower seeds as treats to the poultry, so seeing one in a bucket is not usually cause for alarm. Until you realize that it’s not a seed at all.
Continue reading “Around the Farm: Who’s Looking at Whom?”
You may already know that black-colored animals are less likely to be adopted from shelters than animals of other colors, but there’s no logical justification for it.
Black cats (and dogs, both of which I’ve had the privilege to live with) are just as lovable as full of personality as those of other colors, but superstition and lower photogenicity (not their fault – cameras struggle to show nuance with black) mean that they’re avoided or overlooked…unfairly.
If you’re considering adding a cat to your family, consider a wonderful, glorious black cat – or two or three. All hail the beautiful and mysterious black cat!
The universe – or Mother Nature? – has an incredible way of snapping us out of our own self-absorbed reveries and grounding us in the present. Today, as I finished the morning chores and was hosing off my boots, I looked down and noticed that there was some kind of pod nestled in the grass. It was the same color as the grass, but the oblong shape drew my attention. I needed to find out more about this strange object.
Continue reading “Daily Wonder: A Perplexing Pod”
Hello, friends – I know it’s been a while. My newest article, “Maintaining Your Pastures for Poultry”, will be in the Feb/Mar issue of Backyard Poultry. You can also find it on our Published Articles & Podcasts page.
Continue reading “In Print: Read My New Article in Backyard Poultry”