I got angry when my sister observed that “everybody is looking for a handout”…until I realized how many times I’d said it myself. “Would you prefer to ride a dragon, or a winged tiger?” Ula is skipping between Saoirse and me as we head up the road for a morning walk. “I have this one […]
When a farmer is charged with animal neglect, who will stand with him?
I didn’t think this kind of thing happened anymore. I got the first phone call two weeks ago from a local reader. She told me there was a pasture-based farmer like me in the next county over who was being brought up on misdemeanor charges for animal abuse. I thought it was a hoax. Then […]
What dogs and mud taught me about working with family
When everything is at its dirtiest, showing up to face the muck and share the load are the most important steps. I take a tentative step on the woodland trail I’ve been breaking all winter. The snow is too soft today. I sink to my knees. Sighing, I call to the dogs. We abandon the […]
The Feathered Cat: Lessons in the Power of Believing
This chicken thinks she’s a cat. Find out what other impossible things can happen on this unconventional farm. On Thursday, Mom and Dad sit down on the back porch to listen to the chorus of afternoon crickets. Mom’s cat, Tayla, hops into her lap. Dad’s cat, Strawberry, hops into his. Tayla has long calico […]
Cave Men, Tomatoes, Ground Beef and…Love
It’s three in the morning. I’m standing in my kitchen, staring down 70 pounds of tomatoes and 35 pounds of onions, all awaiting their destiny in a year’s supply of tomato sauce. Lined up next to the basement stairs are 40 pounds of green beans, already chopped and neatly canned in quart jars. August doesn’t […]
The Retention Bonus
“Say, the price for your brisket isn’t bad,” the man said as he glanced over the list at our farmers’ market stall, “when you consider how much you get paid for your steaks!” I tried not to let it get to me. In spite of the barb, it had been a decent market day, and […]
Sundried Tomatoes or Mountain Streams?
We are driving home from Ula’s eye doctor appointment in Schenectady as Saoirse wistfully glances back over her shoulder at the mountains in the distance. She sighs. “Can we please go to the Adirondacks this summer?” Her question interrupts my own thoughts, where I am tallying how much garlic I have left in storage, calculating […]
Of Songs and Suppers
“Can we invite Cyndi Lauper over for dinner?” Ula asks. Occasionally, my children’s dim understanding of reality surprises me. I am standing in the kitchen, searing pieces of beef before flicking them in the slow cooker to make a stew for Saturday at the market. She will be accompanying me, even though the forecast […]
The Goose and the Gander
On Sunday, there is a break in the rain. There is a lot we could be doing in that break: painting beehives, knocking back the weeds around the grapes and blueberries, mowing the lawn, taking the girls for a slow amble to one of the nearby ponds, catching up on needed sleep. We are doing […]
Nick and the Porcupine
The first summer we lived here, Bob awoke one night to a chewing sound he heard outside. He went out to investigate. As he shined his light on the door of our shed, a porcupine unabashedly turned and looked at him before returning to his treated lumber supper. Bob tried to yell at him to […]
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