I need to quit writing. Or at least quit writing so much. I blame Saoirse for this. Or the voices in my head. I kinda blame Dad. I definitely blame Kate. I get Kate’s message when Bob, the kids and I come out of the woods two weeks ago. We spent 24 hours in sylvan […]
Thoughts at 2am
A driving summer rain rousts us from bed at 2am on Wednesday. It snuffs the fireflies’ lanterns, plunging our twinkling hilltop into darkness as Bob and I scramble to close the windows around the house. He settles back to sleep within seconds. I’m wide awake, fretting about the future of our children. In the course […]
Help pass the PRIME Act and help small farmers!
For those of you who’ve been following straight along, you’ve learned that Sap Bush Hollow Farm is losing access to our federally inspected slaughter houses due to an influx of animals from the Covid-infected plants out west. We’re trying to move our customers over to an animal-share csa-style system so that we can continue to […]
The Lady’s Slipper
“I found a Lady’s Slipper,” Bob rushes into the house. I’m groggy from my nap. Saturday was our first day with outdoor dining service, and with reduced capacity and little traffic, just the two of us handled the dinner shift. But I handled the 3 am baking shift, too. That made it a 20-hour day […]
20: Flag Flying
I received a note from Jessi, who’s farming in West Michigan, asking for my thoughts on how farming/rural living attracts very liberal and very conservative folks. She writes, “I’ve just been processing a lot of thoughts about neighborliness and civility in the face of seeing neighbors show more extremist views and actions during these hard […]
The Red Baron’s Tips for Small Business & Perfect Hollandaise
“That seems like an awful lot of trouble,” Mom stands beside me chopping fresh asparagus from Barbers farm while I make the hollandaise for Sunday dinner. Hollandaise doesn’t happen without mise-en-place. A class of cold water and a plate of cold butter to reverse the egg yolks should they start to turn; butter melted, […]
The Ash Tree
“Remember when Saoirse got stuck in that tree?” Ula’s side nearly splits with laughter recalling that day: her big sister’s hubris as she scaled the giant ash, her embarrassment when she had to call for help. We are alone at the home, standing in front of the mighty ash, the tree that wrapped my daughters’ […]
Essential Kids
“But how will they learn calculus?” I heard that question repeatedly when we started on our homeschooling journey. It was a pre-corona world, where advanced mastery of math and sciences, expansive extra-curricular involvement and stellar test scores were the necessary recipe for the necessary acceptance at that necessary university, which was supposed to unveil the […]
Baling Twine Economics
You can do a lot with baling twine. It binds the hay together, for certain. We’ve also used it for door latches, knife sheaths, belts, halters, hinges, jury-rigged tailgates, tie downs and cooler handles. The artful employment of baling twine is about more than the ingenuity of a small farmer. It’s about their psyche; the […]
Survivors’ Guilt
It takes me a second to realize it’s an eagle and a muskrat. And that I’m witnessing something profoundly beautiful. And terrible. And therefore, awesome, in the truest sense of the word. They’re in Clapper’s hayfield, the one on the way to the cafe from the farm cleaved by the meandering stream. I remember that […]
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