Winters in New England can be brutal. Temperatures at night are usually in the teens to below zero. There are even days when the high temperatures do not get above freezing. What happens to water when it is that cold out? It freezes, of course. While I’d like to say that we had our whole
I’ve always been money conscientious. I’m told that is because I’m a Capricorn. Whether you believe in astrology or not, if you want to be self-sufficient then money is an important concern. There are a lot of important things Covid-19 has taught us and among them is that everyone has a price. Mine is two
For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to be a farmer. My parents, however, convinced me that there was no money in farming, and I should look elsewhere for a career if I ever wanted a decent income. And I did… But the little niggle in the back of my brain
Is Drinking Raw Milk Safe? started drinking raw milk when I was in my early teens. It was one of the few times I actually liked drinking milk. I didn’t really understand the difference between raw milk and pasteurized milk at the time. As I grew up, moved away and started my own family, I
…and does eggshell color really matter? It’s your most burning question. You open a carton of eggs to make breakfast. But do you know if those eggs are good enough for your family? How fresh are they? How healthy were the chickens who laid them? How far did they have to travel to get to
It never seems to fail. You head over to your local feed store to pick up you new chicks. The chicks are labeled pullets, which means they are supposed to be females. But sure enough as the chicks turn into hens, you realize you have a rooster. Roosters don’t lay eggs, they can be aggressive
We were nervous parents the first time our goats gave birth. We had done a ton of research and prepared for every scenario including having our vet and a couple good goat friends on speed dial. We went to multiple goat kidding and health classes, met with friends who bred goats and read tons of
Looking back at some old photos the other day, I came across pictures of our very first goats, Jack and Stella.They were brother and sister Nigerian Dwarf goats. They were absolutely adorable with fuzzy fur and blue eyes and Dennis was completely smitten. (Okay, maybe I was, too.) Back then we had no idea what
How to tell if your goat has worms and what to do about it. Goats are generally healthy, happy animals. They are social-able yet aloof, active yet laid back, curious yet skittish. They have amazing complex personalities for a farm animal and can become attached to their people early on in life. That’s why
I discovered calendula a couple of years ago. As I started to look into healing herbs and how to incorporate them into our life, calendula was a name that popped up often and for good reason. Calendula is a beautiful and ancient annual flower with bright orange and yellow daisy or marigold type flowers. As