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Sustainability – Does It Matter?

I have been trying to figure out what to write next for quite some time. I like sharing our travel stories and information we’ve learned about farming, sustainability, permaculture and

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Gettin’ Cozy With Thermal Mass

Greenhouses help to extend the growing season on farms across the United States and around the world. However, moderating the interior climate is key as plants have a hard time withstanding extreme temperature shifts. This means many farmers spend significant amounts of resources on energy to heat and cool. At Millsap Farms, greenhouses are critical and Curtis and […]

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Earthship Amazing

Never seen an Earthship? Prepare yourself to be amazed. Michael Reynolds began designing “radically sustainable” homes in a community just outside of Taos in 1971. Since then, his innovative, self-sufficient whimsically designed Earthships have cropped up around the world. Not only does the Earthship model find five ways to re-use captured rainwater, it utilizes both the sun […]

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GoodFooting in Vermont

After Maine, we went to Herkimer’s Hill Farm in Cabot, Vermont. Mark Christensen & Jen Boucher and their son, Blue, live in a spacious 2-story log cabin towards the rear of the family farm there. As we drove down the long driveway, we were first greeted by Jen’s mother, Judy, their two dogs and a […]

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Farming or Vacation?

Well, hell…I am so far behind on my blog posts about our farm visits (and it doesn’t help that I keep taking time to research and write my article, Where Our Food Comes From) but I’ll try and get us caught up while still giving each farm visit its fair shake. Mid-July, we left upstate New […]

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Where Does Our Food Come From: Part II

IN THE BEGINNING The Bible claims that Cain killed Abel because he was jealous of God’s favor with his brother’s blood sacrifice. Cain, a farmer, made an offering of grain, while Abel, a shepherd, sacrificed a lamb. Why God preferred one gift over the other is uncertain, but, if we consider this story to be […]

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Farm Management 101

We spent the last two weeks of September at Millsap Farms, an idyllic patchwork of fields and greenhouses about 20 minutes north of downtown Springfield, MO. Curtis and Sarah Millsap run the farm with help from their nine children plus various interns, CSA members, WWOOFers and farmhands. (Yes, I said nine, all of whom are girls […]

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Small Farmers vs. Big Ag

OK, I’ll try to catch you up on our expedition in a few short bursts… It has been many weeks and several thousand miles since we left River Run Farm and Pottery in central Kentucky. We’ve milked cows, slaughtered chickens, built a wattle fence, cleaned a barn, built a solar dehydrator, split a couple cords […]

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Mandala Garden World

We just left New York where we spent two weeks at Root ‘n Roost Farm in White Sulphur Springs NY, just 10 miles from the site of the original Woodstock festival. All hail the iconic milieu of aged hippies and  summer camps, vacationing Hassids and tie-dyed peace sign schwag. It is beautiful country though with great stands […]

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Getting Intimate With Animals

Butchery: The Watershed I think it’s time that JC and I shared a pact that we’ve made concerning our relationship with animals. We’ve agreed that if we can’t stomach the process of killing and “processing” them, then we shouldn’t be eating its meat. For those of you who have been to parties at Pine St, […]

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