Tag Archives | farming

A New York State of Mind

I know I left off writing about our time in Vermont but I just don’t know where to start telling the story of our time at Root ‘n Roost Farm in White Sulphur Springs, NY. Slaughtering chickens? Chasing piglets? Building fences? Cheech and Chong? Yo-Yo Ma? Hands down, the best part of our stay were […]

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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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Hide or Go Seek

Upon returning from our year-long cross-country expedition to learn firsthand about living more sustainably, the most commonly asked question has been, “Did you get what you wanted out of the trip?” My answer is yes, absolutely. We sheared sheep and herded goats and cows and hogs and chickens. I learned to drive a tractor, till […]

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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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How To: Potato Towers of Power

Last week, we had the pleasure of working at Lady Liberty Farm in upstate New York. It’s a gorgeous property spanning 120 acres and the main house sits above a picture perfect lake. Much like the retreat center that JC and I envision, the farm is a central part of the Garden at Thunder Hill Retreat Center. […]

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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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