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Which came first, the chicken or the egg? At my farm, chickens did.  Right before we moved to the farm, while still living in Poplar Bluff, we bought a chick at Orschelen for each of our kids.  Our enclosed back porch was a suitable place until they started trying to fly after a few weeks.  My husband promptly built a small chicken coop in the backyard and the ladies went outside.  We moved out of town when our pullets were about three months old or so.  In the country, the hens thrived.  Free ranging was our preferred method and the girls soon divested our farm of nearly all the bugs in our yard.  By the end of the summer, we had

Firework stands have been popping up like mushrooms after a summer rain.  My children eagerly await the firecrackers, bottle rockets, sparklers, and everything else explosive that is to be had this time of year.  The Fourth of July is a wonderful time of year, with many gardens just starting to issue forth their bounties.  What’s more American than corn on the cob and a cold watermelon at your picnics and barbeques? Watermelons are available, none from my garden as yet.  The spring weather played havoc with my plants and I don’t expect any before August.  My tomatoes are setting and I can’t wait for the first ones to ripen.  I am a self-confessed tomato snob, and I refuse to buy

As we quickly approach the solstice on June 21st, it seems like the time is flying by.  Most of my garden is out, a third of my corn is planted (thank you Mother Nature for the rain, but I'm good really...), and now it is time to hurry up and wait for everything to produce the produce. While eagerly anticipating your tomatoes and cukes, there are a few tasks to be done.  Thin out seedlings and fertilize the plants you keep for a more vigorous garden. My garden and raised beds are all enriched with a locally sourced organic fertilizer, courtesy of my daughter's pony, Rusty.  If anything still needs an added boost, I use a line of organic fertilizers from Canada

As a child and certainly as a teenager, I used to bristle when I heard an older person talk about how easy "kids these days" had it.  At the time I was absolutely certain that they didn't have a clue about what having it hard was (extra homework, hour long bus ride, doing the dishes and bringing in firewood, et cetera). Brother was I wrong.  Becoming an adult and all the responsibilities entailed taught me that; having children added a whole extra dimension.  Add to that a farm where the animals health and well being is squarely on your shoulders and it's a full plate. Since moving to the farm, I now feel a sense of admiration and respect for

Susan has given birth! Rejoice! First of all, Susan is my favorite creature on this farm after my kids and husband.  She’s loving, smart, funny, and it turns out she’s a pretty darn good mama. Susan is a pig. Susan was born on this place last March during a very cold snap in our first litter of piglets.  I was such a newbie farmer; I actually missed the wedding of one of my good friends from high school to stay at home and fuss over my sow and piglets.  She was one of a litter of eight, pretty average, and just randomly ended up being one of the piglets we kept.  As she matured a very distinct personality developed.  She