Archives

What are Snow Days on the Ranch? Monday had us shipping almost all of the CSA shares out along with the regular orders. Snow started late Tuesday and on and off throughout the rest of the week. With no one coming, a rare thing indeed, Wednesday was a perfect snow day. The guys headed out… Read More

    Seesawing weather. First cold, then wet and warm. Today, the smells that are muted during winter – scents of moisture, rotting, and decay are in the air as we walk about. Instead of being unpleasant, it shows all the hard work going on. The compost pile steams after a good turning, all those… Read More

  Eating, consuming, nourishing, binging. So many words for fuel. So many mindsets on what is right, and what isn’t. Did you catch the latest?  Whole30 and Paleo are bad for you. In Defense of Real Food: a Paleo & Whole30 Dietitian Responds to US News & World Report’s “Best Diets of 2017” Yes, whole… Read More

Anyone watched any Russian movies centered around the Siberian winter? The lowest recorded temperature for them was -89F. With windchill, our nearby Whiteface Mountain was inching mighty close. Locally, -30 to -40F was the normal temp for several nights. Our week has consisted of running out bundled up in layers, and then either stripping off… Read More

Good morning 2018, You’ve greeted us a bit on the brisk side, -32F and yet this old farmhouse is keeping us snug. Fields are covered in a thick blanket of snow, both protecting and cleansing. I love how these mornings last forever, pausing over a rare second cup of coffee and watching as the sun… Read More

Passing Years It hits me harder with each passing year, or month… or, Ha! – daily. Time is precious and marches on. Do you ever get that sudden feeling of, “What on earth are you doing?”, usually preceded by that extra cookie, ten twenty minutes mindlessly scrolling though FB or just, wasting time. I don’t… Read More

 Summers are for Vacations Hope you all had a fantastic long weekend. It rained here in the St. Lawrence River Valley, but we enjoyed the opportunity to relax and do some summer planning. A friend of mine said her son was setting up a family meeting for summer plans and it got me to thinking.… Read More

Baking Day Today is a rainy day and calls for baking, lots of it. While the guys drain rain storage barrels to collect the new rain falling, I’m grinding, mixing and filling the cook stove with firewood. The first batch of granola is in and I have a few minutes while the wheat grinds into… Read More

Our Christmas Present Not a new building, not a new telehandler, but the Shepherd himself. Scratching your head? Read on… Ok, this could be a long post, but so, so good. Two and a half years ago, our processor discontinued its USDA inspection which meant some very dark days ahead. Without that magical stamp upon… Read More

What’s for Dinner? Good afternoon. Yes, afternoon already. It is two days post Christmas and I’m dragging myself out of the ‘relax’ mode into ‘productive’ mode. This Christmas was just.So.RELAXING. This, in part because all of those Christmas boxes arrived, on time, to the right people and I didn’t have to call FedEx once to… Read More