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One sick chicken
With a few exceptions, the animals on my farm are not pets. My sheep and chickens have jobs to do -- eating grass and bugs, making eggs and meat and babies. If they don't do their job, they don't stay on my farm. My Buff Orpington in happier, healthier days. That isn't to say that I don't treat them well or care what happens to them. In stark contrast
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Getting Lodi’d: It’s raining apples!
When nature calls on the farm, we listen. Meaning, when a fruit with a short shelf life becomes suddenly ripe, there's no choice but to drop everything else. Did you know there are 7,500
Battling the bugs—and the temptation to use chemical WMDs
Off to war against the weed-lurking worms. (Steph Larsen photos) I'm at war with the common stalk borer. As much as I believe in sustainability and chemical-free agriculture in theory, I've never been more
Mapping the farm with my ears
Ever since taking a cartography class in graduate school, I've had a penchant for maps. Full of information, they elegantly highlight places and ideas that we may have missed otherwise. As a visual person, I can appreciate the splashes of color and clean designs. But not all maps are visual. We can
The first rule of farming: Be prepared
(Steph Larsen photos)Everyone knows the Boy Scouts' motto: Be Prepared. While my immediate inclination is to ask "For what?", it's as good a command as any to live by. One at which I failed miserably last week. I came home from work and went out to the sheep paddocks to make sure they looked healthy
Green acreage: A farm by any other name
The full spread (Steph Larsen photos) Editor's note: In a new series called Green Acreage, Steph Larsen chronicles the sprouting of a small but sustainable Nebraska property. --------------------------------- Last December,
