I remember hearing a friend complaining about the Amish once at a dinner party, saying in angry tones how "they don't pay taxes or fight for their country." I raised my eyebrow at this. The Amish do, of course, pay sale and income taxes (save Social Security, and then only...

Just a warning for any sensitive readers: This post goes into detail about the meat bird workshop I held this past weekend. If you don't care to read about the subject, just ignore it. But for those of you interested in the how-to of eating your own backyard chickens, read...

I am starting to cringe every time I hear the phrase "hobby farm." I just hate the assumptions that surround the words, circling it like confused sharks. The idea that your backyard farm or small rural acreage is equivalent to your Tuesday night bowling team or bird-watching club really gets...

I like technology. I'm using some right now, actually. I'm writing a blog post on a computer, and it doesn't get more technological than that on a sheep farm. I also enjoy my home's electricity, my combustion-engine truck, heated water buckets, my refrigerator and the hundreds of other inventions and...

I was a vegetarian for nearly a decade, something I decided to do in college when I became aware of the mistreatment and cruelty in industrial agriculture. But I decided to come home to eating meat earlier this year and am glad I...

There's an argument to be made that homebrewing is greenbrewing. Crafting your own beer at home lets you create an artisanal product that doesn't need to be shipped by the truckload around the country: saving on fuel and cutting down greenhouse gases. Home brewing...

This weekend I'll be attending a Greenhorns event in upstate New York called the Hogget Cook Off. It's the first of a two-day event that centers around basic butchering education, but the buck doesn't stop there. Every aspect of processing the animal will come into play. The fleece will be...

There's a condition that inflicts some of us and I can only describe as Barnheart. Barnheart is a sharp, targeted, depression that inflicts certain people (myself being one of them) as harsh and ugly as a steak knife being shoved into an uncooked turkey. It's...

We're not from around here. I know you see us all the time, but trust me, we're from someplace else. We may have lived our whole lives right next door to you, but we left quite some time ago. We found another place and it suits us just fine.

Last night I left the farm and drove into Manchester to see Food Inc. (which was wonderful) and engage in a group discussion about industrial food. Now, I knew I was going to the movies, but I had no idea when the film was over there would be a...

The Times recently ran an article about the haycation: a working weekend at a small farm you pay to attend. Turns out that a certain strain of urban locavores are flocking from the cities to visit farms that double as Bed & Breakfasts. They go to get their hands...

The market season is in full swing, and if you were to drop in on your local farmer's stands this weekend (depending on your location) you may come across barrels of tomatoes, beans, sweet corn, and other fresh produce primed for your dinner table that very night. You probably already...

The days are getting warmer and all of us are spending a lot more time outside. Regardless if you're enjoying an outdoor concert or toiling in the vegetable garden -- it's high time for some good old fashioned refreshments.

I'm a big fan...

So my goose Saro is all grown up. This week she started laying her first eggs, which are HUGE compared to the chickens' usual deposits. They're fun to find, she lays them all around the coop in little hidden places. It's like a game trying to find the goose egg...

There are a lot of people living in urban environments who would love to bring a little more homegrown goodness into their lives, but honestly don't buy that it's possible. Let's be honest, when you wake up to car alarms and reside several stories above the soil--how realistic is it...

Some of the greenest tools you can add to your kitchen are also the oldest. The following list comes from the Lehman's catalog, an Ohio-based mail order company that caters to Amish families around the country. It's one of the few places you can get everything you could ever...

Tired of paying five bucks for cage-free eggs? Getting uncomfortable about all the reports on factory farming? Want an organic source of protein right in your own backyard? Well, a lot of folks feel the same way and their answer's unanimous - a backyard flock of chickens. From Portland patios...

In Catherine Friend's book, The Compassionate Carnivore, the argument is made for meat. While it seems kinder on the surface, vegetarianism isn't necessarily the most compassionate choice in the broader spectrum of animal welfare. Which may sound like sheer lunacy to some of my fellow vegetarians, but hear me...

There's a lot to clean up in this country. But let's start with the important stuff. I want an America liberated from crappy pie.

I am not good at many things, but I think I have nailed the perfect organic apple pie recipe...