When Dick and I travel to St. Cloud (Minnesota), we like to stop at the Good Earth Food Co-op where large pots of three different kinds of homemade, wholesome simmering soup await us. Today, we chose vegetable curry. As usual, we were not disappointed. In the springtime of the year, their annual organic plant sale is as much a…

I grew up on a 160-acre farm 10 miles southeast of Brainerd. The farm is entirely intact and remains in the family. Presently, I live on 35 acres, raise chickens, and grow a portion of the food that ends up on our plates. A farming lifestyle is central to who I am. Several years ago, I had purchased…

So pretty… a harbin pear tree in full bloom growing next to our out my kitchen window cabin.    

Despite the below normal temperatures here in Minnesota during the month of April, that have also crept into the beginning of May… this week there is a change in the air, and along with it are signs that spring has returned. A Dwarf Korean Lilac that is just beginning to bud out and Autumn Joy Sedum shoots poking…

Today was my mom's funeral.To make her going away party a special one, I had trekked out to my friend Sandy's Country Roots Greenhouse on Highway 18 east of Brainerd earlier this week to select some flowers for luncheon table centerpieces.   Upon returning home that same day, I repotted the flowers in 6-inch pots……

If you have been visiting my blog recently and I have appeared not to be "home", it is so. My 93 year old mother has been ill. On Good Friday, April 22, she departed her earthly world to be in the presence of her Heavenly Father. It is a home she has prepared herself for all of her life. As…

My chickens have begun to exhibit their individual personalities. This is inquisitive Phoebe. It's evident that she will be my "eternal student". We will be buddies… of that I am sure.        

Yesterday, I placed an order for four different varieties of flower seeds and my parcel is on its way to me today. Parcel vs. package or shipment… I think the term denotes a heightened element of anticipation as I await its arrival, which perfectly describes my present state. You see, these are not just any seeds. These seeds are organic, heirloom, homegrown, hand-harvested, and……

It's amazing how rapidly chicks develop… as the following photos depict.   Left photo: two days old Right photo: four weeks old    

A visual for you… happy, healthy, playful chicks in a sunny outdoor playground with roosting branches and space for running and flapping wings. This is the home that we have created for our chicks that are now 3 1/2 weeks old.      Is this the image in your head when you buy a carton of eggs at…