I felt compelled to write this blog about our hog killing after I randomly saw a photograph of a pickup truck piled with people going down a dirt road somewhere overseas. When I see pictures like that I have exciting memories of my first time hanging on in the back of a truck, and the [...]
I remember when my first baby turned one… we had a big party celebrating us as a family for the first year. I remember when my second baby turned one… we had a small party celebrating our friends sticking with us despite a colicky baby. I guess we have chosen to celebrate where we are [...]
It’s 11:08 at night and I just got back from a run. I haven’t run in weeks and it felt glorious. The nights are dark out here when the moon is mostly hiding. Its dark creamy orange gave just enough light for my feet to make out the loose gravel. I feel safe running alone [...]
April 5, 2016: It’s early and the moon waits just above the horizon line, a thin, creamy left-handed ‘C’. There is an old barn on the rise across the field accompanied by a stand of three fat pine trees. The sun is just about to come up. This is the day my marriage will end. [...]
It’s 7am on Friday morning. Doug is reading NT Wright and I’m snuggled up in bed with Annabel (8 mo), a cup of black coffee and a hand-me-down laptop. Both boys, Finn (8 yrs) and Shepherd (6 yrs), sometime in the night dragged their beanbags by our bed and are sleeping soundly still. We have [...]
I believe that there is a way to raise food that is responsible, that leaves the land better than it was, that nourishes the earth and the people. And I believe that others can and will be able to do this as well. I believe that we can be part of this force of change. [...]
Farming without the assistance of synthetic pharmaceuticals might sound sexy, idealistic, or stupid. I suppose it depends on your perspective. The reality is: it's darn hard work. One night a week for the last three weeks Katie and I have put our work clothes back on after dinner, grabbed our head lamps and headed down [...]
Considering this is the dead of winter, we have been extremely busy here at Hand Hewn Farm. There are the obvious chores that require daily attention. And some seasonal maintenance considerations, like keeping water from freezing long enough that the animals can actually drink it. Also, we are continually repurposing or upgrading infrastructure. This week, [...]
So, I’m Molly. And I’m out doing something I NEVER do. Yeah... the last time I did this was... well, one time I think two years ago. You know what I’m doing?!? I’m at a coffee shop, drinking a latte (made with coconut milk), with my laptop. Yep. That’s it. I’d actually take a selfie [...]
This is not a treatise against homosexuality, But I can tell you that gay pigs do not make good breeding stock. Of the twenty pigs that we raised this past year on Hand Hewn Farm, we held four back to be bred for future pig progeny. In addition to these four gilts (girl pigs that [...]
