Nature is Cruel and Kind
The philosopher Thomas Hobbes famously described life in nature as “nasty, brutish, and short” a view that continues to resonate with certain members of the populace. Often a man of...
Garth Brown |
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Nature is Cruel and Kind
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Apple Pickin'
Over the weekend we went apple picking on our hill. One of the old cow pastures from back in the dairying days of my farm has a number of volunteer...
Garth Brown |
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Bitchering About Butchering
The farm’s business model relies on retailing meat for the bulk of the revenue. When deciding what to charge for a given cut, it’s useful to peruse the prices charged...
Garth Brown |
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Pile of You Know What
My farm business currently operates at a slightly awkward scale. If businesses can be likened to the phases of a human life, Cairncrest Farm is an gawky adolescent. Like a...
Garth Brown |
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Buying Things
When I was new to farming I made some ill-advised equipment purchases. There was a backhoe attachment for the tractor that never actually worked, which was sold at a loss...
Garth Brown |
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Melons
I've never tried to grow melons before this year. I have many a memory of eating cantalope as a child and never really liking it very much. I'd often enjoy...
Garth Brown |
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Potato Woes
Last year our potato crop was almost a complete failure. Some sort of blight or other disease caused the majority of them to simply disintegrate. So my heart sank when,...
Garth Brown |
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Obie Doing Work
Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with the ongoing saga of my dog Oban learning how to be useful around the farm. Progress has been slow but steady,...
Garth Brown |
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The Other Red Meat
The idea of pork as a "white meat" was hammered into American's collective heads during the 80s and 90s when red meat was indicted by the health-food establishment for clogging...
Garth Brown |
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Forage, Grow, Hunt - Find?
The other morning I went out to do my morning chores at about 6:00 am as I usually do. When I walked back down the hill to the house for...
Garth Brown |
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Lots of Raspberries
We have a good sized patch of raspberries in the garden. They take a while to get going, but once they’re in full swing we’ve always failed to pick a...
Garth Brown |
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What I'm Eating 9/1/15
This is a dinner from last week, not last night. As you may have noticed Garth and I have not managed to keep up with our aspired to posting schedule....
Garth Brown |
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Stories We Tell
The place we stayed in Arizona offered trail rides. We didn’t go on one, since Arden wasn’t old enough, but we did watch a group set out. Once they were...
Garth Brown |
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Lyme Time
I feel lucky that I’ve been on the farm for five years and have only now contracted lyme disease for the first time, but it’s also depressing. Three years ago...
Garth Brown |