TRURO — This summer, when the “mud kitchen” behind the Truro Public Library is open for business, Leela Okeanos, who just turned six, plans on making vegan mud pies. The […]
Farm & Garden
What would it look like to grow, harvest, and protect our bounty?
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BACKYARD FARM
Saying Goodbye to Buttercup
Our beloved doe and her sister find happiness in Brewster
Buttercup was not born in our back yard, but she was the kid that made me a goat mama. She and her sister came to us from another small farm […]
MEET THE MAKER
How to Become a Curd Nerd
A backyard farmer follows a goatherd from pasture to kitchen
Sadie Hill added two Nigerian dwarf dairy goats to her small farm in Brewster in 2015. Her plan was to show them in competitions and breed them to develop a […]
BACKYARD FARM
Finding Room for a Few Spring Chickens
Plain or fancy, new birds are to bond with
All of a sudden, I’m seeing tiny buds on every branch. This sign of spring sends my vegetable-growing friends into expanding their garden beds. For chicken farmers like me, the […]
BACKYARD FARM
The Free Range Conundrum
Featherfoot Freckles makes a narrow escape from a Cooper’s hawk
When we started keeping chickens, we kept them in a fortress-like coop with a luxuriously large, protected run. I didn’t want our hens to be deprived of space. But I […]
BACKYARD FARM
Early Warnings and Oatmeal Afterwards
Buttercup, Lance, and the ladies weather the Blizzard of ’22
Before weather reports bombarded us with storm tracking, our predecessors would observe their flocks or herds for changes in their behavior, noticing telltale signs that storms were on the way. […]
BACKYARD FARM
How to Keep Your Goats From Going South in the Winter
No need for winter coats, as goats grow their own
We were still new to goat herding when the first icy storm of 2019 blew in. I felt sure our Nigerian Dwarf herd could not survive it outdoors and insisted […]
BACKYARD FARM
Sergeant Major Spruce, the Christmas Goose
What’s good for the gander is good for the whole farm
If our backyard farm were in my home country of Austria, we’d be trussing up a plump goose for our Christmas feast right about now. But here we are in […]
BOGSIDE
Storms, Sanding, and the Slow Restoration of Sassamanesh Farm
Bringing back an old cranberry bog is ‘a different adventure every year’
ORLEANS — The Outer Cape has its wild cranberry patches, hidden in the dunes and alongside ponds. But it takes a road trip to Orleans to find a cultivated bog. […]
ECONOMY
A Truro Farmer Talks Turkey
Drew Locke and the Perry family work to restore a better way to raise and eat meat
TRURO — Not far from Route 6 but seemingly worlds away, Drew Locke raises chickens, cows, pigs, and turkeys on an expanse of land that has been farmed for seven […]
GAP YEAR
Majoring in Dirt
Eastham’s Izzy Nobili plans a farm-to-farm path to college
Isabelle Nobili is a 2021 Nauset Regional High School graduate who has ambitious college plans. She’s going to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. What she wants to study there is […]
BACKYARD FARM
So, You Want to Wean a Goat
Lessons in how best to send your kids into the world
When we bred our doe, Buttercup, for the first time, we were novice goat keepers. We rented a buck, Stinky Dan, whose musky aroma was nothing out of the ordinary […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
Walled Gardens Can Put Us at Ease
More than a collection of plants, a garden is a place that speaks to body and mind
On a recent trip to Philadelphia to visit friends, I had an opportunity to sit and think about space. My friends’ house is in a tightly packed neighborhood with narrow […]
BACKYARD FARM
A New Chick in the Flock
After a gradual introduction, a new bird finds her place in the pecking order
If you’re serious about raising chickens, the day will probably come when you want to add more birds to your flock. Most fledgling backyard farmers start out cautiously, with small […]
BACKYARD FARM
How to Milk a Goat, Maybe
Even with massage and sweet nothings, Buttercup won’t be milked
I think goat kids are among the cutest creatures on Earth. But most backyard farmers are more interested in goat mamas — does. That’s what happens when you’re keeping goats […]
