Take a look back some 17 years and you’d find me raising babies in the woods with no running water. I was a stay-at-home-mom just trying to survive from one day to the next, when my second son came into this world…
Tag: Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Hard Lessons
Your friendly neighborhood farmer has learned some hard lessons in animal husbandry over the past three weeks. Since I last posted, all of my ewes have delivered with varying degrees of success. Of the fifteen lambs born to Runamuk this season, two lambs perished, and I have two in the house at this very moment….
Farming Full-Time!
It’s both exhilarating and terrifying to say that I am now farming full-time─with no off-farm income. No safety net. Nothing. It’s sink or swim; do or die trying. For better or worse, my income is now generated exclusively by this property. My life (and my finances) are in my own hands. Parting Ways With Johnny’s…
The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution; Review & Giveaway
The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution is an eye-opener for the gardener, farmer, or homesteader, who seeks to cultivate soil health wherever they grow. Andrew Mefferd was most obliging to send me a copy of his latest book for review and giveaway. It is my privilege to be able to offer you the chance to win…
Happening at Runamuk in 2019
Some pretty exciting stuff’s happening at Runamuk in the 2019 growing season: new gardens, new growing structures, upcoming events, and even more critters! Farmers across the state are gearing up for the coming season and I’ve dropped to 2 days per week in the Call Center at Johnny’s Selected seeds. I’m back on the farm…
Sick Sheep Seldom Survive
Sick sheep seldom survive; that’s what Gordon Blauvelt told me this week when I stopped in to retrieve 2 more bags of grain for the sheep. Miracle’s second round of antibiotics and all of the extra grain and alfalfa cubes I’d been feeding her had not improved her health or conditioning. Her breathing was fast…
Another Winter Storm
There’s another Winter Storm dropping snow on the state of Maine this morning. My muscles and joints have finally stopped aching from the last storm, but I’m ready to go again, shovel in hand, to face whatever Mother Nature has in store for me. This winter has been something of a mixed bag for Runamuk─and…
Homegrown Winter Salads
I haven’t posted about it in a while, but I’m still growing shoots and sprouts as part of my Winter Growing Challenge, and I am loving my homegrown winter salads! I’ve modified my methods for growing shoots this year, and─so long as I remember to soak the seed on a regular basis─I’ve been harvesting 1…
A Growing Season
Autumn 2018 has been a growing season for me on a deeply personal level. These darker days of the year are a time for self-reflection, and somehow, with the purchase of the farm now behind me, I finally found myself strong enough to deal with some healthy confrontation. I turned inward this fall, embracing the…
Bringing Back the Winter Growing Challenge!
December is practically on our doorstep and with it comes the start of the 2018 Winter Growing Challenge! Woot woot! I’m looking forward to growing fresh greens inside my home again this winter: shoots and sprouts─maybe I’ll even try my hand at some microgreens this year. With 2 teenaged boys to feed, the additional source…