They say that dogs are “man’s best friend”. And people talk about the relationship between man and dog, but unless you’ve actually experienced that connection it’s really impossible to comprehend just what it means. I’ve been around dogs all my life–my family had a dog when I was growing up, …
With the kids back in school, and the first blush of color spreading across the forest canopy, it’s time to think once again about winterizing the farm, garden or homestead. As a life-long Maine resident, I’ve seen my share of hard winters and can imagine what it might be like …
Much of society dreads the coming of winter with its frigid temperatures, long dark nights and back-breaking shoveling—yet farmers and homesteaders alike breathe a sigh of relief that the frantic pace of the growing season is behind us. Sure–winter means shoveling walk-ways and thawing frozen water buckets for livestock—but it …
We could have bought a homestead better suited to farming, better set up–some New England style farmhouse with an attached barn, or a garage with an outbuilding we could convert into a shed for the livestock. Perhaps it would have had a sprawling pasture, an established garden however humble it …
Yesterday as I was preparing to head down to the field to work in the garden, I received a phone call–some locals over in Madison had seen my advertisement in Uncle Henry’s (the ad basically says that we’re looking for livestock in our area), and were we interested in a …
Things are not going exactly how I’d hoped. The meager savings Keith and I had managed to set aside have been spent–already invested into the farm. Despite the fact that I ran an 11-family CSA 2 years ago, we were not able to attract the number of CSA subscribers we’d …
Hooray for spring! Let beekeepers everywhere rejoice! The sun is shining, and the trees are beginning to bud, it’s warming up and the bees are flying again! How did your bees fare during the long cold winter? With diligence, and perhaps a little bit of luck–your hives came through the …
Thanks to the lingering winter-weather, we’re experiencing some frustrating delays in production. New livestock shelters and gardens cannot be constructed until the snow has melted, and the mud has firmed up at least some. However, despite the delay–I have managed to bring a few new critters to the farm. Willow …
This week we added the first of many new animals to our growing farm–Willow the livestock guardian dog! Willow is a great pyrenees/anatolian shepherd cross. The Great Pyrenees breed–or the Pyrenean Mountain Dog is an old breed that has been used by shepherds for hundreds of years. Developed in southern …
Mother Nature brought us a whopping 12-14 inches of snow last week, forcing me to postpone the first class of bee-school, and while I’m sure we’ll get more snow between now and then, the first day of spring is just 6 weeks away now. Here at Runamuk, Keith and I …
