On Wednesday night our sow Ophelia gave birth to a wonderful family of piglets. Her labor started late afternoon and the first piglet was born around 10:15pm. They kept coming until 5:15am. Some came out right after one another, but some were widely spaced (there was a 2 hour wait between piglet #6 and piglet #7). During that …
Bent over in a stretch. I put my hands on the grass and peered between my legs at the cows behing me in the pasture. The cows peer, walking around me, poking their noses t my shoulders, legs and licking my exposed lower back. I thought about the animals – their sensibility, their calm, their …
Last week I visited our friends and fellow dairy farmers at Sidehill Farm to check out some of their equipment for foliar feeding their pastures and hay fields. They are in the midst of a huge transition to their new farm in Hawley and generously took some time out of a busy morning (after a …
Most nights I have a dream about either cows or cheese. Last week I dreamt that a group of heifers found our cheese caves and broke into them to eat the cheese. I pleaded with them to leave the cheese alone and go back outside, but they wanted to stay and eat the Tobasi. They …
On a rolling green farm nestled between two mountainsides, there lived three cats. One was bold and daring, his sleek black fur revealing much of his inner nature. Another was white and soft, a sweet – if helpless – soul. The third was grey-striped and small. She could be considered skittish, as wise cats often are. Despite …