cultivating a sustainable life
First off, if you’re coming here from the “Things We Love” section of Harrowsmith’s spring issue, thank you so much for taking the time to stop by! I have been a huge fan of their magazine, books, and TV show since I was a teen, …
During the first week of January last year, our sweet old cat, Shadow, passed away. With both of our cats now gone, the house felt strangely empty – I’ve had at least one feline companion throughout most of my life, so this was new for us. At about …
Excuse my colourful choice of words, I’m nothing if not a bit crass. Cheap too, if you ask my kids. My son swears I won’t buy anything that costs more than $15, and to be fair, that’s not much of an exaggeration. But you can’t …
I’ve posted before about how much I love the winter garden, but it bears repeating. Don’t get me wrong, the summer garden is a wonderful thing, with its sweet fruits and vibrant colours, but a lot of the time, the summer garden is all about waiting …
I’ve dreamed of keeping bees since I was in my early twenties, pouring over Harrowsmith Country Life and Mother Earth News magazines. When a girlfriend invited me to help with her father’s fall honey extraction while I was living in Nova Scotia, that was it, …
Our second batch of chicks arrived early last week, and in preparation, my husband built a cozy little nursery pen inside the coop. We set things up anticipating having to use the heat lamp, but I was still hoping that one of my broody hens …
We feel blessed to live in a place surrounded by wildlife, and usually we’re nothing but casual observers to the daily struggle for survival. When we made the decision to start free ranging our chickens (they were going a little stir crazy spending the long, …
I had no idea when we first got our chickens how much veterinary work would be involved with caring for them. I’ve had pets my whole life, and it’s only on the very rare occasion that I’ve ever had to do any kind of doctoring. …
Well, we have finally finished the coop enough that I decided it was time to tell you a bit about our summer project. We’re pretty pleased with how it turned out, considering that it’s made almost entirely out of leftovers from our house. Β The only …
