My ruminations are when, from time to time, I give vent to my preacher’s impulse to comment on all manner of things.
On this beautiful late summer morning I watched the sun rise over our little mist filled valley. I was struck by the sunlight as it pierced the still fully-leafed trees, revealing brilliant shafts of light radiating from dozens of gaps in their leafy crown. Fascinating. Beautiful. It then occurred to me that the only reason [...]
On our small farm we raise Dexter cattle. They are, as they say, thrifty. They do well on grass and don’t really need grain at all. However, I have chosen to feed them a modest amount of grain, morning and evening. I do this so that they’ll love me, or at least they will see [...]
I was in the barn doing evening chores when the rains came. I waited for the downpour to stop. As I waited, contemplating the deluge that pounded on the barn’s roof so hard that I felt like I was inside a steel drum I thought, now this defines what it means to say “it [...]
It is early June here in the north western Catskills, the Dean’s iris have come into full bloom. They form beautiful deep purple clumps by the gates and fringe the western edge of the pond. They assure us that spring is truly here and that summer is short to follow. They are true signs of [...]
Bed Straw (Galium aparine) is a pernicious weed that has few immediate agricultural uses. Though it greens up early in the spring and therefore, from a distance, makes for an attractive looking field in its mature stage (which comes very quickly) it is not enjoyed by cattle. It is a real pain for farmers. It [...]
(See our page Cattle for Sale) FF Barbie's Dakota born on June 23, 2017 Sire: SugarP Rufus FF Chanel’s Dutch born June 3, 2017 Sire: SugarP Rufus Fairsing Autumn’s Duke born June 1, 2017 Sire: SugarP Rufus (SOLD) Fiona’s Danny Boy born May 10, 2017 Sire: SugarP Rufus For more information, please contact Mark @ [...]
I have spent all but the last four years of my life living in or around major cities: Washington D.C., Chicago, and New York. And it was my joy to do so. I love cities. I love rural life as well. […]
The Haflinger Backstory: Among my earliest memories is a fascination with farming. I don’t think I was even aware that there was any kind of farming of any interest except livestock farming. […]
Trees, in the fields of our northern Catskill mountain farm, in a pasture or a hayfield mean one thing; rocks: Big ones. […]
The other day I was shoveling manure. Not the kind of figurative shoveling of manure that most people shovel so much of the time. This was the real stuff - literal manure. It was the build up in a pen where I had kept calves for some time. In the winter it is typical to [...]