Yearly Archives: 2007

We got a belated Christmas letter from our friends in New Mexico this weekend and learned that there’s a fabulous new co-op in the area where I used to live near Ojo Sarco. The Dixon Market, in addition to providing food for locals, supports small farming and sustainable agricultural operations. Dixon Market hosts a weeklyContinue reading “Tripping Down a Land of Enchantment Memory Lane”

I’ve been busy with the kiddies this weekend, but I didn’t want another day go by without mentioning this piece about “Green Weddings” that I was forwarded last week from the New York Times. Some great organic, sustainable-oriented businesses are featured in the piece, including organicbouquet.com. Even more noteworthy, the story features couples such asContinue reading “Eco-Friendly Brides are Trading White for Green”

I’m getting closer to finally checking out my town’s ordinances on pets and whether I can get away with having backyard chickens. More on underground chicken movements here, though the site hasn’t been updated in a while. I wasn’t sold on the idea until I did more reading about the nutrients packed into fresh eggs.Continue reading “Considering Getting a Pet Chicken or Four”

For those of us (with enough space) considering backyard chickens or looking for a cheap easy way to build a coop, Small Farm Today published an article recently about how to build a straw bale chicken house. These are probably not for the urban farmer, but look pretty easy to set up. Article author RonContinue reading “You Can Huff and Puff But Won't Blow These Houses Down”

I have been waiting for Belk to come out with its line of home decor collection designed by Idaho Farmgirl guru MaryJane Butters. The MaryJanesFarm Home collection by Homestead was announced in October and was supposed to be available by this month. But so far, I can’t seem to find the products at Belk.com.

Photographer John Ficara has a beautiful traveling exhibit as part of his “American Black Farmers Project,” which the media, including this piece in the Roanoke Times, is reporting during Black History Month. The series purports to document the demise of black family farmers in the United States. A description of Ficara’s photos, says “Through hisContinue reading “Photos Chronicle 'Demise' of the Black Farmer”

A story in the Capital Press this weekend featured an Oregon family who turned grain silos into contemporary bedrooms for their “country contemporary” bed and breakfast at Abbey Road Farm. The one-time 82-acre horse farm now attracts wine tourists and bicyclists who visit area vineyards near Carlton, which is about 35 miles north of Portland.Continue reading “Farm B&B Goes 'Country Contemporary'”

The Associated Press had this story today about the latest fad for farmers: the Internet. According to interesting, but not-so-groundbreaking piece, more than half (51 percent) of U.S. farms had Internet access by July 2005. That’s up from 48 percent in 2003. Forums are busy with farm talk too. The AP reports that Farm JournalContinue reading “Farmers and the Net”

The family headed to southern Indiana to visit my mother-in-law this weekend and listened to the Feb. 3 edition of Geek.Farm.Life (http://www.three-elms.com/gfl/) on the way down. Loved all the info about making cheese from excess goat’s milk and the teaser about spinning yarn. I’ll be eager to hear more about both, which Farmgirl Misty andContinue reading “Cheese on the Podcast, Ice Everywhere”

The big Farmgirl celebrity gossip is that Bedazzled star Liz Hurley is giving up the glory and glam of Hollywood for the “simple life” of farming. Farmgirl Liz says: “When we get our organic status we’re going to farm properly and we’re going to have a heard of cows and proper sheep and proper chickens,Continue reading “Extra! Extra! Hollywood Goes Farmgirl”