Monthly Archives: February 2017

Are chickens the gateway farm animal?

I’m just going to go ahead and answer the question of my title right away: The answer is yes. It’s my belief that chickens are, indeed, the gateway farm animal. Right now, all we have on our little backyard farm is chickens, but I’ve got goat fever in a big way. Goats are next. But […]

Thinking of a vegetable garden? It’s time to plant seedlings and plan rows

Right now, our garden area is under about four feet of snow, but we’re planning our garden anyway. It’s February, so that means it’s time for us to start seedlings for the food we can get into the ground early. It’s also time for us to plan our rows, organize our seeds, and make a […]

Corporal punishment has no place in our schools

student desk

Apparently, it’s still legal for Maine public schools to use corporal punishment on children, and there seems to be a lot of confusion about this. Many people, including myself, thought corporal punishment was no longer legal in Maine. I actually thought it must be illegal everywhere. I was wrong! During our state’s current legislative session, […]

7 tips to help you prepare for a winter power outage in rural Maine

So, apparently, we’re getting all of our winter in one week, and while I know we need the snow, I may have turned into a bit of a winter wimp of late, which means I’m dreading the storm and the inevitable that is to follow–the loss of power. When our family moved to rural Maine […]

When every day’s a snow day: Snow day tips from a homeschooling mom

trees in snow

I didn’t always homeschool. My oldest is in college, and he went to public school all his life. So, even though I homeschool now, I know what snow days feel like, and I know the struggle. I’ve always been a teacher, so it was almost always the case that, if my son got a snow […]

Thinking about backyard chickens this year? Read this first.

picture of chicken

Chickens are awesome. They just are. And, as more people begin to figure this out, the word is spreading. I know many people who are considering backyard homesteading and want to start with chickens, and with good reason. Chickens are great producers of food, highly efficient, relatively easy to care for, sweet, interesting, smart, funny, […]

The strategy of kindness will change more than your perspective

kids walking arm in arm

I don’t know exactly how I came to be this way, but I think it was through some study of world religion and philosophy and just a lot of thinking. I’m an introvert, so thinking is what I do. I believe that kindness is the ultimate behavior in humans, and somewhere about the time of […]