Farm Blog

"What a lot of work these goats are!" say visitors. "I'd hate to have to be in the barn to milk them twice a day, every day." "Yes, it's a committment," I reply. "But we would have goat cheese even if trucks stopped coming to the grocery store." My flippant answer suddenly seems serious during the 2020 coronavirus outbreak. People rush to stock up on supplies as if they were under siege. "It was like Thanksgiving in here," said one grocery store employee. Two of his colle

The moldboard plow is an amazing tool. It slices soil and turns it over, burying the previous crop to make room for the next. As it skims through the soil, the bottom of the plow smear tiny particles under it. Over time, plowing at the same depth, the smeared particles adhere into a solid sheet of clay. Roots can barely penetrate it. Water that used to drain freely now pools on the surface. Tractors drag great gangs of plows through most of North American cropland. How