Fr. Peter's Environmental Notes

I have such a back log of correspondence concerning Farm Blogs from Around the World, I am embarrassed at how rude I've been to the many people who have written to me, bringing my attention to wonderful new farming blogs.

In my defense I have been writing a rather large novel over the last nine months, which is now with my literary agent and should be about to go out to publishers. (For more information please visit www.ianwalthew.com)

OK, following on from my last post I've been pleased to be introduced to a terrifically well-written, well researched blog called Fr. Peter's Environmental Notes

Based in the U.K it's

"a resource for moral & environmental thoughts from a Christian viewpoint"

Father Pete's hope is that this blog "!will be of use to anyone who is concerned about the present situation of Climate Chaos and wants to do whatever they can in order to help to ease the problem."

You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy this blog - it's well written, well-researched and thoroughly deserving of a visit.

"ALL OF CREATION GOD GIVES HUMANKIND TO USE. IF THIS PRIVILEGE IS MISUSED, GOD'S JUSTICE PERMITS CREATION TO PUNISH HUMANITY". Hildegarde von Bingen (1098-1179)

Father Pete also has another blog of simple money saving D.I.Y ideas that cover projects from cooking to gardening, and which he adds to a regular basis.

Fr. Peter's DIY Environmental Ideas

"TO INVENT, YOU NEED A GOOD IMAGINATION AND A PILE OF JUNK," so said Thomas Edison. I am sure that God did not intend us to sit at a desk for eight hours a day, to eat refined food and ready meals and never stretch our creative potential. God is a creator, we are made in His image, therefore we are also creators. The important thing when using our creative ability, in garden, kitchen or workshop is not to expect success every time but only once in a blue moon!

One Wild and Precious Life (NY, U.S.A.) Recommended

Erin's blog One Wild and Precious Life is absolutely fascinating. Well-written a wide array of photos on the blog and Flickr.

She follows her journey alongside a small group of nuns on their organic farm, in Brewster, NY. Her writings document what she's learning, simultaneously, about food, farming and faith.

Bluestone Farm is a small farm, devoted mostly to sustaining the Sisters of the Community of the Holy Spirit (Episcopal Church USA) and their guests, but they also sell at the local weekly farmers market from June-November, and they sell eggs and maple syrup throughout the year. They raise chickens, ducks, and bees, and we do maple sugaring as well.

The farm is less than an acre, farmed intensively. We grow more than forty crops, from corn and oats to snap peas, from Scarlet Runner beans to New Zealand spinach.

About 85% of what we consume at the farm is grown on-site, and we spend a good deal of time preserving and storing food to last throughout the winter months.

The Sisters also make wine and weave cloth, write music and tan hides.

Erin writes that 'It's a pretty good life!' and I can well believe her. A recent post on drinking fresh sap had me drooling.

Wilmoth Farms, Kentucky, USA (RECOMMENDED)

It was so long ago and I have been so useless I can't remember who recommended Wilmoth Farms but someone must have.

Anyway, here is a little info on them kindly supplied to Liz at Madbush Farm in NZ, I don't know how long ago.

As it happens the main farmer character in my book (currently selling so well in the USA it is ranked 1,791, 514 at www.amazon.com) is called Norman. Why this should be remotely relevant I don't know but I mention it in passing as Mr. Wilmoth is called Norman.

(BTW did you know that if say 2 people in the United States bought my book on Amazon when they read this post, my ranking would probably go to about 200,000. If 10 people did, it would go to about 20,000 and if 20 did, to about 2,000. That's about all you need to know about Amazon rankings - they tell you whether you are alive or dead and in the USA I am def. dead. If every user of this blog bought a copy, reviewed it on Amazon and then emailed ten friends recommending it, it would be on the NYT best seller list out of nowhere and my no hoper publishers - actually one of the biggest publishers in the world - would look incredibly silly. Simple really.)

Onwards and over to Mrs. Wilmoth:

Wilmoth Farms is a beef cattle and cropping farm located in central Kentucky. In total are approximate 1000 acres of pasture for 200 head of cattle, corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and wheat. We currently have a mix of mostly Angus and Marchigiana (a hardy Italian breed of cattle). We live in a small farming community about 25 miles from town.

We grow a big garden that we enjoy year round and we are slowly working at becoming self sufficient. We are a Christian family of 4.

My farmer Norm, he runs the whole place and the kids and I help when we can. I paint and try my hand at photography. And I make handmade goat milk soaps and such that I sell around town and online. I began to blog a year ago or more to document life on a Kentucky farm. I try to tell what's going on with the farming that we do, information about anything cattle, and our farm life.

We also have 5 horses, a chicken (yes more are coming soon), a rabbit, our chocolate lab Levi, 2 Maine Coon cats, and 2 wonderful barn kitties!

My blog is http://kyfarmlife.blogspot.com

I have links to my other blogs there are well: my photography blog is http://kentuckycaptured.blogspot.com and my handmade soap blog is http://wilmothfarmshandmadesoaps.blogspot.com

Cedar Cove Farm (MI; 5 acres; Pastured poultry, beef, worms, rabbits, vegetables, dairy; Christian)

I'd like to thank Scott at Cedar Cove Farm for responding to my appeal to bloggers who have been recommended by other bloggers on Farm Blogs from Around the World, but who haven't yet contacted me with their own story and their favourite blogs.

Recommended bloggers go straight into the blog roll, but the idea is that I do one post on each of them, in the words of the recommended blogger, and then do another post on their own recommendations. Just as Scott has provided for me.

On the blog roll you can see which recommended bloggers have become recommenders themselves in return. If you're listed but haven't sent me your story and your recommendations, I'd really appreciate you dropping me a line.

And so it grows....





"Our story began about 10 years ago when we first moved to the rural lifestyle we now enjoy.

We started out trying to find ways to raise our own food, to provide for ourselves and become more self reliant.

We are a family of four, myself (the husband), my wife, and our two beautiful daughters ages 8 and 6. We are a Christian family that believes in the bible as the wholly, complete, inerrant, inspired, word of God. Jesus Christ is our Saviour from a life of sin and death. We believe in His death, burial, and resurrection-God's sacrifice once, forever.



We love the country life, and our girls refer to themselves as "country girls". We home school, teach them God's word from the bible and enjoy all that farm life has to teach.

We built our modest home on five acres in a "cove" of Cedar trees. We put solar panels on the roof to run some lights, started with a composting toilet but switched back to conventional methods. We even had a windmill to pump our water. That, too, we went conventional eventually. It's not that these thing wouldn't work, they did. We couldn't gather enough wind to keep the water tank full, and the toilet was set too high to work properly. In other words, we learned a lot during those beginning years.

During this time, we began reading a bunch and learning of old ways to farm. The ways prior to industrialised, corporate, agribusiness. The days when labor was provided by the farmer, not the machine. Staying small and providing food fit to eat, for us and, maybe, our community.

Our little farm began to grow, slowly, over the years, and continues to grow. We adhere to the principle of "Organic Growth", or growing from within, not with large debt or other outside influences. Slow it is, then, but that is OK. We have found several small ways to provide different "salaries" for ourselves. Of course, I still work a full time job, which is the major source of income.


We raise and sell "Pastured Poultry". This is a method of raising meat chickens on pasture, in their natural environment, without antibiotics or hormones of any kind. We were surprised at how much grass a chicken will eat! It is because of this that we began reading and studying grass fed meats and dairy products. To sum it up, grass is the key.


We are learning as we go, trying to raise healthy food for us and others. By no means do we have this thing figured out, but we're gaining on it.


We are looking forward to our first grass fed beef from our miniature Hereford bull calf.



We started raising worms for the garden and the compost they produce, with the possibility of sales to local fishermen.

We raise meat rabbits and sell them for pets.

We garden with raised beds made of concrete blocks (the only way to garden, in our opinion) because the ground, here, in southern Missouri is all rock and clay.

We have grown to the point, now, that we have several customers for our Pastured Poultry, free range eggs and fresh yogurt made from the family milk cow's milk.

Our ideas are many, but, we intend to stay small, serving our neighbors, and not add enterprises unless they complement one that already exists.

To learn even more about us and get an idea of where we are coming from read our blog at: www.cedarcovefarm.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by and let us know what you think. Or you may click the links and send us an e-mail. Enjoy."







N.B You may note that I label some posts Christian. This is not used in a prerogative sense, but simply to aid like minded people find each other more easily.





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Homesteader Life: Christian Agrarian Counterculture

Homesteader Life was recommended by Amazing Graze Farm.

Scott Terry was kind enough to drop me a line with a bit more info about his farm, family and blog.

Terry and his family farm about 200 acres, all pasture and grass hay. They milk 40 Jersey cows and are certified organic.

They have countless numbers of free range hens and usually raise meat chickens aswell. They have a hog that eats garden/canning waste and extra milk.

They also grow most of their own vegetables and make maple syrup every spring.

On top of that they raise several steers for beef every year, hunt whitetail deer for meat and and trap fur for extra spending money.

Here's Scott in his own words:

"I'm an organic dairy farmer and homesteader.

I live in the wooded hills of upstate NY with my wife Leah; together we have 3 sons so far, John, Noah and Isaiah. I am a Reformed Christian and an Agrarian.

You might say I'm a cross between R.J. Rushdoony and Wendell Berry :)

Homesteader Life is a blog that advocates a distinctively Christian and Agrarian alternative to the pagan industrial mess that we are now all neck deep in.



The blog is a place to share our our family's journey down this path and discuss farming, economics, biblical Law and anything under the sun with like minded folks."



I've had a good look at Scott's blog, and whilst I don't share his faith, much of what he has to say is fascinating, always well written, provocative, thought-inspiring and practical.

The blog is light on photos (very), heavy on text, but it's consistently interesting.

There is also a tremendous list of useful resources for those interested in the Agrarian movement and homesteading.

I didn't know much about Christian Agrarian counterculture, I'll be frank, but this post, which I'm taking the liberty of quoting in full, pretty much sums it up.

Every so often someone will ask me why Christian Agrarianism is critized so often by other believers.

The answer is simple, we have embarked on the greatest idol smashing campaign this country has seen in some time.

While most of conservative christendom gives lip service to the idea that the bible speaks to every area of life and gives us a blueprint on how we should live, it is always assumes it will be done within the confines of modernist American thinking.

When we wrote against marxism our “conservative” brothers cheered, when we heated up the melting pot and lowered in the golden calf of capitalism…..well, they stopped cheering and called us traitors. Biblical economics is fine, if it is done within the confines of a godless system, you see.

Our crime was to ask if capitalism was biblical in the first place.

Americans have come to love their idols, just as Israel of old. Industrialism, materialism, hyper-specialization, capitalism, rugged individualism, and the messianic state are the untouchable idols of our time. Church is for Sunday and Wendsday, the rest of the week is MINE.

Our approach to building a biblical culture is too basic for the masses these days. They have not, as yet, offered anything but strawman aguements. Their love for mammon and wealth consumes their hearts.

God will not be mocked, however. He will cause our nation to repent or he will dash us to bits with His rod.

We must, as a nation, humble ourselves and submit to King Jesus. It is my prayer that the conversations we have started will lead to a true reformation in the church and a true national repentance.

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Ian Walthew


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Amazing Graze Farm Recommends

Marci at Amazing Graze Farm recommends the following blogs. I'll let her comments on them speak for themselves, but as ever I will be contacting the bloggers and adding them to Farm Blogs.

http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com

Herrick is not only a great gardener, but also an inventor of wonderful garden tools and helps.

He then helps you learn to build them yourself.

Faith, Family & Livin' The Good Life.

If you explore the extensive archives you will discover a rich resource of down-to-earth inspiration & how-to information.

http://www.homesteaderlife.christianagrarian.com/

Scott is a dairy farmer who is taking the time to be with his children on their farm.

Homesteader Life is a blog about… Learning to live Simple, Seperate, and Deliberate lives.

Enjoying creation, but not worshipping it.

Eating, Drinking and Being Merry.

A Blog dedicated to berry pickin’, chicken pluckin’, buck skinin’, and building Christian Agrarian Culture.

Devoted to subduing the earth and replenishing it, bringing every thought captive to Christ, and restoring our republic.

http://www.aplaceintheauvergne.blogspot.com/
http://www.ianwalthew.com/


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Amazing Graze Farm

Amazing Graze Farm was recommended to Farm Blogs by a Farm Blogs blogger.

This blog is as personal as it is practical, and it is heavily focussed on the faith and the role that faith plays in the lives of Marci and her family.

Marci, who runs the blog explains that it is a very small family farm (29 acres) that trys to raise and grow as much of their own food as possible. They raise their own meats and do some extra to sell.

"We are homesteaders, we homeschooled and we homechurch."

They also have a milk cow for their dairy needs and a garden.

"We see the hand of God's blessing on our farm," writes Marci. "Everything we do, we want to do to His glory!!!"

http://www.aplaceintheauvergne.blogspot.com/
http://www.ianwalthew.com/


Farm Blogs
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Rural Blogs
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Paris / Montmartre/ Abbesses holiday / vacation furnished apartment rental