How We Keep Our Hobby Farm Organized & Clean
3 January 2024If you don’t count the first five years of my life, I am a country kid. I mean, my access to animals was limited, but we did live beside a farm, so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out ways to break into the farmyard next door, even if it meant getting pinned by a goose or ram. For me, it was totally worth it. I really like animals, in case you didn’t know. I have my limits, though. I like my home to be clean, I like things to smell nice. The barn to be relatively…
Stocking a Hobby Farm First-Aid Kit: What to Buy
If you’re keeping pets or livestock (or thinking about beginning to), one of the first things that needs to be in place is a first aid kit. Larger farms usually have this system tuned to perfection, as it can save…
Best Beginner Pets for Children
If it isn’t obvious, we’re an animal family. On 200 acres, we are home to six horses, five dogs, four cats and a couple of geese…not to mention three guinea pigs, a tortoise, lizard and most recently, a hamster. And…
How to Know if Your Child is Ready for a Pet
At every opportunity, my children try to add an animal to the farm. It doesn’t matter if it’s a chicken or a chinchilla, they’ll try to tuck it under their sweater and sneak it into the house. I’m a softie,…
2024: Resolutions for Old Wood Hollow Farm
I don’t usually do resolutions. Honestly, it’s been tricky to focus on anything concretely in the past, not knowing which way we were headed as a family—we’ve lived a transient life so far, with my other half building a business…
Old Wood Hollow Puppy Picks
When it comes to puppy products, there are too many to choose from. We have big dogs all around, with the exception of our spaniel, so whatever we use needs to be able to stand up to our big dogs.…
Before You Adopt a Puppy, Read This:
We lost Dumbledore at the end of October. While it was a loss that I knew was coming, it was still a cliff that hung off the edge of my heart. He is irreplaceable, a loss that lies heavy here…
Farmer Meets Death
When I started this whole thing, no one told me much about the death. There was a lot of talk about chicks and ducklings, a fuzzy lamb or two. A crisp glass of white wine at the end of a…
On Writing the Hard Things
I have been afraid of writing heavy things for a long time. I truly believe that the gritty parts of me will make me less of a human. Less relatable. A duck with nothing in a row. I’d rather pen…
The Conjuring of a Motherhood
The most prevalent thing in my life right now is motherhood—the texture of it, the joy, the exhaustion. Sometimes it is hard to imagine that there is anything else. Before I had children, I had inklings of a career. I…
The Unmaking of a Farm
Have you ever wanted to hold on to something that brought you to tears? Maybe it made you bleed. Perhaps it was dangerous. Or how about this: every day that you did it reminded you of how bloody futile morality…
