Category: Farm life

  • The Most Overlooked Plant I Used To Hate

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    Amelia
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    I know I’m seriously narrowing down my niche when I say this, but if you’re a farmer anywhere in the northern part of north America, you’ll likely have said this phrase: F*CK*NG PIGWEED! I only knew it as Pigweed for at least seven years after I started farming (prior to that the plant had entirely…

  • Life isn’t a Straight Line

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    Amelia
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    Your life isn’t always a straight path to where you end up. Mine sure as hell wasn’t. When I was a kid, I loved playing outside. I remember finding a little patch of deer moss in the woods and how I would sit there for long periods of time pretending that the moss was my…

  • Grateful for Water: Lessons Learned During a Drought

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    Amelia
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    In case you missed the news, I have no water at home. It’s been nearly two weeks now. At first, I called the local well company and they changed my tank. A day later, I called them again because there wasn’t enough water to shower. The sediment filter was filling up with dirt from the…

  • Working with your hands

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    Amelia
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    This year, for whatever reason, my harvest of snap peas was abysmal. The plants are basically finished and I haven’t even been able to freeze a single bag of peas (last year I froze 8 bags!) So yesterday, I went around the pea trellis and picked all the fat ugly snap peas that were still…

  • This Farm’s Future is Evolving

    This Farm’s Future is Evolving

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    Amelia
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    Black Sun Farm has been the product of my heart and soul for over five years now. I poured myself into building this small property into a working homestead. I can’t even tell you how many plants I’ve put into the ground here. And the birds I’ve raised for eggs and meat over the years…

  • No More Eggs

    No More Eggs

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    Amelia
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    I don’t really know if it merits a blog post, but I thought I should announce somewhere on my site that I’ve finally decided to stop losing money in the egg game. For over four years now, I have raised chickens and ducks on soy-free organic layer feed, allowing them to free range the entire…

  • Black Walnuts!

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    Amelia
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    If you live anywhere in the Eastern or Central United States, you have probably seen a black walnut tree. Black walnuts (juglans nigra) grow from New England through Wyoming and are wildly prolific. Just try digging up a sapling somewhere… they root in like a badass and if you don’t want that tree to grow…

  • Quick Guide: Raising Ducks

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    by

    Amelia
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    You should know based on my farm website that we raise chickens and ducks on our small farm. We have two geese, but they’re more like pets so I can’t really say we “raise geese,” but goose needs are basically the same as ducks so you can probably take my advice on their account as…