“Our chickens are welcome to stay and free to leave,” Karl Hammer said about his “working chickens”. It is indeed a high expression of chicken-hood.

Do humans “measure up”? How? Why not?
Oftentimes, patients come to therapy but hesitate to look into the core of their internal life. The psychic injury of the past seemed still a fresh wound in their mind’s eye. The courage in facing what is “there”, as Karl’s chickens, instead of imagining what one believes is “there”, like my patients do, is no...

Traditionally we separate companion animals from livestock in order to protect our own emotional selves: a way to prevent us from getting “hurt” when livestock becomes dinner. Children are discouraged to play with livestock and directed to forge friendships only with their pets.
Is it necessary?
More importantly, is it healthy to insist on such an “artificial” categorization?
What can we learn from wolves and caribou?

Kefir is one of these things which, despite its undeniable health benefits, elicits strong “opinions”. Some love it. Others hate it. I have yet to find someone who claims indifference towards it. One of my patients would pinch her nose, tilt her head backwards, and then quickly pour the thick semi-liquid substance down her throat. “Exactly how cod liver oil was taken when I was a kid”….

Over the years, we’ve been through more diets than one can count. I’ve read Wheat Belly, Grain Brain and a myriad of other books. As I loved potatoes, I was never quite determined enough to commit to the strict non/low-starch/carb for the love of one stem tuber! However, as my Doberman got older and finally diagnosed with breast malignancy and degenerative myelopathy and gradually losing control of her hind legs, I put her on an all organic mostly fat, limited protein and extremely restricted...

Misguided self-confidence does not match accurate results – sexing chickens turns out to be one of such unfortunate events that fits the statement.
My supposedly 5-hen-flock has 3 rooster-imposters, providing me 40% of the egg production….
The clickable title will help any homesteader avoid such disappointing results while saving time and money.

Natto is traditionally made with soybeans.
Not a big fan of soybeans due to its estrogen mimicking effect, I experimented in making natto with black turtle beans.
For me, the end result was delightful – just like Marmite for me, except tons more health benefit.
The clickable title will take you to this experiment, and a fan story…

The domestic animal vaccination debate has been going on for more than a couple of decades. The general public holds vastly different opinions, so do the professionals such as veterinarians and veterinary researchers.
This post is a long overdue thorough review on what may be the “gold standard” of “least harm”-“most effective” way of protecting our best friends.

Focaccia is undoubtedly my little helper, as the process of making it delivers me into a meditative state. In this case, a focaccia is never just a focaccia even though the concrete result of a beautiful focaccia would not last more than a few minutes after the steamy hot bread is out of the oven.
Life coaches or psychotherapists who don’t like the process of focaccia making would be hard pressed to find other ways to clear their minds….

Cooking is not about what shiny equipment you have, it is about a creative process that allows you to turn any scrap of leftovers or whatever random items you have into a tasty meal. Good cooks are creative thinkers. Cooking and food making are meditative processes that allow one not simply learning a new dish, but using a specific knowledge gained in a particular field as a tool for honing our creative thinking skill in general.

Sauerkraut making acted as such a tool.