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Kristen occasionally writes for Mother Earth. Read all her articles over on their website, and check out her bio too!
And check out the rest of our articles below!
The Kindness of Strangers
It has been a difficult year at Olsen Farm. In January we lost our father unexpectedly after a short illness. Since then our world has been turned upside down. Trying to manage the sudden death of a loved one is an impossible task. On top of that tremendous loss we...
Bee Keeping: Filling a New Hive
Bees are truly incredible creatures. They have complex communication and social systems. They are hardworking, intelligent and organized. They pollinate our flowers, fruits, trees and plants. Without their hard work our gardens would not grow. They make delicious...
For the birds: Attracting Orioles
Orioles are beautiful birds with an amazing song and bright, sunny plumage. These stunning birds LOVE sweet blossoms and fruit, particularly oranges. To attract these beauties to your yard you could simply stick orange slices out on posts in the yard, or you...
Joey the Draft Horse: Farming before technology
Great Grandpa Olsen used his draft horse, Joey, for all his plowing and field preparations on Olsen Farm for decades. In the early to mid 1900’s farmers all used hand tools and animals for plowing and heavy farm work. By the 50’s motorized tractors became...
Olsen Farm: In the News
photo credit: Andy McKeever iBerkshires staff Olsen Farm, and our story were recently featured in an amazing article on iBerkshires.com. The parallels between our struggle to save the farm now and our great grandparent’s struggles over 80 years ago are striking....
Beneficial Insects: Praying Mantids for Tick Control
Ticks are a serious problem in Berkshire County. Not a day goes by when we don’t find them on ourselves and our pets and we are always searching for ways to manage these horrible pests without the use of toxic chemicals. Our chickens and guinea fowl offer great...
DIY Chicken Saddles, protect your hens from over mating
Chicken trouble: bare backs Spring is for the birds and the bees- and this means our rooster is working overtime. Sometimes he can get a little carried away with his ‘rooster duties’ and end up pulling feathers from the girl’s backs. Once the other...
Saving Olsen Farm: a call for help
In January we lost our father unexpectedly after a short illness. He grew up helping his grand parents take care of the chickens, cows and pigs at Olsen Farm. Those were his fondest memories from childhood, and he always loved to reminisce about what an incredible...
Starting Seeds, Saving Money
We are always looking for ways to save money, and to live more sustainably. One small step we took this year is to start our seeds using homemade paper pots, rather than buying plastic or peat pots. We purchased a wooden PotMaker from Lehman’s- and used the tag...