We had underestimated two important factors: Hazel’s intelligence and strength. Up at 4:30am we attempted a revised plan. We moved the carrier closer to the pen so Hazel wasn’t able to escape and readied ourselves with crackers and pasta. The elusive dance began. Kindness wasn’t working, food was ineffective and Hazel quickly broke free of our DIY harnesses. Frustrated, with 5 minutes left until our 7am deadline, I decided to be a little more aggressive and sprayed her with

In the spring of 2016, we decided to raise our first pig to fill our winter freezer. Part of our progression towards self-sustaining living included developing the ability to raise and harvest livestock for sustenance, which is an essential protein staple during long cold Vermont winters. If we couldn’t do it, we’d stop eating all meat. When Hazel, aka ‘Hazel Razzle Dazzle Bodazzle,’ arrived in early June, we were instantly blown away by her intelligence. Small, cream and pin

DAY TWO - TUESDAY Still without a sufficient amount of produce in the house, I awoke thinking 'How am I going to find the time today to allocate to my quest?' Still many steps away from being self sufficient, Sean and I work away from our homestead at varied intervals in order to assure steady cash flow. I have two per diem positions at a local mental health facility and Sean travels far and wide as a freelance cinematographer. Today was my day to get up early, get the girls

DAY ONE - MONDAY Logic told me to create a weekly menu and a shopping list, generated from a mental picture of what we assumed we could find during a snowy March in Vermont. As a starting point, we decided on fish tacos (crazy, I know), white bean & kale soup, pasta with red sauce and vegetable curry with rice. Easy choices, except for the fish, but river trout is caught regularly in these parts, maybe we can find a frozen one? I started by shopping at a large retailer, Shaw'

I then raised the question, how do our local farmers survive during the dark days of winter if their immediate communities don't buy their products year round? Ivy, my quiet though astute vegetarian noted, 'we should buy maple syrup from the Browns, we haven't done that since last spring.' Absolutely! Now you're on the localvore bandwagon. My other daughter, Camille, a true omnivore, stated, 'so we can't have grapefruit juice???' Not wanting my teens to hitchhike back to NYC,