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Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm

I"m a farmer, thinker, and writer. I can"t seem to help myself. It"s what I do, who I am, and what I love. clatterridgefarm.substack.com

science nature

All Episodes

2:37

And a Whole Lot of Time

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/11/28

15,000 years ago, our farm (and the rest of New England) was covered with a sheet of ice a mile thick. As the glacier receded, it left behind barren rock, glacial till and valleys filled with lakes. The surface of New England had been scrubbed clean of whatever topsoil, earthworms, and megafauna that had lived here before. We had to completely start over from scratch.Lichen recolonized the rock – while shrubs and moss grew along the shores of the glacial lakes that were left behind. Grasses filled

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2:42

The Luckiest Squirrel

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/11/21

Halfway up the path through our ravine is a shagbark hickory tree that never seems to grow. It appears happy enough, but it’s been the same size since I was a kid. I’m sure that the limited nutrients from the rocky talus slope and the struggle of living in the shade of larger oaks has stunted its growth. But it’s not just the tree itself which never seems to age but the hole in its trunk never seems to change either. It’s neither healed, nor deteriorated, in all the years that I’ve known it. Waist

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2:58

Even Further from the Sun

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/11/14

When planet Earth was young, it collided with something large enough to knock it off its polar axis. That collision, and the ensuing tilt, are why we have seasons. It’s also widely believed that the debris from that collision eventually became our moon.Earth spins on its axis, one revolution every 24 hours, and that gives us night and day. At the same time, it’s also orbiting the sun. And that yearlong, off kilter, rotation around the sun, changes the amount of daylight we get each day over the

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3:04

For the Birds

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/11/06

Just before my dad passed away, I asked him what kind of tree he wanted his ashes scattered beneath. He didn’t hesitate – he wanted us to plant an oak tree. Specifically, he wanted a “northern red oak” planted in our ravine. It seemed an odd request - to plant an oak tree in a forest filled with oaks, but he was very definitive, so I was happy to oblige. Technically, I could have swiped an acorn from an unsuspecting squirrel, dug a hole in the ground and called it a day. But finding the perfect tree

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4:16

Circadian Chickens

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/10/31

As autumn approaches, our chickens start slowing down for the winter. The pineal gland behind their eyes registers the change in daylight length, and they lay fewer and fewer eggs as their circadian rhythm tries to keep them from raising baby chicks in the winter. By March, when the hens’ glands register that there is enough daylight, they begin to lay again. Putting a light on in their coop which mimics 14-16 hours of daylight, helps fool their natural rhythm and encourages them to keep producing

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2:47

Shepherd's Delight!

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/10/23

This time of year, we catch the sunrise while doing morning chores and the sunset during afternoon chores. It’s a bit like having a pair of bucolic bookends at either end of our day.The adage “red sky at night sailor’s delight, red sky in the morning sailors take warning,” often comes to mind. The original version of that saying refers to shepherds not sailors. “Red sky at night shepherd’s delight, red sky in the morning shepherds take warning”During the day, the sun’s rays, which include all the

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2:01

A Flock of Rebels

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/10/17

In an attempt to protect their monopoly on the wool industry, England tried hard to discourage one from ever taking hold in its American colonies. To that end, the exporting of sheep to America was expressly forbidden, but by 1655, a few smuggled sheep had multiplied to 10,000. Oops! I’m not sure what I find more amusing; that colonial sheep smuggling was actually a thing or that breeding sheep became such a subversive (and successful) act of independence.Clearly unable to completely stop America’s

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2:14

Signs of Life

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/10/10

When I head out to the barn each morning, I always take in the view from our ridgetop home. Farmington is blessed with so many trees that most of its houses are hidden under a canopy of leaves, so when I scan the valley, there is very little evidence of human “civilization.” That suits me just fine! The view is timeless, the feeling is tranquil, and I cherish the early morning solitude.Once the weather turns cold though, there is always one sign of life that never fails to make me smile. As the sun

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3:06

From Pangea - With Love

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/10/03

On the very last day of the year, I found a quartz geode laying on top of a stone wall in our pig pasture. It’s small – the exposed quartz is only about two square inches, but still, I’m not sure how I never noticed it before. I thought the pigs must have uncovered it, but there is lichen on it so it’s been exposed for a while.It was likely formed 200 million years ago, when our farm (along with the rest of North America) was connected to the northwest coast of Africa as part of the “supercontinent”

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2:32

The Flavors of Autumn

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/09/26

As the days become shorter, trees (like the rest of us) prepare for winter. They begin to seal off the veins that transport nutrients to and from the leaves. Like battening down the hatch on a submarine, they cut the leaves off from the rest of the tree. If they didn’t, the moisture in the leaves would freeze and leave the tree vulnerable to injury.The leaves have pigmented enzymes which help the tree turn sunshine into sugar - a process known as photosynthesis. The green color of leaves comes from

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2:31

Through The Ravine Back in Time

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/09/22

15,000 years ago, our ridge top home would have been beach front property on the shores of the very picturesque “Ancient Lake Hitchcock”. The 150 foot deep lake, which spanned from Rocky Hill to Saint Johnsbury, Vermont, was, I am sure, breathtakingly gorgeous, with stark white icebergs serenely juxtaposed against the turquoise water.Whenever the receding glacier “calved,” giving birth to new icebergs, the water level in the lake would precipitously rise and overflow, and for several thousand years

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2:06

Housewarming Sheep

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/09/11

When my mom was growing up on Mountain Spring, it was a small dirt road named Cedar Street. At that time, there were only five families living on the road. She knew everyone that lived there, and nothing much ever changed. Over the years, younger generations built on their family’s land, but nobody “new” moved in.When I was growing up on the road, there were a whole lot more families, and a lot more houses but you still knew everyone. If someone moved out, it was news, and everyone waited to see who

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3:09

Making a Life

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/09/06

As the days get noticeably shorter, the world around us starts to change. Inevitably, our chickens begin to lay less. A lot less. Even with a light on in the coop, they instinctively know we are heading towards winter, and that winter is a bad time to start raising chicks. Raising chicks is, after all, why chickens lay eggs. For them it’s not about providing us with sustenance – it’s all about procreating.Our sheep, on the other hand, respond to the change in daylight by coming into heat. With a

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1:51

If I Were a Pig

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/08/28

I think if I were a pig, this just might be my favorite time of year.My biggest worry, come September, would be the tough decision of where best to take an afternoon nap.Would it be better to lay beneath the oak tree and wait for the sound of an acorn hitting the ground? Acorns are so delish!Or maybe, I’d be better off by the shagbark hickory on the other side of the pasture.No, the hickory tree doesn’t offer as much shade as the oak, and the nut is much harder to crack. I’d stick with the oak for

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1:59

Out the Door

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/08/22

I put on warm socks and lace up a pair of work boots as she shifts her weight from one paw to another. I can feel her judging me as she watches me get dressed. The temperatures dropped this week, and it takes me that much longer to get out the door. I button up a long sleeve shirt and then pull on a sweatshirt - which of course needs zipping. Her ears go back as she shifts her weight again, her tail gently sweeping the floor. Her eyebrows rise when I reach for a jacket, and zip that up as well. She

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3:59

Dancing with Bees

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/08/15

When a forager honeybee returns to the hive, she is unpacked by worker bees. The enthusiasm displayed when she is greeted and the speed with which she is unpacked gives the forager feedback as to the desirability of whatever it is she found. If she is enthusiastically received, she will likely go back to the exact same spot and return with more. If the reception is lukewarm, she might look for something else.Once unpacked the forager will proceed to the “dance floor” to perform a dance that

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2:18

A Chorus of Crickets

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/08/10

Male tree crickets are responsible for the nighttime trilling we hear in late August. By rubbing their wings together, like a finger dragged across the top of a plastic comb, they create the relentless buzzing which makes you think your tinnitus has suddenly gotten much worse. In reality, it’s the sound of hundreds of insects looking for a mate, and it’s the sound of summer nearing its end.Because crickets are cold blooded, the ambient temperature affects the speed with which they move - including

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3:12

Chimney Swifts

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/08/08

After my first encounter with a chimney swift, I googled “what in God’s name is living in my chimney and how do I get rid of it?”It was the beginning of Covid, and we had too many dogs, too many humans, and too many bottle-fed lambs living in our house.It felt like we were stuck together in an overcrowded lifeboat stranded on the open sea. We were all doing our best to ride out the storm, and not get on each other’s nerves in the process. The last thing any of us needed was a chimney full of

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3:43

Artificially Intelligent

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/08/03

A.I. has been in the news and on the minds of many people lately, and clearly, for better and for worse, a new day has dawned. To most people “A.I.” means artificial intelligence and brings to mind super computers, robotic humans and a futuristic dystopia. To many pig farmers though, A.I. stands for artificial insemination and brings to mind very different images.(Feel free to stop listening now because this only gets worse from here.)At various times in the past, I considered AI for our pigs -

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1:22

Father Joe

Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm ·

2025/08/01

This rain has been heavenly! It's revived the pastures and replenished the watershed, out of which our little stream flows.The pigs again have mud to wallow in, and since, contrary to the old adage - pigs really cannot sweat, they need the mud to stay cool. The chickens are thrilled (in their own chickeny kind of way) with all the insects that flourish after a good soaking rain. Ants, worms and beetles come out above ground, where they are "easy pickings" for the foraging hens. The sheep, have new

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