Plum blossoms at Crossing Hedgerows 4/30/25 I think we all are understanding more and more as the years go by that it's not wise to depend only on outside systems Saturday, May 17th at 2pm 🪵🍄 It's been awhile since we've had a meetup! Let's ease back into our gatherings with a leisurely walk around the sanctuary, and some conversation about homesteading. As I think we all know by now, it's not wise to ...
Saturday, May 17th at 2pm Tomorrow is the last day to RSVP! 🌷 Let's ease back into our gatherings with a leisurely walk around the sanctuary farm, and some conversation about homesteading. As I think we all know by now, it's not wise to depend only on outside systems to take care of us. Are there things you would like to delve deeper into that could help you feel more self empowered? There will be a ...
Hi everyone,Your contributions help with all the habitat care for the plants and wildlife on the land, and help us take care of our rescue chickens and cats. Did you know that all of our chickens are also rescues (or their offspring)? (Smokey says hello!)As the spring flowers are beginning to sprout, what in your life is beginning to sprout and is getting ready to blossom? I'm looking forward to celebrating Spring Equinox / Easter along with ...
Hello from CHS Farm on this frigid day! Though it is quite cold (imagine that in February in Michigan!), the chickens are doing well and staying warm. I thought you all might enjoy a video to see our set-up of how we keep the coop warm in the winter, yet we built it to be adaptable for also keeping it cool in the summer. This is what permaculture design is all about ...creating harmonious spaces that work ...
Hi Everyone, Last night we had the biggest flood event we've had here to date. Most of the land is flooded, including our chicken coops, hoop house, sheds, and some of our garage. But thankfully NOT our house or basement. We spent a good part of the day getting our chickens situated as best we could, by adding tables into the coops (with their food and water on them), for them to stand on, along with their ...
By Sarenth Óðinsson, Board Member of Crossing Hedgerows The world is alive. This is especially easy to know at Crossing Hedgerows. You can feel life pulsing beneath your feet, even in the midst of Winter. There is life. Perennial food crops and flowers around the farm are coming back to life, with shoots beginning to pop up, and fruit blossoms preparing to open. The greenhouse is thriving with green interspersed with the decay of the last hops ...
Dawn in the chicken coop at Crossing Hedgerows Farm. The chickens are waking up, preening their feathers and wagging their tails.(The crowing is coming from the coop on the other side of the inner wooden wall which mirrors the coop I’m in.) https://youtube.com/shorts/pzDd4yifMWQ?feature=share The outside walls have clear plastic panels on them over the screens to allow in maximum sunlight and warmth during the winter, like a greenhouse. In summer the panels can be ...
https://youtube.com/shorts/Q5i-7VtLsro?feature=share A couple of our members donated their leftover pumpkins to us for the chickens this past week. As you can see in the video, the chickens appreciated it very much... to the point that some were not wanting to share! So I ended up bringing in another pumpkin for them, as there were plenty to go around! Each chicken area got some pumpkins, and they were all very happy indeed. Pumpkin seeds are a ...
Skills and Friendship Days (aka work days), along with an evening of community sharing this past Saturday, have rounded out the the events of the last few weeks nicely. I hope you enjoy the following photo journal to capture the late summer vibe, and a smattering of what's been happening around the farm and sanctuary. The Yew tree Sarenth and Emily clearing grape vines off the Yew tree Sarenth clearing grape vines off the Yew ...
We have had a couple of our Wednesday work days now and they have gotten off to a great start. A few of us also had an event planning session this past Saturday which was quite productive, but I don't have pictures to share of that. 🤓 (As an aside, I never share pictures of anyone without permission first.) Emily, Blue, and Sarenth (not pictured) clearing last year's dead tomato vines out of the hoophouse - photo ...
For those who are counting down the days until spring, I think the chickens are going to be just as happy! Here they are happily foraging at Beltane in May of 2018. Violets and dandelions are healthy herbs for people and chickens alike. 😀 violets and dandelions, Luna, Penguin and Flame - Photo by Brennah Cavanaugh Photography LLC I hope you are all doing well! Jean
During our Samhain ritual, we honored the Cailleach, whose work encompasses death and decay. She is the hag of winter and the face of the goddess who is the crone. Many traditions have Holy Ones who embody this. Here at Crossing Hedgerows Farm, we recently built a new chicken coop. One of the reasons I wanted to do this, was so we could have a dirt floor and keep a compost pile going inside the coop for ...
We had another beautiful time of connecting with the the spirits of the land and each other yesterday. We started with collecting nasturtium and marigold seeds to save for next year. Brennah had already begun collecting them, but having several people doing it was a fun project. (I have labeled the pictures to show the process for those who are interested.) Nasturtium seeds we collected Caitlin collecting nasturtium seeds ...
Catnip is one of several types of plants we have on the farm to help keep the mosquitoes at bay. There has been a noticeable difference since we've added them to the landscape. Unfortunately, the wilder parts of the Sanctuary, that don't have these plantings, are currently still plagued with the little buggers. Our hens, Amelia, Little Wing, and Chezabu hanging out among some catnip and hops This video shows how much the ...
Continuing from my previous post about food forest crops, sunchokes are one of the perennials we've planted around the farmstead area. As you can see, they have a gorgeous flower which blossoms in late summer. They're a type of sunflower with an edible tuber root which can be used similarly to potatoes, though they have perhaps more of a water chestnut consistency. Also they can be eaten raw, sliced up on a salad with a bit of ...
Crossing Hedgerows Farm is the Cavanaugh family farm which is adjacent to the Sanctuary land. It is currently also being shared with the community as part of the nonprofit mission. So sometimes you will see us refer to "Crossing Hedgerows Farm and Sanctuary". One of the aspects of the farm is the hoop house. It is a 30'x72' structure that we use for year-round growing and we keep some of our chickens in it during the winter ...