Shows
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmIn Praise of the Christmas OrangeI always thought my mom’s tradition of putting an orange in the bottom of everyone’s stocking was a waste of perfectly usable stocking space, and I told her so every Christmas. She explained that growing up oranges were a special treat, and as a child, one of the magical joys of Christmas. As a kid I found that hard to believe, but it makes sense to me now. In an era before refrigeration and mass transportation, everyone ate locally. You knew your farmer, and you ate what was in season, and I can certainly imagine how exciting some...
2025-12-2603 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmThe Scruffiest TreeWhen we were kids, we were fortunate enough to be able to cut our own Christmas trees, and of all our holiday traditions, getting the tree was definitely my favorite.We’d head out the back door and climb up the quarter mile path through the ravine to a grove of spruce trees that my grandmother had tasked my uncles with planting years before.Our Christmas tree lot was deeply magical. The trees, by then, were magnificently tall, perfectly formed, and densely packed. We’d wander about and look at each one in search of the...
2025-12-1901 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmA Fox, a Crow, and MeJust as the sun came up, the snow stopped, and the wind moved on. It was so bitterly cold, though, the only hope of staying warm was to just keep moving. I wanted to check the fence line for any trees that might have come down in the storm, and I was indeed making great time. When I crossed the stream, though, a series of tracks caught my eye. Pleased to see that I wasn’t the only one out doing chores in the freezing cold, I paused for a while to look at the storyboard recorded in the sn...
2025-12-1301 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmThe Prettiest Pigs in TownOn this cold December morning, the witch hazel in our wooded pig pasture seems quite pleased with itself. Long after all our autumn leaves have fallen and every other plant has completely faded, Connecticut’s native witch hazel comes into bloom. The timing seems self-defeating as there are very few cold tolerant insects this time of year that are available to pollinate it. It is, however, the only blossoming game in town, so despite how few pollinators there are, there is no competition for their services. The thermoregulating moths are attracted to witch hazel’s showy yellow flowers and frag...
2025-12-0402 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmAnd a Whole Lot of Time15,000 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 in quickly (glacially speaking) creating a treeless tundra populated by ancient ho...
2025-11-2802 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmThe Luckiest SquirrelHalfway 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 high...
2025-11-2102 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmEven Further from the SunWhen 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 course of the year.If our...
2025-11-1402 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmFor the BirdsJust 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 gave me a missio...
2025-11-0703 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmCircadian ChickensAs 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 eggs. The artificial light definitely makes a difference in the number of eggs we...
2025-10-3104 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmShepherd's Delight!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 colors of the rainbow, mak...
2025-10-2402 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmA Flock of RebelsIn 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 burgeoning sheep industry, British Parliament in 1699, attempted to at least contain it by enac...
2025-10-1702 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmSigns of LifeWhen 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 starts to come...
2025-10-1102 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmFrom Pangea - With LoveOn 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 “...
2025-10-0403 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmThe Flavors of AutumnAs 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 chlorophyl, which starts to break do...
2025-09-2602 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmThrough The Ravine Back in Time15,000 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 the ravine by our house helped drain the over flow.And just as the ravine once acted like a funnel...
2025-09-2202 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmHousewarming SheepWhen 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 moved in. My mom...
2025-09-1102 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmMaking a LifeAs 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 5-month gestation, ewes that are bred i...
2025-09-0603 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmIf I Were a PigI 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...
2025-08-2901 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmOut the DoorI 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...
2025-08-2201 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmDancing with BeesWhen 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 describes how far and in what direction whatever she foun...
2025-08-1503 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmA Chorus of CricketsMale 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 how quickly they can rub their wings together. The colder they...
2025-08-1102 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmChimney SwiftsAfter 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 neede...
2025-08-0803 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmArtificially IntelligentA.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 - usually right after a boar...
2025-08-0403 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmFather JoeThis 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 growth in their...
2025-08-0101 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmBluebirdsTwo bluebirds are nesting in a bluebird box outside our dining room window. We might as well set a place for them at the table, as we spend much of our evening meal discussing their comings and goings. After a day spent taking care of our animals, it’s oddly relaxing to watch another pair so diligently provide for their own.We watched as the male collected twigs for the nest the female was building. He seemed very particular, searching at length for just the right stick – small enough to fit through the opening and flexible enough to b...
2025-07-2802 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmHappily IrrelevantNothing draws people to our farmers’ market booth like a table filled with orange and yellow edible mushrooms. The brightly colored “Chicken of the Woods” fungi stops people in their tracks, and most can’t resist coming up and asking what it is. Some want to know “How do I know it’s not poisonous?” I explain that killing our customers is a very poor business model, so we only sell items we are quite sure are okay. It’s a conversation starter and even if I can’t convince them that not all mushrooms are deadly, we have a chance at least...
2025-07-2403 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmFence Works!Whenever one of our pigs touches the electric fence, and lets out an impressive heart rendering squeal, Anne and I, in perfect unison, cheerfully proclaim “fence works!”.Our friends look at us in horror, and I guess it probably does seem a bit callous, but anyone who has spent an afternoon trying to retrieve a wayward pig understands our enthusiasm. A little zap on the nose seems like a very small price to pay, to remind the little wanderers which side of the fence is theirs.Pigs, in general, are hard on fences. Their constant root...
2025-07-2002 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmBarnyard Graffiti This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clatterridgefarm.substack.com
2025-07-1802 min
Story Time at Clatter Ridge FarmA Brood of Her Own This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clatterridgefarm.substack.com
2025-07-1402 min
Grab the Top Full Audiobooks in Teen & YA, Sci-Fi, Fantasy & ParanormalTo Kill a Shadow by Katherine QuinnPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/696156to listen full audiobooks.
Title: To Kill a Shadow
Series: #1 of To Kill a Shadow
Author: Katherine Quinn
Narrator: Gideon Emery, Moira Quirk
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 13 hours 31 minutes
Release date: November 28, 2023
Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.67 of Total 3
Ratings of Narrator: 4 of Total 2
Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Paranormal
Publisher's Summary:
Jude Maddox knows nothing of love or even light. He knows only his grim duty as the Hand of Death, to lead the Knights of the Eternal Star into a land filled with nightmares and certain demise. It’s only when he sees her—a young...
2023-11-281h 31
The Yule Log From HellThe Yule Log From Hell 2022 - Episode 5 - Pointing HeadstonesWe pay tribute to those we lost over the past year. We have dispensed with our usual show format and is presented without interruption.
Episode 5 – Pointing Headstones
1) On Christmas Day – Magnum - Butch Samolewicz (bass) 1957-2021
2) Toyland – Sally Anne Howes 1930-2021
3) Good King Wenceslas – Robin le Mesuier – 1953-2021
4) Christmas Sermon – Desmond Tutu 1931-2021
5) Date With The Angels – Betty White 1922 – 2021
6) Ace Hardware Holiday Commercial 1991 – John Madden 1936-2021
7) Christmas Medley – Mickey Mouse Club – Tiffany Hale 1975-2021
8) Join Me for Christmas - Bruce A. Barrett/Wayne...
2022-12-234h 22
Final Round Pinball Podcast (TPN)Ep 32: American Horror StoryFinal Round Pinball Podcast Episode 32: American Horror Story
Hosts: Martin Robbins & Jeff Teolis
Special Guest: Charlie Emery
What’s The Latest
Honesty
Teamwork
Bigger & Better
Plus:
Sponsor Of The Week
Craig Bobbie of TPS joins us as we discuss pricing, a game of Two Truths and A Lie, and Most Overrated Battle Royale
2021-04-241h 50Final Round PinballEp 32: American Horror StoryFinal Round Pinball Podcast Episode 32: American Horror Story
Hosts: Martin Robbins & Jeff Teolis
Special Guest: Charlie Emery
What’s The Latest
Honesty
Teamwork
Bigger & Better
Plus:
Sponsor Of The Week
Craig Bobbie of TPS joins us as we discuss pricing, a game of Two Truths and A Lie, and Most Overrated Battle Royale
2021-04-241h 50
final – The Pinball NetworkFinal Round Pinball Podcast Ep 32: American Horror Story
Final Round Pinball Podcast Episode 32: American Horror Story
Hosts: Martin Robbins & Jeff Teolis
Special Guest: Charlie Emery
What’s The Latest HonestyTeamwork Bigger & Better
Plus:
Sponsor Of The WeekCraig Bobbie of TPS joins us as we discuss pricing, a game of Two Truths and A Lie, and Most Overrated Battle Royale
email: finalroundpinball@gmail.com
website: thepinball.network
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/4w2b4c/final_round_-_032_-_american_horror_storyadert.mp3
2021-04-2400 min
The Pinball Show (TPN)Final Round Pinball Podcast Ep 32: American Horror StoryFinal Round Pinball Podcast Episode 32: American Horror Story
Hosts: Martin Robbins & Jeff Teolis
Special Guest: Charlie Emery
- What’s The Latest
- Honesty
- Teamwork
- Bigger & Better
Plus:
- Sponsor Of The Week
- Craig Bobbie of TPS joins us as we discuss pricing, a game of Two Truths and A Lie, and Most Overrated Battle Royale
email: finalroundpinball@gmail.com
website: thepinball.network
2021-04-241h 50
Success Made to Last LegendsSuccess to Significance focuses on Master Collaborators with celeb photographer Bjoern KommerellHollywood's master of photography, Bjoern Kommerell talks about his success through Instagram and building trust with A- listers such as Cindi Crawford, Jay C, Missy Elliott and countless others. Learn the techniques of working together from this master collaborator. For over 20 years the crazy german has been all over Los Angeles taking headshots of actors. Forget about the stiff atmosphere and the fake smiles. Forget about your face freezing in into a mask of boredom. If you shoot with Bjoern, get ready for a different kind of experience. It’ll be more like working on a mo...
2021-03-2329 min