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By CAROLE SOULE

Last week, I shared a story about Mr. Devon, a calf whose weaning had gone sideways. He had an extreme and possibly deadly case of scours (calf diarrhea), and every treatment we tried failed. He’s the only one of the Devon breed of beef cattle on...

By CAROLE SOULE

Not too long ago, we were weaning 12 calves at once. Seven had been born here on Miles Smith Farm, and five more were purchased so we’d have plenty for our summer campers to train. So, twice a day, farm helper Diane and I took the temperature of each...

By CAROLE SOULE

On the first day of summer camp here at Miles Smith Farm, the kids hardly knew a hoof from a square knot. They didn’t want to get their boots dirty, and some swatted non-stop at the horse flies and no-see-ums. Then they met their calves: Peaches,...

By CAROLE SOULE

Twenty years ago, I was a vegetarian. Now I eat meat, but not just any meat; knowing how the animal was raised is essential to me.For those still-vegetarians, there is a huge commercial push to create “fake meat.” Recently United States regulators...

By CAROLE SOULE

Who doesn’t love to time travel? How is that possible? It’s easy; just read a book about the Civil War or watch a Star Trek movie. Of course, the future is fiction, but the past welcomes us via well-researched nonfiction books. Time travel just got...

By CAROLE SOULE

Twenty years ago, I was a vegetarian. Now I eat meat, but not just any meat. Unless I know the beef was raised on the right kind of farm, I’ll go vegetarian.My definition of healthy meat is meat from animals that have been raised humanely on small...

By CAROLE SOULE

“What type of cow is that?” asked Jane, a visitor to Miles Smith Farm, pointing to Belle. When I told her Belle was a Milking Short Horn, Jane asked, “When do you start milking her?”Astonished by the question, I realized that maybe Jane thought cows...

By CAROLE SOULE

The yearlings crowded around the pan, butting each other for the best spot. You’d think the pan contained yummy grain, but I had filled it with course red granules of minerals instead. Cattle, just like humans, need minerals to survive, and the...

By CAROLE SOULE

The kids stowed their backpacks, ran into the barnyard, and waited anxiously to learn which calf would be theirs for the week. Would it be Peaches, a sweet white Scottish Highland calf, or Claudette, a fuzzy Belted Galloway heifer, who looked like an...

By CAROLE SOULE

Some laws try to keep us safe, and others annoy some of us, but there is one law that we should all be grateful for, the Current Use law.On June 28, 1973, New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson signed HB 307, establishing the Current Use law (RSA...

By CAROLE SOULE

Every myth has at least a grain of truth. It doesn’t matter how small that truth might be; it gives life to the bigger myth. Here’s one I hear from almost every visitor to the farm. “Don’t stand behind a horse. You’ll get kicked.”One of my readers...

By CAROLE SOULE

I love sharing Miles Smith Farm with young people each summer. And the kids love it too. They learn how to feed the goats, the donkey, sheep, Tazzy, the pig, rabbits, and chickens, and they each get a calf assigned to them for a week. Last year the...

By CAROLE SOULE

This column is adapted from the prologue to Carole's book, "Yes, I Name Them," available in September. Carole shares her 26-acre Loudon farm with husband Bruce and a herd of Scottish Highland cattle.  The 1957 Sears Christmas Book offers a pony—not a...

By CAROLE SOULE

On a recent Florida vacation, my husband Bruce and I visited the Turtle Hospital on Marathon Key. “Turtle ambulances” (vans with custom-made boxes) transport sick and injured sea turtles to the center, where they receive state-of-the-art medical care....

By CAROLE SOULE

This column is an excerpt from the author’s book, “Yes, I Name Them,” available in September 2023.Someone has lived on my farm for about a century. She started life as a fragile sapling and grew into the big apple tree that stands in our backyard....

By CAROLE SOULE

Most of the Miles Smith Farm cattle respect fences. Fencing (not the kind with swords) is not a “one-and-done” thing. It’s more like car maintenance; repairs are inevitable and necessary.Nature and animals conspire to destroy this man-made...

By CAROLE SOULE

 We are still awaiting the birth of four more Scottish Highland calves, and they’ll soon be capering around the pastures. Laney, the cow, seemed to have gotten over our conflict when herding her and her calf, Peaches, into the holding pen. At least, I...

By CAROLE SOULE

Four more calves were born last week. I’m always thrilled when a calf is born, especially when it stands and nurses on its own. When a calf is born, I like to bring the mother and baby to the safety of the holding pen so that the pair can bond without...

By CAROLE SOULE

Summer is sneaking up, and it’s time to plan what your kids will do when school lets out. Let me tell you about a fun farm camp that enchanted boys and girls last year.On the first day of the Miles Smith Farm 2022 summer day camp, 19 kids aged 8 to 14...

By CAROLE SOULE

What are the chances that I’d randomly run into a fellow New Hampshire farmer during my recent five-day vacation in New York City? It’s all in knowing where to look.In January, I visited the city to see farm friend Susan Kristoferson’s specialized...