Thanks to industrial agriculture and the demand for a constant variety of foods, regardless of how far they must be transported, Americans "are putting nearly as much petroleum into their refrigerators as they are into their cars. Barbara Kingsolver has written about bean trees, pigs in heaven and the dreams of animals, so it will come as no surprise to her legion of readers that her new book is titled "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Kingsolver's first book in five years is not a novel but an...

The day was also a double celebration with farm staff still over the moon about their latest arrival a new kid of Minstrel, the British Alpine goat. A parade was led by bagpiping green man Dave Brooks, whose costume symbolises the natural world s battle against pollution. Revellers enjoyed traditional May pole dancing, arts and crafts and tucked into freshly barbecued sausages. With a baby goat here and chatty sheep there May Day in Kentish Farm MAY Day festivities were in full swing this...

Mimicking bull riding, mini cowboys and cowgirls hop on a sheep bareback in the hopes of riding the running, bouncing, skittish critter to a standstill. Wearing a pair of leather chaps, a flaming red rodeo shirt and a shiny new hockey helmet, the 5-year-old buckaroo knew exactly what it felt like to be plopped onto the back of a bucking sheep in front of thousands of cheering people. With his lips pressed firmly together and his little eyebrows pinched into a so-serious scowl, Austin...

The Friends work hard separating the books into their different genres, so book sale customers don't have to hunt through all the paperbacks to find what they're looking for. The Friends wanted me to extend a thank you to everyone who so graciously donates their gently used books for the sales. Come out and join this industrious group, and don't forget to come and see what reading treasures you can find at their spring book sale. They search through the books so that those in poor shape...

Rather, the only kid we could handle would be a baby goat, specifically one that would live on someone's farm but be available for occasional visits by us. A posse of parents of adopted children were offended by my plan to adopt a baby goat as a response to the recent trend of international adoptions by attention-seeking celebrities. Only I made it clear that my wife, Leigh, and I were already overwhelmed by caring for our two young daughters, and thus we had no desire to add an extra...