Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Do pigs fly? If you had asked me yesterday, I would have said, “That’s absurd!” But today I saw a dog – namely Jordy – climb a tree. This has opened my mind to wonderful possibilities. You may remember our friend Jordy and his human...
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) We met Sonja at the Brookfield Farmers Market. She is one of those humans who is easy to talk with so that’s what we did – we talked – a lot. We found that we shared similar ideas and became friends. We met her children. We...
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) I’m lazy. It’s true. Until Al and I started looking into the back-breaking human way of growing food – digging and hoeing and plowing and turning – I never would have imagined it could be so hard to get something to eat. But, as you...
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Al and I did some more undercover poking around in supermarkets. By now nothing should surprise us, but still, Al had to peck me on the head when my jaw dropped open without my knowledge or consent. Below signs boasting “farm fresh” were blueberries from...
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Jordy bounded out of the snow to greet us, ears flying back, carrying a paper cup in his mouth, and his whole body wriggling with excitement. His human, Steven, followed, much more sedately, to tell us that just 5 minutes ago he had sold the...
By Al (a bird) What with all the cold and darkness, not to menshun the freezing cold and well, lack of sunshine, Hippo is just not herself. She even quit working on our article about essential oils. I reminded her that we have an important job to do – that the animals back home...
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Humans’ noses appear to be “in a state of mismatch” with the modern world. Our sense of smell evolved in very odour-rich landscapes in which we were interacting regularly with the environment. Now today we’re not interacting with the environment and we’re in very polluted places....
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) “Pee-yew,” squawked Al very loudly. “That guy smells like a male antelope marking his territory.” Shhh, Al. He might hear you.” “He’s wearing headphones,” said Al. Al and I were on the treadmill . . . “A really dumb machine, if you ask me,” said...
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) We could have gotten our pumpkins from a store, but Alsum’s roadside stand looked like much more fun. They have these paintings of pumpkins with holes which the humans stick their heads into for a picture. “Heads?” said Al, “humans only have one head!” “But...
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) We are Martice, Amy, Mason and Maxwell Scales. We are a family that is on a mission to live life as fully and as naturally as possible by getting back to nature and farming. Al and I are going to try something different today. First...
