Aurora Mountain Farm is a small farm in the Yukon. The Rudge family (Tom, Simone, Claire and Graham) grow certified organic vegetables, grain for baking and cereal, and feed for the cashmere goats, Belgian horses and laying hens.

It's amazing the power available from a willing and enthusiastic horse! Tutshi and Tat sure look gorgeous harnessed up and ready to work.

Besides our certified organic vegetable and grain crops, we also raise free-range chickens for meat. The demand for locally raised free-range birds is very high. We start taking orders for chickens in March and are usually sold out by May when the chicks hatch.

The chicks will spend their first four weeks in an inside enclosure with a propane brooder to keep them warm. When they start getting their true feathers, we move them to the outdoor pen. Chickens are naturally forest dwellers so they really enjoy a place with trees and bushes to provide shelter and shade. Netting over the top protects them from hawks.

Butchering day helps build a strong sense of community as neighbours and farming friends get together to share in the work. Since all our meat is sold "farm gate", customers come out to the farm to pick up their orders. Many of our customers participate in butchering day to share in that sense of community as well as become more connected with where their food comes from.

Our son, Graham, writes a "Life on the Farm" column for What's Up Yukon magazine. Tom writes a regular column "Real Food" for the How's Business quarterly.

You can tell a lot about a person's politics by the books they read. Here are some of our favourite books and videos with a short review of each. There's lots of good reading out there!

We make a wide selection of jam, jelly and marmalade from locally harvested herbs and berries. Yukon Cranberry, or Saskatoon Jam, , Chokecherry, Yarrow, Dandelion, or Highbush Cranberry Jelly, Raspberry, or Rhubarb Marmalade and our best seller - made with the Yukon's territorial herb - Fireweed Jelly.

Our preserves are available at the No Gold Gallery in Dawson, the Watson Lake General Store and in Whitehorse at Alpine Bakery, Aroma Borealis, Lilli Pie, Paradise Alley, Midnight Sun Gallery and Gifts, both Westmark gift shops and at the Yukon Made Christmas Store opening December 9 at 306 Alexander.

We make three types of goatmilk soap: Unscented Goatmilk Soap, Fireweed Goatmilk Soap scented with geranium oil and lavender, and Takhini Mud Goatmilk Soap containing mineral clay and scented with Ylang-ylang, patchouli and clary sage. All our soaps are made with olive oil, vegetable oil, and coconut oil along with goat milk. Goat milk is rich in proteins, vitamins, and minerals and very nourishing for your skin.

The soap is hand-cut into bars that each weigh over 100 grams which, after curing, are wrapped in a strip of brown paper and labelled. Cold-processed soaps like these retain the glycerin that is naturally produced by the soap making process which results in a soap that is very gentle on your skin, lathers well and lasts a long time.

Spring is a busy time as each of the cashmere goats are combed for their underdown which is spun into beautiful, soft cashmere yarn.

This cute little guy on the left is Matthew. He's already had his thick winter coat combed out and is looking very svelte. Emma, munching on some oats, is much fluffier in her winter down coat.

Cashmere has the well-deserved reputation for being one of the softest and warmest fibres - as well as being exceptionally beautiful. Try it yourself! It is a real treat for hand spinning.

The 2007 combings will be blended with fine, white alpaca from the Twisted Sisters Mill in RollyView, Alberta. The yarn and roving should be ready by the opening of the Fireweed Community Market in the spring of 2008.

A large vegetable garden grows enough vegetables for our family and WWOOF volunteers as well as to sell at the local Fireweed Community Market each Thursday evening from 3 to 8 pm in Shipyards Park in Whitehorse.

We use many season extending tricks like the hoop covers shown to allow us to produce vegetables from mid June until well into September. By covering the soil right after seeding, the seeds can germinate more quickly in the warm soil.

Carrot seeds can take as long as three weeks to germinate in cold soil although they can tolerate cooler temperatures once they're out of the ground. A cloth row cover under the hoops will help them germinate quickly so the plant can spend more time storing energy in sweet, juicy roots.