Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Growing asks you to remember the part of yourself the world has conditioned you to forget. Dear Reader I honestly don’t believe there is anything more delightful in the midst of July than to wake to a soft, steady rain. The muted shushing of drops running off foliage and the sharp, clear birdsong pierce my heart. Not wishing to miss a moment of this sensory feast, I quickly assembled tea and berries on my breakfast tray and made my way to the...
3 days ago • 4 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. ideas are not “out there” waiting to be discovered, but are tools—like forks and knives and microchips—that people devise to cope with the world in which they find themselves. ~Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club, A Story of Ideas in America Dear Reader When it’s Thursday afternoon, and I don’t have a throughline for my weekly missive, I know I’ve likely been looking in all the wrong places, missing the obvious storyline right before me. And so,...
17 days ago • 4 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Garlic bridges ancient wisdom and modern science as a protective ally – nourishing our bodies, healing soils, and guarding gardens in an era that needs its resilient spirit more than ever. ~Jay Drysdale Dear Reader I honestly don’t know how I have lived 66 years without experiencing garlic scapes, yet somehow I have. I actually had never even seen a scape until my first beds of garlic produced them last season. Whether it is possible for me to...
24 days ago • 3 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Insects' presence, diversity, and behavior provide real-time feedback on the health of the entire system. ~Jay Drysdale Dear Reader Waking to misty mornings and birdsong, I’ve already forgotten the still quiet of falling snow. I've also lost track of how I filled those dark winter days. It’s difficult to imagine, with these abundant days, exactly how I spent my time. That is the nature of seasons: when you are in the midst of one, it's difficult...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. I used to think farming was about growing food, now I think farming is about growing soil and habitat, and food is what happens when you do that well. ~Jay Drysdale Dear Reader As chilly and often grey May folded into June's warmth, affirmative answers to my many questions arrived. Yes, those gorgeous white beans from Transylvania did germinate and are now climbing up the trellis. Yes, the new potato variety is flourishing in the high tunnel,...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.― C.G. Jung Dear Reader In these final weeks of spring leading up to the summer solstice, she is showing me all she can be. She teases with nighttime temperatures that plummet and send me scurrying to cover the garden beds and then the next day rolls out her own blanket of sultry heat. Hanging so thick in the air, you are certain the near frost was a fever dream. She is the gift of...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. ~Anatole France Dear Reader After three sticky, sultry days that left no room for breath, I awoke Thursday to brisk air with wind gusts rustling the tender young foliage. The 48-degree temperature and cloudy skies were an invitation to bundle once again and prepare for a morning meander. There hasn't been much of that this season, and it seemed high...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. Loran Eisley Dear Reader Constraints do indeed feed ingenuity and creativity, yet removing those barriers can often unleash a storm of ideas. That is exactly what I experienced on Friday as pumped water flowed onto the Gemmo Forest land. A working irrigation system was and is a cause for great celebration as options open up and potential expands. It was the hands-on skill of volunteers...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Learn character from trees, values from roots, and change from leaves. ~Tasneern Harneed Dear Reader We first arrived at our New Hampshire home in late November as an ice storm brewed. As I made a cursory tour of the cold and empty house, I noted the outline of a tree that filled the kitchen window. In the morning, upon closer inspection, it was added to the list of Things Needing Immediate Repair. As those first days unfolded, that original...
2 months ago • 3 min read