We’re not always planting, weeding, and harvesting on the farm! Sometimes we’re reading, and these are some of my recent favorites:

I’m fascinated by  “At Home With Holistic Management: Creating a Life of Meaning” by Ann Adams. Originally targeted at cattle farmers, it’s now a global approach called Holistic Management International. The mineral cycle, water cycle, and flow of energy affects us all! It’s a step-by-step process into thinking more inclusively about the world around us and planning for a creative life within it.

I’ve returned to an ongoing delight: “Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters” by Annie Dillard. This collection of short stories drives me into unique considerations of life. In particular I love “Living Like Weasels.”

“The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups” by Starhawk is a comprehensive look at healthy communal dynamics, but anyone could drastically enhance their ability to communicate and participate with others after reading this book. We could all benefit from examining different kinds of power (earned and unearned,) building accountability and trust, and creating empowering leadership.

– Writing from the Wassaic Community Farm in June.

What an exciting intersection of health! The Wassaic Community Farm and Third Root Community Health Center have shared goals in making the essentials for health more accessible. Food is primary medicine! There are many barriers to getting the food we need and this alliance may create more opportunities. It’s exciting to work together for the change we want, from the vegetable field to the dinner table.

– Writing from the Wassaic Community Farm in June.

Waking up with the sun comes easy with a candlelight bedtime. The birdsong dawn is a joyful greeting into the day. Over oatmeal and ginger tea the hours ahead of us are planned: plant squash, lettuce and pinch basil. Harvest nettles, pot up eggplant. Haul mulch. Put calendula in the radish bed. These are plans to move all day with loving attention, some sweaty effort, pauses in refocus, responding to the push of the earth
and the pull of the plants.

– Writing from the Wassaic Community Farm in June.