24 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
24 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
- Down in Springfield, I ran into a guy an hour south of there
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- We had a good discussion about things. He too actually was a software engineer for a while and came back to the farm. Loves it. Wants to change things up though. Things work for them but there's opportunities for improvement.
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- Cued me onto a book, "Dirt to Soil" by Gabe Brown. Read it in full. It resonated.
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- A lot of the stuff is the same regenerative message. But he's a grain + beef operation. So it's a little more applicable. There's a way it seemed accessible.
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- He's grasped the wrong track we're on and sees a way out. And it's not a wacky ideological thing. It's the same sort of idea in A Pattern Language - the processes need to rhyme.
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- The reason the newfangled stuff keeps not working is because it's a manifestation of an anti-life spirit. This book is pro-life.
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- No-till, low-synthetics, overlapping cover ("primer") crops, deeper rotations, animals in the loop. He's still using herbicides, though trying to wean off. Not crazy. Asking 'what was here before?'. Seeking profits, not yields. Making steps informed by experiments - not ideological insanity.
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- A good bit of this we're already doing (obviously - no-till). But there's room to implement more.
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- There are aspects of farming that I like - and those I could do without. These principles emphasize the aspects I like and adds an element of creativity that I desperately need. My head is often in the clouds - but if I had skin in the game, some decision-making, I know I would be more attentive.
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- To be here and improve the land is this persistent longing that will not cease. I realized this in considering the job at Heritage - I would not be fulfilled. I think the opportunity with TH is interesting - mostly because it allows me flexibility. I need to farm. I think there are plenty of opportunities to use my talents here, spaces to grow, and if we do it right, plenty of money.
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- But I do not know enough.
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- I don't understand our balance sheets.
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- I don't understand the fundamentals well enough.
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- I'd like to learn from books and experience - and your mentorship.
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- I want to go in this direction - not overnight - and not without experimentation and oversight.
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- But I need your help and appreciation. And some personal growth, too. I want you to be open to change - though not so open that your head falls out.
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### Why Farm?
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- To re-establish a peaceful, poetic, and personal way of life.
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- To deepen roots and connectedness - between plants, land, people, and God.
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- To solve problems at the source - treating, no, preventing disease with healthy food.
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I want to do all of these things and I cannot think of a better way than to farm. |