STICKERS.
"Land abuse cannot brighten the human prospect." - Wendell BerryWhat we've chosen to do with our lives is not always easy to explain to people, or easy for them to understand, and our endeavors often get relegated to the "hippie" section of people's minds. However, that is not how we think of ourselves, or what we're doing. We work way too hard to be overlooked as absurd. We think of ourselves as serious entrepreneurs who not only consider community and environment, but employ it. We try and survive in cahoots with nature, not in spite of it. Lucky for those of us who have dedicated our lives to this symbiosis, we have people such as agrarian essayist and Kentucky author Wendell Berry to give the movement grace and eloquence; to distinguish our lifestyle as something other than just rebellion; and to inspire us and others to never forget the land we stand on and live off of.Recently Wendell Berry was chosen to speak for the National Endowment for the Humanities' Jefferson Lecture. "[The] most prestigious honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities," according to the NEH. We wanted to share with everyone the speech he gave, a speech which was promptly followed by a member of the board joshingly (but unfortunately, truthfully) noting that Wendell's views do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. government.We thought it would be cool to post the speech in full here but it's quite long so please follow this link. I know we talk A LOT about Wendell Berry, but it's decidedly worth a read, as a way to both get to know Mr. Berry, and perhaps a way to understand better the world in which, or more appropriately on which, we live.
SWEETGRASS.
As we mentioned, we are starting to meet some people. Starting to connect. Starting to find a community here in Danville. I am planning a big ol' post about this city and all the great places we are discovering, but in the meantime, we wanted to share a bit about some new friends.Jacob and Carolyn are young farmers, much like us....they were interns on a farm and are now starting their own adventure together called FOOD LEAF FARM. They have veggies and chickens and goats, plus they make the most wonderful and delicious granola. We are kind of obsessed with them....and their OHmazing granola. It is made entirely with organic and local ingredients....they are even planning on growing and pressing their own sorghum this year! So wonderful. The best part is, you can try some for yourself and we hope you will! Sweetgrass Granola is available at GOOD FOODS in Lexington, MARKSBURY in Garrard County, GRASSHOPPERS out of Louisville, and even ONLINE! We really kind of love these people, even though we just met them....and are so happy to share them with you guys.- Hannah.
FARM TO TABLE.
It was a big day for us today as we started putting the first of our tomato plants in the ground, tempting fate a little with the weather but feeling confident they'll be happier there. Afterwards, we took a minute to look over the rows and enjoy how the garden continues to fill up with potential: hundreds of ounces of seed will soon render thousands of pounds of food. We received most of our seeds in February, started planting them in March and by May we'll be devouring their efforts, amazed that what will come to make numerous dinners for us and shareholders often started out no bigger than the letters of this text. It would be like one blog post turning into wikipedia in 100 days. Of course, these few weeks before the harvesting begins might not be the most exciting time in the kitchen but they're a great time in the dirt, massaging our future meals into fruition, watching seeds perform miracles.- Jesse.
