A TRIP TO PORT ROYAL.
Following hand-written maps is the true language of the country. At Bugtussle, where Hannah and I learned to farm, my glovebox was always stuffed full of maps the farmer had drawn for me to get to one obscure place or another. The one we followed for a couple hours yesterday led us to Port Royal (or Port William, if you know where this story's going).When you drop down into the valley, you're suddenly suffocated by a dense, verdant hillside to your left, and a dense, verdant riverbed to your right. It's breathtaking and it just makes sense that the entire landscape would change moments before you arrive at the house of famed agrarian writer and personal hero, Wendell Berry. His wife, Tanya, was outside working in her flower bed when we pulled into the drive and greeted us warmly. Once inside, she called up the stairs for Wendell.This past winter, still unsure of what our farming situation would be for the year, we decided to write Wendell. We needed some advice, some consoling, some encouragement. His writing had always been that for us. In marriage, farming, faith and responsibility, we had always found new perspectives in Wendell's essays and books, perspectives which have given an elegant voice to what we do, how we do it, and why we should. Unsure of what our future held, we decided to once again turn to Wendell and to our (still) unending surprise, he responded enthusiastically. After a few exchanges arrived the map with a note, "I'll expect you on June 10 at 3 o'clock."Whole walls of their house seem to be built with books alone, entire rooms might even be forgotten, buried in literature. When Wendell descended the stairs, a man who we owe a great deal of our lives to, and shook hands with us, the true gravity and power of writing a letter revealed itself.If you don't know who Wendell Berry is, you've probably stopped reading anyway. If you do know who he is and you're familiar with his work, you already know what he sounds like. You can hear his voice in essays and poetry: deep, thoughtful, precise, but with a subtle, elegant Kentucky accent. I'd never heard Wendell speak in public before, but as Hannah pointed out, his voice would have been all that was required to recognize him on the street––it's exactly what he sounds like in his books.At his table with his wonderful wife, we spent the next three hours talking. Sometimes it was about particular vegetables or ways to care for lamb, and sometimes it was more broad––philosophy, religion, art, wine or farming. Sometimes it was just gossip from the town. But among the subjects we included in our original letter, a subject we wished to ask them about, was sustainability. And not sustainability in the general sense, but sustainability in the personal sense, the idea that even if you are doing things ideally––zero-waste, carbon-neutral, self-sufficient––how do you keep from burning out? We'd seen a lot of farmers, and continue to meet a lot of farmers, who reach a point where they're unhappy. Hannah and I want to be sustainable not only literally, but completely, and wondered what advice they might have, and they delivered.It must surely be true what they say, that Mr. Berry is the most quotable man in America. Each sentence was powerful, and we found ourselves struggling to remember each word, each gesture, each inflection, each startling boom of his infectious laugh. It would be hard to recount their advice or everything that was said, and since it wasn't an interview, we feel it's only fair to not misquote them. What can be said of this afternoon, and of their advice, is it carried within it the same themes that can be found flowing through all of Wendell's writing: knowing your place, respecting the land, responsibility, culture, neighbors, community. We left feeling inspired, feeling challenged. We left having met our hero, and he left us feeling confident we were doing the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons. However, before we end this post, we will leave you with one thing he said, which Hannah so brilliantly made sure to remember: "It takes a long time, and a lot of patience to know where you are. To know what you can do there. I'm still trying to figure that out."What a day.- Jesse.
IN SHORT...
Here is an abbreviated version of this week on the farm....The chickens are happy and healthy. We're experimenting with some worm farms, using a few old windows, to supplement the protein needed for the chicken's diets. The bees are flourishing - I already had to add another hive body onto each! They are quite productive! There are lots of yellow squash getting bigger every day, plenty of green tomatoes, flowers on the green beans and zucchini. We planted corn, more melons, more cucumbers, pumpkins, and tons of beans - including some heirloom pole beans called "Reverend Taylor." Today, we finished setting up some bamboo trellising for them. These, plus the canopy of sheets shading our kale and chard, secure our garden as being completely insane-looking. "Anything you do that makes your neighbors think your crazy," our papa farmer, Eric, used to say, "probably just means you're doing something right!"- Hannah.
ZEN AND THE ART OF ART.
In the past two days, I have finished two paintings and I am pretty excited, to say the least! It is so good to be painting again, and for Jesse to be able to write. However, June is a busy part of the season, so we have to make time for these pursuits, whether that means getting up before dawn, or working extra hard through the day to feel ok about spending an hour or two painting. These hobbies, however, are very important to our sustainability, because of how important they are to our sanity. Insane farmers does not equal sustainable! And I can assure you, it feels good to have two new finished pieces and a couple more in the works! Now... where to put them?- Hannah.
WENDELL WEDNESDAY.
Remember when Wendell looked like this? I have started painting and drawing and making art, partly because I miss it and we now have some space for me to set up a studio....but also partly because I want to hang some of my work around town and start making some much needed cash. *SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT* anybody want some art? Portraits of people, pets, inanimate objects? *END SHAMELESS PLUG* But seriously, I think Wendell is my new muse.
