THE BIODYNAMIC FARMER.
Rudolf Steiner, the man whose 1920 lectures created biodynamic agriculture, once called winter "the season when the earth is most inwardly alive," and I've lately begun to appreciate how analogous this idea can be for the life of the farmer.What does the farmer do in the winter, when the nights are long and the days are cold and slow to start; when life is stowed away warmly in the depths of the planet and the weeds pose no threat; when what was previously generous soil is now impertinent mud? There are chores of course––always chores––and plenty of catch up to do, but there is also an extensive amount of nighttime to be dealt with.The summer can be hard on the farmer, and the first frosts of fall bring much-needed reprieve. Thus wintertime becomes not only an opportunity for the planet to regroup, but the farmer gets his or her chance as well. And as the winter is an inward time for the planet, so too is it an inward time for the farmer.Certainly, when the winter came I embraced my time indoors. I spent the last few months reading and planning and thinking and discussing with Hannah the upcoming season, and have recently––feeling inspired and reenergized––started to feel eager for the growing season to arrive. Up until the other day, I thought I was alone in this feeling until Hannah pointed out the buds appearing on the quince bushes and the day lilies beginning to pierce the soil around the cabin. The earth, too, it seems, is itching.Next year we are looking forward to employing more biodynamic practices to our farming. It's a philosophy of rhythm and timing as much as avoiding chemicals and properly using composts. And it's a philosophy of treating the earth as a living, breathing organism––treating the earth like a farmer, and yourself like the earth. Perhaps my itch is the first step to becoming a good biodynamic farmer.- Jesse.
POWER STRUGGLES.
I do the majority of my writing––for this blog, for my book, for the poetry I promise to never force you to read––on an iPad I received as an extremely generous gift a couple years ago. I'm not a gadget guy by any means, but this device, with its exceptional battery power, has been an incomparable tool here on the farm where we don't have electricity. I love my typewriter and notebooks, but with this device, I can write a post (like this one) at home, and upload it to the blog quickly, saving us on the (very valuable) amount of time we have to spend away from the farm. Though even with the respectable battery life, this device still needs charging.As I write this, our truck sits in the shop getting the battery checked (among other non-related fixes). Our car battery is starting to show signs of exhaustion as well. Essentially, we have worn our car batteries down charging our phones and this writing tool, using our vehicles as giant, gas-eating generators. Like it or not, if I want to continue powering this device, I have to face the fact that this device needs power.Since the building of our cabin, electricity has been extremely, perhaps even surprisingly, low on our list of amenities. But it is not within our holistic goals to rely upon, and ultimately waste, loads of batteries either––be they for flashlights, cars, radios or otherwise. For that matter, we truly love the blog and love keeping it up and have no intention of letting up any time soon, but––whether we're talking the wasted car batteries or the time and gas required to take us to town to keep it up every week––we've got to make it sustainable also.Ultimately, our issues with energy have got us thinking a lot more about alternative energy systems––thermal, wind, solar, human––and have perhaps moved electricity up the list a little. We have no intention of hooking into the grid, but we are definitely growing increasingly interested in the idea of employing the wind that hammers our house, the heat that we lose to the sky through our stovepipe, our bodies, the sun or some combination of the four to help us with our literal power struggles, and to utilize these renewable resources to their full potential. There's way too much free energy floating around out there for us, or anyone else, to be at a lack of it.- Jesse.
SAVE THE DATE.
We got our new business cards in the mail today, and we truly love them. Along with new business cards, we are excited about tons of new ideas we are trying to gather together and get prepared to bring with us to the KENTUCKY GREEN LIVING FAIR.! We will be talking a lot about this event more in the future, but for now we just wanted to plant MARCH 15 in your heads and remind you how amazing it was last year. So mark your calendars and stay tuned to the Fair's website!If you think this is an event you would like to attend as a vendor, I believe there are still spots available! Contact the organizers here.- Hannah.