Corporate Greed & Food Security
I had a funny moment just now and both Jeff and I said at the same time, 'Whelp, there's the Fresh Sheet topic for this week.'
Not funny haha . . . but sometimes, what can we do but laugh?
Be Careful What You Wish For
Whelp, the last week has been a lesson in being careful what you wish for!!
Practically overnight, the farm has transformed to a dust bowl to a soggy, wind-strewn mess. The first storm of the season dismantled my greenhouse and sent a pig shelter flying (and my husband cursing.)
And yet - the creek is flowing again and I finally heard frog song in the evening - a month late, but there nonetheless.
Too Much, Too Fast, Too Soon
So today I popped into the bookstore downtown for a quick break, and what did I find but CHRISTMAS vomited all over the store!! It's not even Hallowe'en, people.
It made me think about how much pressure there is in our culture to go fast. Whether it's reading tweets instead of novels, rushing our kids through...
Sunflowers + Mindful Rebellion
So a thing happened recently that left me feeling ... shook.
Many of you will know that I have been a painter much, much longer than I have been a farmer. I also grew up on Vancouver Island, where...
Doom-Scrolling + Rebellious Joy
So, I duno about you, but I've spent the couple weeks putting most of my energy into resisting the urge to doom-scroll 24/7. (The fact that we have a word for that says a lot about where we are as a civilization, doesn't it??)
Season of Gratitude
One of the greatest gifts of worry and even clinical anxiety is that if we're brave enough to be curious about it, to simply sit with it, it will teach us how to move through it.
For me, the bridge over the foreboding marsh of worry and despair is gratitude.
Celebrating 10 Years on the Farm
Hard to believe, but tomorrow it will be 10 years since we got the keys to the farm. What a crazy 10 years it has been.
We've watched our children grow from half-naked, semi-feral terrors of knotted hair in gumboots to confidant young farmers in their own right.
Acres and acres of brambles have transformed into...
Finding Gratitude in the In-Between
It's those in-between spaces, the uncomfortable, messy middle. Void of the excitement of starting, long from the relief of completion. We tend to associate the moment we lose sight of shore, still far from our destination, with uncertainty.
The Dis/Comfort of Shifting Rhythms
Phewph.
Transitions are tough. Whether that's transitions from holidays to school, one chapter to another, one season to the next.
And yet, in nature, transitions are where the good stuff happens
End of Summer on the Farm
Whelp, late summer farm mama exhaustion has officially set in. I swear, this time of year is just like that last couple of weeks of pregnancy. It seems to last even longer because the end is in sight.
A Love Song to Low Hanging Fruit
So I had this beautiful moment of juxtaposition yesterday while out running errands. As I drove down a country road, I looked to my left to see a massive commercial berry farm, the parking lot jammed to the gills with folks out fighting the crowds and ...
Rip Tides
Sometimes even our intentionally slow lives feel a little frantic.
The thing I've learned, though, is not to panic. Seasons of busyness or overwhelm are a like a rip-tide. If you try to fight it head-on, you'll find yourself exhausted and even further from shore.
Just like the rip-tide, if we want to make it out the other side, we have to...