Too Many Ingredients

I wonder when the novelty of that involvedness will wear off and become a life of complicated work with diminishing return and too much competition.

FarmingJS PortOctober 2, 2023FarmingComment

The Annoying Student

I learned in school that it’s not cool to not understand.

Farming, LearningJS PortMay 1, 2023Farming, LearningComment

Artificial Intelligence

Machines like Marty have been my mental baseline for Artificial Intelligence (AI): Emphasis on “artificial” and disregard for “intelligence”.

Farming, Artificial IntelligenceJS PortApril 25, 2023Farming, Artificial Intelligence, Computers, BiologyComment

Animal Welfare

I’ve been asked to connect with a group of high school students on the subject of animal welfare.

FarmingJS PortMarch 24, 2023Farming, LivestockComment

Oh. Deer.

Farmers, commanding large tracts of land, can choose by way of practice to increase or decrease the living complexity for everyone around them.

Farming, WildlifeJS PortAugust 19, 2022Wildlife, FarmingComment

Primal Drive

What causes a person to deliberately reject comfort, to say “no” to the constant craving of luxury, and adopt a routine of discipline and physical distress?

Recreation, FarmingJS PortJuly 15, 2022Recreation, FarmingComment

Communication, Baby

Something is lost in substance as communication becomes easier.

Communication, FarmingJS PortMay 27, 2022Communication, AgricultureComment

Plastic Wrapped

Chemical companies can’t achieve this societal detachment by speaking directly to the people, so they advocate through less offensive mediums: clothing. Their camouflage tactics are remarkably effective.

Clothing, FarmingJS PortFebruary 10, 2022Clothes, FarmingComment

Mulligan!

We do not have to convert our farms into miniature replicas of foodservice giants;

Agrarianism, FarmingJS PortNovember 2, 2021Subsistence Farming, Food CommunitiesComment

The Seltzer Project

“Here we go again,” I thought. “Some faux do-gooder program like a cereal box that saves trees or a laundry detergent that saves the ocean.” Bah, humbug.

Then I researched the project and decided to stick the proverbial foot in my perpetually pessimistic mouth.

Water, FarmingJS PortJuly 7, 2021Water, Farming, Ecological PreservationComment

A Very Particular Eater

I like to deconstruct my meals. On the occasions that I’m dining alone at home, I consume foods in a circular pattern, one ingredient at a time, without sitting at a table. Instead of mixing a salad, I’ll select each vegetable I want and eat them separately.

Food, FarmingJS PortApril 6, 2021Eating, Farming, FoodComment

Why I farm, Part IV

Our physical bodily systems are constantly attempting to establish equilibrium with the outside environment via the food we consume.

Farming, Food, Why I FarmJS PortMarch 23, 2021Farming, Food, Community AgricultureComment

Why I Farm, Part I

My goodness, if that’s the whole philosophy backing sustenance production, then maybe we really are forever doomed to be on the brunt end of hick jokes passed around more urbane classes of society.

Farm Life, Farming, Local FoodJS PortFebruary 9, 2021Farming, Farm LifeComment

Frost

A glorious rebirthing of routines accompanies the changing seasons. As I walk the meadows, building fence and tending my herd of cattle, the looming adjustments make themselves known first as subtle hints, Nature’s way of reminding me that soon enough I won’t be doing what I always do. Described here are some of the markers.

FarmingJS PortOctober 2, 2020FarmingComment

Efficient, or Effective Agriculture?

By specializing farms, we’ve cherry-picked a fragment of an ecological whole and concentrated it, thus removing any benefit of a complete ecosystem. As a result, farmers fail to take advantage of the free resources surrounding them in abundance on their home place, choosing instead to rely on an industry of suppliers. That’s like ignoring a dump truck load of money in the back yard while walking out the front door to ask a banker for a loan. In order to take advantage of nature’s freebies, we must trade spreadsheet efficiency for natural effectiveness.

Clarion Farms Grassfed, Farming, Small Farm, Vegetable productionJS PortSeptember 17, 2020Small Farm, Diversified Farming, Pasture CroppingComment

When the Hero Lives

The Ballad of John Henry is a folk song about a strong, hardworking “steel drivin’ man” who could swing a hammer better than any other man on the work crew. John is admired as a hero, and, when his legacy is threatened by the introduction of a steam drill, he challenges the job foreman that he can drive more steel than the fancy new machine.

In classic folksy man vs. machine style, the steam drill breaks down and John Henry does indeed win the contest. Listeners are satisfied by the outcome; we all want a reminder that people are significant. The song is not yet over, though:

Farming, Small Farm, AgrarianismJS PortSeptember 3, 2020Small Farm, AgrarianismComment

We Love Local (as long as it isn't too close)

Here is the impending predicament: Expectations and reality are going to collide as local-food-loving families inherit land managed by farmers they claim to support.

Opportunity Bombs and 'Ah-Ha' Landmines

Here is my problem: nobody can do everything well. Plenty of people with a do-it-all-myself attitude accomplish a lot of tasks poorly.

Money

People my age find it nearly impossible to get on in the field of agriculture without encountering the subject of money. Our elders tell us we need a lot to get started, we’ll never make any while we’re working, and we better get out while we still have some.

Flooded: How grassfed beef can save oyster farmers.

Over ten trillion gallons of water flowed through the Bonnet Carre Spillway during the summer of 2019, and each of those intruding units of river water freshened the brackish ecosystem that exists in the Mississippi Sound, resulting in massive die-offs of blue crabs, shrimp, and oysters.

A permanent solution is to stop the flooding instead of attempting to control it. The best way to take control of the flooding is to find a farmer who understands healthy water cycles and partner with the family by purchasing food directly from them.

Farming, Food, Grassfed, Industrial AgricultureJS PortNovember 7, 2019Clarion Farms Beef BarnGrassfed Beef, Water, Paradigm Shift, Local BeefComment