An Objector’s Guide to the English Rural Planning System
With planning permission for a permanent rural worker’s dwelling hot off the press, we now have the green light to develop the farm long-term with security of tenure.
small-scale farming
Two Tribes
After two centuries of relentless urbanist propaganda, we’ve almost lost even the very language with which we might plausibly set out radical ruralist alternatives.
Can Industrial Hemp Save Kentucky’s Small Farms?
At the birth of any industry, uncertainty abounds. So does opportunity, say Kentuckians like Joe Schroeder of Freedom Seed and Feed, who is among those growing industrial hemp and advocating for others in Appalachia to do the same.
The Revolution will not be Market Gardenized: Some Thoughts on Jean-Martin Fortier
It was suggested to me recently that I might like to pen some thoughts on Jean-Martin Fortier’s book The Market Gardener1. And indeed I would. Here they are.
Shall The Meek Inherit The Earth After All?
I’m not what you’d call a Bible thumper, but I do like to quote it on occasion, inserting an appropriate passage into the conversation in a sonorous voice that makes me sound wise.
New Age Farming Is Not About “Going Back” To the Land
All that a contented life requires on these farms is the ability and knowledge to enjoy life without having a lot of money to spend.
A Farming Guide to the Political Season
I find that as the years go by, the rhetoric of conservatism and liberalism mean less and less to the life we live. Rhetoric aside, no candidate or party speaks for the rural farms or communities.
Organic Farming News Almost Too Good
I attended the annual conference of the Ohio Ecological Food And Farm Association recently and as usual it really lifted my spirits
Growing the Growers: Communication and Wellbeing on Farms
The practical and economic challenges faced by those involved in farming are enormous. But just as important are the psychological and emotional ones, especially when working collaboratively within a group.
A Valentine’s Day Musing
As I sift through my farm memories — the tragedies and successes, the wasted resources and the careful stewardship — one constant stands out: a partner who shares in the work and joy of running a small farm.
Small Scale Farming Really Isn’t Small
Economists sanctify expansion in agriculture as the way farmers survive but in the very act of saying that, they are also pointing out why farmers don’t survive.
Has “Organic” Been Stripped of its Meaning?
The term ‘organic’ has come to be understood by most consumers as ‘grown without synthetic chemicals’, which to most people’s surprise, does not always mean that farming practices are sustainable.