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New Years Resolutions

5watersfarm
Jack joined the farm this yea
Jack joined the farm this yea

Mostly we think about ourselves when we make them, maybe that's why they are so hard to keep. Maybe our resolutions would go farther if we thought of others instead.

Sometimes we are frustrated because we focus on the wrong thing as we struggle to meet our goals. This is a lesson we archers are familiar with. If we focus on hitting the mark with our arrow, we are most often frustrated. Instead, if we focus on perfecting our shooting form so that when we loose the string we do it without fault, then when we look down range, we will most often see our arrow in the bulls-eye.

We farmers have learned the same lesson. If we try to grow the most food we can, we find that eventually the land is spent. But if we change our mindset, if we embrace reciprocity, we then focus on giving the land as much as we take, and we will find that our crops are nutritious and plentiful and the land is fertile.

Bad weather is a good time to do indoor projects
Bad weather is a good time to do indoor projects

Some may say that respect for the land results in high food prices, which is itself unsustainable in a "free" market. I would argue that this point of view misses the mark. Consider what the Rockefeller Foundation has to say:

 "In 2019, American consumers spent an estimated $1.1 trillion on food. That price tag includes the cost of producing, processing, retailing, and wholesaling the food we buy and eat. It does not include the cost of healthcare for the millions who fall ill with diet-related diseases. Nor does $1.1 trillion include the present and future costs of the food system’s contributions to water and air pollution, reduced biodiversity, or greenhouse gas emissions, which cause climate change. Take those costs into account and it becomes clear the true cost of the U.S. food system is at least three times as big—$3.2 trillion per year."

Our new flock is enjoying Hoop house 2.  It won't be long before they start to lay.  Come on girls!
Our new flock is enjoying Hoop house 2. It won't be long before they start to lay. Come on girls!

In short, the "Free" Market requires us to spend as much on health care as we do on food, and to ask our children, and their children, to pay that much again so that we can eat.

We are proud of our American pioneering independent spirit. But we are not the only pioneer's. There are pioneering plants, bacteria, fungus, and animals. The one thing all these pioneers share in common is that their way of living is not sustainable. They must always give way to a more sustainable - old growth - way of living. Just as the sweet-gum tree must give way to the Oak, we must leave our pioneer ways behind and embrace a long-term point of view.

We cannot douse the earth in nitrogen salts, herbicides, and pesticides forever. We must understand that this pioneer approach got us to where we are, but its time to move on.


Moving the hens from the old wagon to an updated wagon.  Which will then be updated itself.
Moving the hens from the old wagon to an updated wagon. Which will then be updated itself.

This year, we resolve to express gratitude to the land for the gift of our farm and to work hard every day to give as much as we receive. We will keep our eyes open for opportunities to do better and remember that there is more joy in gratitude than in greed.

Come by the farm or see us at the Eno Market on Saturday. Give our pasture raised chicken, eggs, lamb, and turkeys, and sustainably grown chestnuts, mushrooms, strawberries, and blueberries, a try. And thank-you for your support!

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