Generations

We planted Califonia poppies in our vineyard in 1999 after our Biodynamic consultant prescribed a list of wildflowers to seed between the rows.  My son Casey and I mixed the various seed with sand in a wheelbarrow, some, like the poppy seed, as small as a period, some the size of a pearl. After stirring… Read more »

Living Here Together

Living Here Together Each year in our Biodynamic organic inspection and certification review, we are asked define the boundaries of land on which we live, describing what is happening on each border. First, starting at the road and following the south fence along the chardonnay vines, I describe the stretch of what we call the… Read more »

Fruits of the Potager

by Patricia Damery Meditation at First Light Planting Potatoes Planting potatoes: eyes underground, faint sprouts white on six inches of compost, straw on top, then more compost. Water. Then the prayer of wait. Fruits of the Potager Jimalee has the potage garden planting-and-harvesting schedule pinned to her refrigerator door, the schedule that tells you what… Read more »

MOSES Organic Farming Conference & Farming Soul

MOSES Organic Farming Conference & Farming Soul   For those in the area Feb 24-26, 2011, be sure to visit the: MOSES Organic Farming Conference February 24th-26th, 2011 at the La Crosse Center in Downtown La Crosse, WI 300 Harborview Plaza – (300 South 2nd Street) Farming Soul: A Tale of Initiation will be on… Read more »

A Soul’s Song

Photo Courtesy of Melissa McLaughlin Article by Patricia Damery Meditation at First Light You Take My Breath Away You take my breath away, Valley Oaks! Centenarians gracefully firm in the fog of the grand meadow. A Soul’s Song A hawk cries, hunting in the forest and patchy clearings surrounding the remote house my writing coterie… Read more »

Manitou

Article by Patricia Damery and Photo Art by Bill Fulton Meditation at First Light Finally Fire flares and the stove clucks. Too much worry. But the day warms even in the dark. Manitou In my late 20’s I had one of the more important dreams of my life. I dreamed of war and devastation, and… Read more »

Goats and Grief

Article by Patricia Damery Photo art by Bill Fulton Meditation at First Light November 23 Ah, Sophia. She didn’t grow her winter coat. Nothing we could do. Goats and Grief  Our veterinarian told us that goats grieve deeply after we lose four within a few months. First, there was Natalie, 14 1/2 years, old by… Read more »

Go Dark

Go Dark article by Patricia Damery Meditation at First Light October 18 Little Death Is writing a poem a little death of long agendas, the ones we cultivate like invasive ornamentals? Go Dark In a poem, Wendell Berry states, “To know the dark, go dark.”[1] Many years ago when my sons were 8 and 10,… Read more »

Loss of Farmland, Loss of Soul

Loss of Farmland, Loss of Soul Article by Patricia Damery What is the impact on the human soul of a people losing the land they farm along with their right livelihood? Growing up on a small farm in the Midwest, I was of the last generation to be raised in a large, predominately rural culture…. Read more »