Peaches and Memories: Peaches from our ranch connect us with our roots.
Peaches and Memories I didn’t expect for us both to end up in tears. I only meant for him to sign his broadsides that I had just bought for my brother, sisters, and me, a gift to commemorate the sale of our four generation family farm. The broadside, entitled We Farm Memories, hit a particularly poignant note. David Mas Masumoto… Read more »
The Maturing of a Vineyard The maturing of a vineyard is not unlike the maturing of a human being. We are of a culture that idealizes youthful image and behavior. Perhaps that is why so many people enter analysis in their early 40’s: youthful pursuits no longer make sense or work. Dreams reflect unexplored, ignored… Read more »
Smoke from the Lake Berryessa fire rises over the eastern ridge of the Napa Valley.
Fire and Farming This morning it is evident that the fire in the eastern most part of Napa County is less contained that it was yesterday morning this time. A large plume of smoke spreads across the sky at first light. The orangish light is alarming and reminds us to think about animals and evacuation… Read more »
Quote reminder in First Light Farm Store
My farming father would have been amazed at my son Jesse and his wife Lisa, of First Light Farm! He farmed all his life and loved the land. Community was a given in small town farm life, taken for granted. But with the advent of agribusiness practices, small farms went out of business and community deteriorated …. Read more »
The wholeness of a mandala around the sun.
We never expected the need to get into Land Activism, and yet, here we are, attending Napa County Board of Supervisor Meetings, Planning Commission meetings, Agricultural Protection Advisory Committee meetings, making public comment, advocating for the health of our environment. One thing that sets Biodynamic farming and certification apart for organic and conventional farming is that… Read more »
A very sensitive instrument my father never used!
My father taught all of us kids to dowse. He was a quiet man, farming all his life, probably an introverted feeling type, but it is hard for a daughter to tell! In the early spring he could hardly wait until the fields were thawed and dry enough to plow, disk, harrow, and plant. Winter… Read more »
My spiritual teacher Norma T. ( I write about my time with her in Farming Soul) once told me that it is easiest to develop spiritual tools to access multidimensional consciousness when we have direct contact with nature. I instinctively knew this to be true, familiar with the state of mind that comes when I… Read more »
Farming and Politics Farmers have always been independent, grassroots kind of people, at least the farmers that I grew up with, and this meant that they were almost always Republican. It also left them wide open when Nixon’s administration pushed to cut the hedgerows, plow everything, get big. Many of the farmers I knew had… Read more »
Photo by Norma Churchill. Family walking Jesse and Lisa's First Light Farm fields. Jesse on the far right. Lisa cooking!
Evolution of Farming: Young Farmers and Community Young farmers are an evolution of the ones I grew up with, although they share that bone deep love of the earth. My father farmed; my grandfather farmed; my great grandfather, too. My brother said that once farming gets into your soul, it is there for good. Is… Read more »
In a radio interview this last week, I was asked, “Are there ways for people who don’t want to be farmers to live biodynamic lives?” This question cuts to the chase. “Yes,” I replied, and suggested practical actions, like joining a Biodynamic CSA (Community Supported Agriculture, in which you subscribe and get a box of… Read more »
© 2024 Patricia Damery.
Recent Comments