Notes from the land and the work.
Writing on mentorship, stewardship, agriculture, and the long task of building something that lasts — from the same hands that work the soil.
Wounds of a Navy SEAL: A Farm Story
When I moved back to the farm more than a decade ago, I resolved to find where I fit among a farmscape of industrial agriculture. I was observing more frequent
Three Ways We Eat Aronia at Home
In September the kitchen fills up with aronia. The kids eat them by the handful straight off the bush —
The Weed Zapper Goes to the Neighbors
There’s a piece of equipment on my farm that kills weeds with electricity. It’s called a Weed Zapper, and the
Carbon Is a Crop
Here’s an idea that I think could change farming, and it’s not complicated: what if we treated carbon like any
You Don’t Fill a Student. You Grow One.
Before I was a farmer, I was a teacher. Science. And when I started, I had the whole thing backwards.
Farming in Decades, Not Seasons
My father converted this farm to no-till when I was just a boy. I didn’t understand what he was doing.
The Real Reason I Farm Organic
People assume I farm organic for the premium. The organic crop sells for more, so the thinking goes that’s why
Why I Built My Own Roller-Crimper
When I decided to transition our ground to organic, I knew the hardest part wouldn’t be the corn. It would
What a Berry Bush Taught Me About Patience
When you plant an aronia bush, you don’t get a berry the first year. You don’t get one the second