So you Want to Be a Farmer? Thirteen Words of Wisdom from Me to Myself
Colin asked me to describe my experiences establishing a small, ecologically-minded farming business, the obstacles we’d faced and how we’d overcome them.
small-scale farming
Sex Is Such A Botheration
After food, sex is the most important factor in keeping life going but it causes almost as much sorrow and pain as it does joy and pleasure.
Farm Mornings: The Tasks before the Tasks
I grab another cup of coffee and go back outside, to begin anew a slow January farm day.
The Sanctuary of the Barn
As more people turn to small farming as a business, or just for fun, or both, they are going to experience some of the delight that those of us who grew up in farm barns cherish.
Contemplation on a Dead Chicken
A neighbor showed me a neat way to get rid of dead animals which I think we mentioned here some time ago.
Pertaining to Peasants
And so we come to Small Farm Future’s final post of 2015. And what a year it’s been.
Ancient Roots, Contemporary Shoots
A unique forest complex characterises Uttara Kannada district, where women farmers have nurtured and intimately engaged with their forest home gardens (FHGs) for centuries.
Goldilocks in the Highlands: Some Notes on Scaling Resilience
A recent visit to the Scottish Highlands prompted some thoughts on several favoured themes of mine: the resilience or otherwise of local economies grounded in small-scale agricultural production, problems of migration as featured in a recent post, and questions concerning ‘modernization’ and economic development.
From the fields of Brazil to the streets of Paris
My wish is for my baby son to live in a fairer world and for our stories to change leaders’ damaging decisions long after I’m no longer walking through the Paris streets and have returned home.
Voting with their Feet: Some Questions for the Experts
Chris asks five questions for experts about the exodus of small-scale farmers from the countryside to the cities.
Soil Food Webs: From Farm to Garden?
It may be best not to till for soil, plant and human health, but perhaps the world is not so black and white that a judicious bit of tillage here and there is so impermissible.
The Persistence of the Peasantry: Further Notes on the Inverse Productivity Relationship
This post strikes to the heart of what Small Farm Future is all about, and raises some interesting agricultural issues – the fact that it also engages with the ecomodernism debate is almost incidental, really.