I was probably nine or ten when my uncle talked my grandfather into bulldozing out the hedgerow along his field. Coming home from school, the devastation and mounds of brush and trees was a shock. Never mind that the next year would see a neat field right to the road. Where would all the bunnies and birds live now? That child of long ago felt that something wasn’t very close to ideal in that situation. Grownups and their thinking seemed very alien.

Are there any farmers left in our world? Very few, it seems. To the modern-day agriculturist, profit appears to be the overriding motive for their work. Their thoughts seem to follow government and business advice and principles…. neither of which know farming, except from a monetary perspective. What does it take to be a true farmer?

• Understanding Our earth has been at this business of growing plants and animals a lot longer than we have lived on her surface. Thus it knows how to feed and nurture her offspring…. all of them. Thus it holds an immense wealth of knowledge for every situation. This knowledge is freely offered. The farmers of old had an excellent grasp of this understanding, even if it was “just” intuitive. Mankind has but to observe, and apply the principles the earth demonstrates.
• Observing When our son was a child I would read him stories, many of which he knew by heart. When I tried to “reinvent” portions of the story, he would become upset, “Read it right, Dad!” Thus we become familiar with what we are told, and don’t want to hear or learn a new way. So to learn what the earth has to teach, we might have to let go of some of our old familiar concepts; allow new observations to become acceptable. Watch an animal that has been caged or penned when let loose into a natural environment. Discovering what it then eats most of can tell you what it has been most lacking in its diet. Watching which insects live on healthy plants can lead to an understanding of the symbiosis that is so necessary for healthy balance. This observation can take a lifetime, yet coupled with one’s natural intuition can bring immediate results in how and why we farm.
• Sharing We seem to feel that mankind has been set apart from, and perhaps above nature. Nothing is further from the truth. Living on the earth, our entire physical being is from the earth, and depends on the earth to remain functioning in a healthy manner. No matter how far apart we may try to distance ourselves from earth, or nature, we are one species among so very many. All of them depend on each other. We have temporarily lost the awareness of that complexity, of that wonderful interdependence…. yet it is of no less importance. Sharing involves give and take in any relationship, and so it is here. True farming is all about sharing…. giving back to the source at least as much as we receive.
• Feeling The concept that the earth, plants, animals, or even minerals have no feelings is one of those human concepts that served to distance us from our own feelings. In true [spiritual] reality everything that exists, is, because it is created by and held in existence by love. All that is is simply different manifestations of love. How powerful does that make love? And can not love be considered the most grand of feelings? A true farmer, if he/she doesn’t begin farming with love, will soon develop it to an ever-increasing level.
• Communication All of nature communicates. Plants and animals are aware of one’s love for them, and they reciprocate. Music is another form of love that they thrive on…. that has been known for decades now, by the scientific community. As a child it was natural for me to sing when I worked alone in the fields, or on those rare occasions I worked with someone who would teach me new songs. A loving touch to a leaf or tree trunk or animal can do wonders, literally miracles.
• Practice It is common knowledge that learning anything improves with practice. New practices can feel alien until we become used to them. This includes learning with nature. Yet from a different perspective, all that is, is already known. To us, perhaps, it might be unconscious knowledge, yet it is there, and can be intuitively drawn upon, thus much shortening the learning cycle.

The things we make and interact with—money, vehicles, furniture—are not alive in the sense that plants, animals and humans are alive. We give so much time to these “inanimate” objects while lessening or even loosing our connections to living things.

Children that play outside with nature,  interacting with the grass, plants, and animals are learning about life with living things: the living universe. Can these lessons be learned by kids who play mainly inside with plastic toys? Watching nature shows on tv is still a far cry from having hands on experience. It seems to me all the best lessons of life come from come from the give and take of life itself.

Ancient man held an intimate relationship with not only plants and animals, but also with the more subtle energies such as the weather, the earth, and the energies from the universe itself. He recognized the active interconnectedness of all life. In our growing preoccupation with organized religion, politics, and industrialization, we left our ancient heritage to embrace inanimate things.

Yet inside our hearts we remember. Perhaps we are ready to reclaim these ancient connections, and honor ourselves as well as the universe that has cradled us for so long.

CATERPILLER PIE

Caterpillar pie! Caterpillar pie!
We’re all having caterpillar pie!

In the middle of the night–when the moon was high
We gathered round the old pig’s sty.
There was Terry Raccoon and Billy Baboon,
Uncle Tommy Turtle and Larry the Loon.

Caterpillar pie! Caterpillar pie!
We’re all having caterpillar pie!

Bess the dog, Murdock the cat,
Young Willie Worm in his best tall hat;
Shelby Snake brought a soggy old shoe,
That was dropped in my drink by Katie Kangaroo!

Caterpillar pie! Caterpillar pie!
We’re all having caterpillar pie!

Millifred Millipede did the can-can
With Silky Sally, the royal Afgan.
When Clarence the Calf leapt over the lake,
Craydad Willie did a doubletake.

Caterpillar pie! Caterpillar pie!
We’re all having caterpillar pie!

Wee Mole Mike is hanging loose
With Horn Head Bob–the big bull moose;
Stinkbug Billy is asking why
Kerry Caterpillar is baking a pie!

Caterpillar pie! Caterpillar pie!
We’re all having caterpillar pie!

Grits in my gravy, rocks in my socks,
Ol’ Hog Piggers is watchin’ his hocks.
Party’s hot–we’re swinging on…
Everybody’s grooving and waiting on…

Caterpillar pie! Caterpillar pie!
We’re all having caterpillar pie!

Besides Arrow, my everpresent canine buddy, and Moosh, our sometimes present feline, I’ve always had an affinity with creatures. Years ago I was camping in the Cascades… had just pulled up camp and was heading for the trail out. I heard someone rustling under the trees to my right. Dropping my backpack, I headed down a faint trail, came to a 15′ clearing. In the center of the clearing were a few blackberry bushes. A black bear stood behind them, stripping berries. It seemed a long moment that we stared at one another, about 10″ apart. I was elated, and in awe at the gift of his presence.  As he continued with his fruit salad, I turned and took my leave.

Another meeting with a bruin took place in Alaska. I was walking along a road cut into a hillside, about dawn. Snapping brush came from the steep hillside above me. Looking up I watched as a medium sized bear slid down the hill on his butt, forlegs outstretched. He bounced onto the road in front of me, glanced at me, then ambled across the road, climbed the guardrail, and continued his slide down to the beach.

When we lived in the North Bend area of Washington, it was sometimes my habit to drive to the nearest Starbucks outlet for morning coffee. While I sat in the truck eating breakfast, ravens would occasionally break off their spring courting to cadge crumbs. A female sparrow became aware of this, but was shooed off if she landed on the ground. I held my hand out with crumbs, and she alighted on my palm, chattering noiseily. The following morning the ravens were not around, altho she came for her bits. This time she demanded I throw them to the ground.

Our creatures often call to mind the following words…

“Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every pine needle, every sandy shore, every humming insect is holy…We are part of the earth and it is part of us…This we know. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth.”

-Chief Seattle