Posts by johnh

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Photo: John Hadden Greetings Friends and Neighbors, Generous Rains arrive in powerful pulses through the night and day, washing over and wetting Hayfields and Hills and Hedgerows – all now heavy in leaf. Weighted down by this film of water, bowing Grasses and Trees offer some of what they shoulder…

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Greetings Friends and Neighbors, Orchard Grasses set out their finest plumes this week – creamy yellow flower heads laden with pollen – which they release as gently drifting clouds upon the slightest rustle of their long stems. Human bodies ask Brook’s cold water to rinse dusty arms and legs and…

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Greetings Friends and Neighbors, The Cool and Damp this week slows the growth of recently transplanted Eggplant and Tomatoes in the gardens and slows the pace, blessedly, for us Humans here at the Farm. And yet, the weather forecast delivered on the glowing screen tells of a coming sudden turn…

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Greetings Friends and Neighbors, As forested hills spring to leaf they cover the ground at their feet in cool shade. Ramps, drinkers of early spring sunlight, recede now, their leaves yellowing and soon rotting back into the soil. Thank you, Ramps, for your spicy-sweet, for your generous and ephemeral way.…

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Photo by Dick Mitchell Greetings Friends and Neighbors, Were you ever scolded as a kid for running at the pool? This memory might help you to imagine the group of us ‘walking’ the Ewes and new Lambs down the road to a new pasture last Sunday, their overflowing excitement for…

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Greetings Friends and Neighbors, If you’ve read any of these Letters over the past year, you may have noticed that they do, indeed, take the form of a Letter. I’m writing to you, dear Friend and Neighbor. The problem is, of course, that in a time of Plague a digitally…

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Photo by Ben Sklar Greetings Friends and Neighbors, The arrival of Winter’s Tooth last Friday afternoon made Gift Distribution a wild and windblown affair. Rain fell sideways as the air took on a biting chill. Clad head to toe in bright yellow rain gear, I spent the two hours as…

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Photo by Dick Mitchell Greetings Friends and Neighbors, North Wind delivers sideways scattering snow pellets and wicks away what warmth remains in our bare hands as we gather reflective vests and rope halters for the Sheep move. Dawn breaks slowly through heavy clouds as Collin, Ava, Erik and I gather…

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Photo by Ben Sklar Greetings Friends and Neighbors, Here at the Farm, we are awed once again by the tenacity and the jubilance of Spring Grass. We walk the glowing green fields daily, trying to determine just the right moment to set the Sheep and Cows onto their grazing rotations.…

The FarmThe BakeryOur MissionGift EconomyNewsletters Photo by Ben Sklar Greetings Friends and Neighbors, Reckoning with exhaustion and overwhelm this week has forced us to ask deeper questions about our work here at the Farm. Is it possible for us to admit that the scope of responsibility currently undertaken by the folks at the core of…