Double Digging the Gardener

For the past 35 years I have chosen the personal path of being a peasant. The virtues of a peasant are such enduring qualities - living lightly on the planet, creating wealth through work in Nature, humility in the face of Nature’s powers, however poorly perceived and dimly understood. These qualities appeal to me.

All of us have peasant ancestors, and few of us are more than three or four generations removed from the land and farming. Though they may have been unlettered and un-traveled, these ancestors of ours were far from ignorant. They were sophisticated in ways we can only glimpse about things that mattered: shelter, food, clothing, weather, the immediate environment that sustained them. They were in touch with Nature in the most direct way, with a non-exploitive and even spiritual attitude.

What they lacked in book learning was made up for in their ties with tradition; it was seldom a problem for them to know what to do, when, where, and how -- for, however impoverished, their lives were stable, simple, well grounded.

INVESTING IN COMMUNITY

My wife and I keep saying we want to "Invest in our community." But, "How?" There didn't seem to be a way set up. Lack of which finally gave us a clue: where something is set up, it's usually a "set-up" for others to make profit. Stocks, bonds, and money games are set up and controlled by pros to make money for themselves, not me. What truly supports us is all around us, quietly asking to help.

So we kept wondering. And slowly, answers appeared. One of the kids who grew up with our boys needed a loan for his homestead/farm. Property values had gone up enough that it was secure, so we gulped and made the loan. Another organic farmer needed to build some greenhouses for year-round production so he didn't have to lay off his help every fall. We put the word out, some friends showed up, and each of us loaned enough to add up to what he needed without too much risk for each of us. And hey - if times get bad, it’s not a bad idea to have some growers beholden to you!

The next thing that happened was different. We were setting up a conservancy land trust, when the last farm on the estuary between our towns came up for sale.