Lovely to hear your voice narrating john. It is so interesting to hear about the efforts of humans to make a life in a very specific place. There has been so much change, error, slow learning and unlearning. This restorative project sounds wonderful and I hope there is much success in it for all.
I love this! Not just that the Land Trust stepped in and saved the day, but also the partnership with the school. I’d love to come over and tour the farm. I teach a section in my class on local farms. As many of the students are in central Illinois, I concentrate on that area, but I like to be able to bring up other examples too.
John, I have so enjoyed this series. You manage to convey so much sweep of history in such straightforward posts. The connection between Scotland and Whidbey Island makes sense not only because of your migration but because of this giant family farm issue, which is so relatable. My family arrived at the southern end of Puget Sound in the 1870s and sold the old family farm (a dairy) in the 1940s. You may already have read my "Stumps" essay, which is also about going forward on the land by turning back. https://open.substack.com/pub/enchantedinamerica/p/stumps?r=1mk0zn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web . I really felt these essays.
I absolutely loved this series John. Only got time to finish reading all of it today. What a trip! Let's dream of and work towards a world where communal landholding becomes a reality again and redefines the innate power of a community in the post-modern world.
So heartening to hear of efforts like this--I really liked framing it in the context of the history, and of working to not just do the same thing through inertia.
So much to appreciate and respond to in here, though my brain got stuck on the thistles. I went for spot-spraying the ones in my yard with high-concentrate vinegar for a couple of years but it was a huge time investment and didn’t seem to get much done. I’ve kind of despairingly given up.
Lovely to hear your voice narrating john. It is so interesting to hear about the efforts of humans to make a life in a very specific place. There has been so much change, error, slow learning and unlearning. This restorative project sounds wonderful and I hope there is much success in it for all.
Thank you did sharing this series. This is an exciting development. Wonderful to hear about this happening in my region (I live in Bellevue).
I love this! Not just that the Land Trust stepped in and saved the day, but also the partnership with the school. I’d love to come over and tour the farm. I teach a section in my class on local farms. As many of the students are in central Illinois, I concentrate on that area, but I like to be able to bring up other examples too.
John, I have so enjoyed this series. You manage to convey so much sweep of history in such straightforward posts. The connection between Scotland and Whidbey Island makes sense not only because of your migration but because of this giant family farm issue, which is so relatable. My family arrived at the southern end of Puget Sound in the 1870s and sold the old family farm (a dairy) in the 1940s. You may already have read my "Stumps" essay, which is also about going forward on the land by turning back. https://open.substack.com/pub/enchantedinamerica/p/stumps?r=1mk0zn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web . I really felt these essays.
I absolutely loved this series John. Only got time to finish reading all of it today. What a trip! Let's dream of and work towards a world where communal landholding becomes a reality again and redefines the innate power of a community in the post-modern world.
So heartening to hear of efforts like this--I really liked framing it in the context of the history, and of working to not just do the same thing through inertia.
So much to appreciate and respond to in here, though my brain got stuck on the thistles. I went for spot-spraying the ones in my yard with high-concentrate vinegar for a couple of years but it was a huge time investment and didn’t seem to get much done. I’ve kind of despairingly given up.