To go forward, I look back. It’s a circular, reflective process. By blogging about the farm, I’m farming the blog: learning, creating, cultivating.
We studied our successes and failures of last year to develop our growing plan for this year. If I am intimidated by the arrival of chicks at the farm next week, I realize I neutered male goats in January, a major step up from walking the dog around the block, no? Less than two years ago I lived in town and my greatest concern on Saturday mornings was deciding where to get coffee and groceries.
We study the past of farming, too. We consider the diversity that farms used to have, with garden plots, several kinds of livestock, ponds, pastures and trees. Those farmers managed to make a living without many of the harsh pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics that upset the balance of the land or the animal. We want this for our future, too. I want eggs to taste creamy rich golden the way they do when chickens peck in the grass. I will eat meat knowing that it roamed in the pasture only days before, with the company of other animals and plenty of food and space.
In writing, I re-read what I have written a day ago, a month and years ago. I see awkward phrases. I cringe at ostentatious and gaudy words that stick out from the page. Then, here and there, I discover a gem, too.
I joy in what is good, and vow to learn from the rest. Improvement is impossible without recognizing where I began, and how I have arrived at the present.
