I am a Clipper

My mind seems to be churning with so many random thoughts, so I guess I’ll open another page and let the thoughts go where they will. I am a clipper – no, I don’t clip recipes or fashion notes – I cut out articles from newspapers and magazines about small farms, organic gardening, Farm-to-Table projects, Diane Connors “ten cents a meal” program. I pick up freebie papers wherever I travel, scanning those pages for interesting people or events. Finally, last week, I looked at the heap I had accumulated and organized file folders in one of those portable lightweight, cardboard accordion files that can serve as a temporary briefcase. Here are the file names: Compost information, Farm activities for children, CSAs and Small Farms in Traverse City area, Ten cents a meal, Invasive Species, Milkweeds & Monarch butterflies, and Misc.

In addition, I have a notebook of small farm success stories preserved in plastic sheet holders. Oh, the history that lies unfolded behind each farmer’s efforts.

A quote from “Ira’s Farm” Pg 54: “To create a self-sustaining farm operation would depend on how he (my dad) cared for the soil—that warm earth womb that nourishes and brings life to dried brown seeds and brittle kernels of corn. His harvest would depend on how he prepared the ground that beds fields of rye and strengthens the deep roots of alfalfa. Those fields would be the key to Dad’s future.”

Don’t forget to dig around in the dirt today – let the sweet, rich soil slip through your fingers. Protect it. The greening of the earth lies therein!