“Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?”
– Mary Oliver
The ability to pivot is a privilege, and I’ve been lucky enough to change course more than once. I’ve been in graduate school in ecology and evolutionary biology, trying to understand how spiders in Ecuador and New Mexico alter their behavior in response to resource changes over space and time. I’ve been a first-grade teacher hoping to instill in my students the beauty of dew on a spiderweb and the patience to be still enough to notice it. I’ve been farming for quite some time now, tending a herd of cows and a flock of sheep and a big market garden; my goal is to improve the lives of my animals and the health of the land we steward. I’m an educator again, partnered with our local school district, because this generation needs to put their screens down and learn with their hands outside in nature. We need them to care enough to protect what’s left. I’ve now pivoted here to these pages, doing my very best to bring you stories that teach, inspire, and help us work collectively toward a better future in challenging times.
Mary Oliver’s quote has been with me as I move the cows through their pasture rotations, scheming up serviceberry windbreaks; with me as I gather chanterelles in the woods; with me as I harvest late-season greens from the hoop house; with me as I make dinner, marveling about how almost all of it comes from the land right around me. I’m incredibly lucky to be living a life I’ve been dreaming about since I was quite young. And yet, what can I let go of, what can I lean into, what can I explore more deeply? Today, right now, is the moment to do that.
I hope this issue encourages you to consider, to lean, perhaps even to pivot. Like Colette Kenny in “No Root Cellar, No Problem,” I’ve always assumed I’d have a big root cellar dug into the hill outside the back door. I’m going to instead build her mini root cellar for a fraction of the cost and put my parsnips there. “Grow, Forage, and Grind Your Own Flours” shares how to gather red clovers for cookies, curly dock seeds for crackers, and more. Building a pantry from the land around you is extra satisfying, and learning more about the plants you forage is a worthy lifelong endeavor. And there’s a lot of hope in “Teen-Led Community Initiatives,” which shares the story of a 13-year-old founding a garden gleaning program to stock the food pantry. Imagine if we all did that.
We all know that 10 years ago was the best time to plant a couple of fruit trees, but the second-best time is today. Let “Old-Fashioned Winesap Apples for Your Backyard” guide you. We promise that ‘Arkansas Black,’ with its waxy skin and dense yellow flesh, is special. It’s also an exceptional baking apple and would shine in “Apple Streusel Sourdough Twist.” And “What Extension Services Can Do for You” outlines many services to help you succeed with growing those backyard apples.
Autumn is the time of reaping the harvest, assessing the season, and preparing to rest. Around here, combines are busy harvesting row crops, and that, too, encourages thoughts of pivoting. What if grain production was less extractive to the land and healthier for humans? “Grow and Graze Kernza” and “Why to Grow Einkorn, an Ancient Grain” could be part of the solution. Kernza is also one crop that can thrive among solar panels: “Agrivoltaics: Sheep Grazing Solar Farms” explores ways the solar energy paradigm can be pushed to produce farmer income, solar power, and food. Solar isn’t without costs, of course, but “How Long Will My Solar Panels Actually Last?” shares ways to expand their lifespan. Our world is going to demand pivots, innovation, and collaboration to thrive.
Tell us (really, please do, at Letters@MotherEarthNews.com): What is it you plan to do with this one wild and precious life? How can we best support you on that journey?
– Mother
