I’ve found that there is a strong connection between the art of farming and that of literature. Throughout time the former has been and inspiration for the latter. In ninth grade my fellow freshmen and I were required to recite the William Carlos Williams poem The Red Wheelbarrow in front of our all school assembly. It is still etched in my memory.
So much depends upon
a red wheelbarrow
glazed in rainwater
beside the white chickens.
It’s possible that that poem started me on my path to becoming a farmer! Or maybe I was drawn to the poem because farming was already in my bones. In college I was introduced to Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire, and with it the pairing of plant science, food politics, and fine writing. Later, Wendell Berry added a deep connection to the land to the mix. From Virgil to Stan Rogers, poetry and prose have long drawn from the images of agriculture to give people a feeling of peace, nostalgia, bounty… I know that I always tear up a little when Stan’s deep voice sings The Field Behind the Plow.
And it figures that the rain takes it’s own sweet time
You can watch it come for miles, but you guess you’ve got a while
Ease the throttle out a hair, every rod’s a gain
There’s victory in every quarter mile
All this is to say that in the heart of the growing season, when the weeds are growing fast, the zucchini bins are heavy, the pigs have escaped their fences, and the rain is taking its own sweet time, it’s important to lift our heads and see the beauty of this work. We are looking forward to hosting his weekend’s Poetry and Pie event, which will help us do just that! If you would like to attend please contact us for more information.
In the meantime, in the words of Vermont poet and storyteller Willum Lang, “I gotta get back to work!”
You can watch it come for miles, but you guess you’ve got a while
Ease the throttle out a hair, every rod’s a gain
There’s victory in every quarter mile
All this is to say that in the heart of the growing season, when the weeds are growing fast, the zucchini bins are heavy, the pigs have escaped their fences, and the rain is taking its own sweet time, it’s important to lift our heads and see the beauty of this work. We are looking forward to hosting his weekend’s Poetry and Pie event, which will help us do just that! If you would like to attend please contact us for more information.In the meantime, in the words of Vermont poet and storyteller Willum Lang, “I gotta get back to work!”
Cheers
Norah and the Sweetland Crew