This is living.
This is the Why and the What of living here, the philosophy that informs the choice, the foundation for everything. If you’re curious about what’s going on behind my eyeballs (hey, me too!) or why I might do things the way I do them, this is where you’ll find those kinds of thoughts.
It’s in Living that we discover what we’re made of, what really matters to us, and how to live with fidelity to our values. In this version of Living, it’s the record of (among other things) my “no daylight” practice, the ongoing work of making sure my claimed values and my actual choices are locked together – no daylight can creep between them. It all comes back to land, to husbandry, stewardship and to care on a particular patch of land, at a particular time, with a particular cast of characters. You’ll get to know them all, I promise.
Whether it’s ordinary days, reflections on responsibility or longer pieces of writing that take shape over time, Living is where you’ll find your way into our current. Some posts stand alone, while others belong to larger, serialized projects that will grow slowly and are revisited as the seasons turn or Living reorients my perspective. This is not a polished archive (head over to Keeping for that), or a how-to manual (that’s in Tending). It’s an invitation to walk alongside, to notice what’s being noticed, and to see how understanding emerges through Living, not theory.
Welcome to my frontier.
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Notes from Living
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Resilience or Efficiency?
Small farms can’t compete on scale, we must compete in our capacity to adapt. What happens when we prioritize resilience over efficiency? On March 21, I will shear sheep. Some of them anyway. It’s unlikely all of them will feel the whirring buzz of Alex the Shearer’s handpiece. And make no mistake, that’s an intentional…
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You Can’t Go Home Again
Are you a salmon, or a hermit crab? Either you never leave, or you can never go home. It’s a phrase most of us have heard, and if we’ve moved more than once in our lives, we’ve probably felt it. People who move often begin to catalogue places not by geography, but by seasons of…
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Steer To Your Mirrors
What do bear crawlers and Metallica have in common? Trailering, hauling. . . Whatever you want to call it, is a skill. I don’t care what anyone says, when you’re pulling a trailer of any kind behind your vehicle, it does tend to spike anxiety levels. When it’s a trailer full of hay, I always…
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Canada Grows a Lot of Food. So Why Does Our Food System Still Feel Fragile?
Do Canadians have a skewed understanding of agriculture, subsidies and how these systems work internationally? Do Canadian farms produce what Canadians eat? When I talk about supporting small and mid-scale farms, someone inevitably says: “Well, farms survive in Europe because they’re heavily subsidized.” It’s true that European farmers receive more direct public support than Canadian…
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A Shepherd in the Blood
What would you do if you discovered a family heirloom proved your ancestors were doing hundreds of years ago exactly what you’re doing today? Unlike so many of the people who have guided me along on my sheep adventure, I didn’t grow up knowing I came from shepherds. I did grow up knowing I came…
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What We Count Becomes What We Build
Beyond “Fast Fashion,” what about Fast Furniture and Canadian Wool – is it time to broaden the conversation? Everyone knows about fast fashion — that relentless cycle of cheap trend-driven clothing that’s wreaking havoc on global ecosystems and supports exploitative labour systems. But far fewer people are talking about fast furniture, the home-goods equivalent that…
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Futureproofing Canadian Wool
How can we build a truly resilient Canadian wool sector? Okay everybody. Better strap in! We’re getting into it. Wool is one of those quiet agricultural products that most people rarely think about — until, suddenly, there’s a sweater on their back, insulation in their walls, or a blanket on their bed. Canada has a…
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Stewardship in the Straw
Genotype? Phenotype? What’s my “type” anyway? Breeding for resilience when every gene matters. Everyone knows Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. If you’re in Alberta, you probably tack on other seasons like Mud, Bugs, Fire/Smoke, Harvest. They’re all part of the calendar and if you spend any time outside, chances are you build schedules around the…
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Animal Welfare Approved
Is “certified Animal Welfare Approved” just a marketing gimic? Not here, not for me. Our AWA certification is our foundation for the future. What is A Greener World’s Animal Welfare Certification? Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) is an independent third-party certification that verifies animals are raised according to high-welfare, pasture- and…
Providence Lane Homestead 