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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Worth Their Weight: Looking at Labels, Part 2
So now we know that not all labels are created equal. For producers, where is it worth spending your time to get certified? And for consumers, which parts of the process of getting raw fibre into finished product are worth labeling? As in many things, it all comes down to where you think things need…
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Do Labels Matter? Looking at Labels, Part 1
Let’s take a look at labels! What are they for? What do they do and what lies below the label? To do this, we’re going to start at the Canadian Mint. Yes. Really. (This is Part 1. If you’re looking for Part 2 of this series, click here. ) Maybe you heard that the Royal…
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Artificial Intelligence – Honesty and The Best Policy
Recently, I got a message from a former mentor in the permaculture space I had approached looking for feedback on The Commons. What he had to say made me very – very! – angry. What did he say? And most importantly, how am I going to respond? When I was building The Commons, I had…
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Strychnine.
There. I said it. The provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan have been granted an emergency permit to use strychnine “to support integrated pest management of Richardson Ground Squirrels.” What can the public expect? What has been the process to this point? And given the rampant and indiscriminate killing power of the poison, are those procedures…
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Monette Farms – Not Very Sportsmanlike
Economics is one thing, physics is another. . . What happens when both systems fail under pressure? Let’s take a closer look at Monette Farms – massive Canadian corporate mega-farm – and see what their current situation can tell us about precariousness, size and misalignment. Let’s just be sure we get one thing worked out…
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Permaculture Principle No. 4, “Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback”
Easily my most favouritest permaculture principle!! And look! Just now, the Real World has provided a high-profile example. Let’s dive in! What is feedback and how does the World Bank’s recent mea culpa fit into feedback and agriculture?? Juniper (right) and Charlotte (left) are having the kind of discussion that precedes “feedback” in the sheep…
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Alberta Updates Animal Welfare Legislation
Bill 22 is heading to the Legislature! What does it mean for farmers? What does it mean for animals? What does “better” livestock animal welfare look like? Alberta has tabled a long-overdue overhaul of its Animal Protection Act — the first significant update in roughly two decades. With a massive jump in fines for infractions…
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Put Up, Or Shut Up
Wool is having a moment! . . . Just, not here. Why is that? What have these other places got that we don’t? At the most recent Olympic Games in Milan, the American Olympic team wore uniforms made with wool sourced by Ralph Lauren from Oregon’s Shaniko Wool Company. If you’ve been paying attention, you…
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Three Small Levers – Policy Makes Perfect (Or Better)
Agriculture, like every sector, lives on incentives. If the system we’ve built isn’t delivering the outcomes we want, is it time to reconsider what we’re rewarding? We spend a lot of time arguing about what agriculture is becoming. It’s too big, too consolidated. Agriculture is too industrialized, too far from the people it feeds. It’s…
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When Bigger Isn’t Better
Is bigger better? Is there a tipping point when it comes to scale? Are we asking the right questions? Let’s talk about the reality of ‘scaling up.’ There is a moment that comes for almost every farmer. You’ll recognize it when it comes. One day, you’re standing in the yard, looking at the barn, the…
Providence Lane Homestead 