The Miracle in the Field

Wisdom From the Agrarians

Photo by Polina Rytova on Unsplash

“Something of myself is buried in that earth, and has resurrected in that wheat: that is why I like to look at it. I can look at the crop and say ‘this with heaven’s help I have done.’”

- Adrian Bell, The Flower and the Wheel

A reminder before I begin. Tonight is another Wendell Berry Reading Group session via Zoom. We will be discussing the essay The Making of A Marginal Farm. All are welcome to join in and you don’t have to have read the essay to participate. The Zoom code is in the paid subscriber section below.

---

Farming is hard work. At times, back breaking work, that demands much from the farmer’s tired, battered, and worn-out body. He never can rest for long. Crops and livestock need tending and protecting come rain or shine, hail or snow, wind or gale. Unlike the rest of us, the farmer cannot decide to take a day off because the weather is dire and a threat to his life — no, it is on these days that the farmer must be doing his most dedicated and skilled work, unless he wishes to survey a field of desolation and death upon his return.