Still Wagon Rewilding

Resistance is Patient

One of Resistance's most powerful tools is patience. From time to time, it is inevitable that inspiration will strike and we will overcome Resistance. Resistance doesn't mind, because Resistance knows how fickle we are. Resistance waits for the moment when we prematurely declare victory - the

Fail Forward Faster

I will laugh at the world. And most of all, I will laugh at myself for man is most comical when he takes himself too seriously. Never will I fall into this trap of the mind. For though I may be nature's greatest miracle am I not still

Attention: Your Life Depends On It

Greetings! I am writing this while sitting in the woods in the middle of nowhere somewhere north of Wythville, Virginia. This particular stop was prompted after we nearly wrecked on I-81 north. The reason we almost wrecked was entirely my fault. I looked at the phone while driving. The reason

Where have all the philosophers gone?

There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but not philosophers. Yet it is admirable to profess because it was once admirable to live. To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but to so love wisdom as to live according to its

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Today we toured Alabama farm land in the Macon and Tallapoosa County area. One of the farms we drove by was a 400+ acre kiwi farm that was up for sale. As I understand it, this kiwi farm was at one time believed to be a potential game changer for

It's Already Too Late For Regenerative Agriculture

I have joked in the past that one of the biggest problems with regenerative agriculture is that it wouldn't be long until we had Tyson all-natural, regenerative chicken. We reached that point faster than I thought. I was doing some research on regenerative ag today and was surprised

Something Important About Nothing

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only those who know the most about it can appreciate how little is known about it. The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal

Little Boxes Made of Ticky Tacky

As we made the drive to Alabama over the last two days, one thing that felt like a slap in the face was being out in the world and seeing the sprawl of "stuff". New stuff, old stuff, big boxes, little boxes, and an infinite supply of cars.

Appalachian Trials

Good morning. We are on the road, headed to visit family in Alabama. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Kodak, Tennessee last night, which is right outside Seiverville. One of our stops yesterday was to take a walk on the Appalachian Trail. It wasn't a long

Too late.

Good evening! I have a short thought to share tonight. Don't let Resistance stop you from doing the things you want to do. You are not too late. You are not too old. You are not too poor. You are not too fat. You are not too busy.

A Poverty of Attention

What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it. - Herbert Simon, recipient of Nobel Memorial Prize in

Underpaid and Overworked

Tonight I'm thinking about the economics of small farms. I recieved an excellent email recently that, among other things, brought up a public fight that occured between Joel Salatin and Chris Newman. The interaction started with Newman challenging the validity of the economics behind the models Salatin promotes.

Hit reply.

I've been getting a lot of really great responses to the things I've been publishing. It's amazing how many more emails you recieve when you actually share an email address! On that note, I've been thinking of the things I'm

Community Zones 0-5

We've been finishing up our plans for the farm for this year. This is an exciting year for us because it's the first year we're able to build for the future. Up until this point, we have been getting the lay of the metaphorical

The Tonic of Wildness

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called

Sustainable intensification.

Those two words have been bouncing around inside my brain for the last couple days. I've been engaging with the arguments out there in favor of either side of the sparing vs. sharing debate. Sustainable intensification is a phrase that popped up as a third route. Sustainable intensification

Land Sparing: Ask the Next Question.

Good evening! The other day I brought up the whole "sharing vs sparing" debate. My first read of the situation was that there is a debate going on where smart, respected people were advocating for continuing to push down the path of conventional agriculture. This both shocked and

Ultra-low budget silvopasture planting update.

Good evening! I'd like start by welcoming the new readers we have joining us. If you are new here, there's a couple things you should know. First, we have a small farm in Western PA where we're experimenting with building a profitable farm based

Sparing vs Sharing - IMPORTANT

As discussed yesterday, I am going down the rabbit hole of Conservation Funding. I keep finding reports that suggest we need to increase world-wide conservation funding by around 700+ billion dollars a year in order to avoid catastrophic biodiversity loss. This call is gathering steam, and world leaders are apparently

Save the Bay!

Good evening... I want to ask a question that I fear will not be very popular. Nonetheless, I think it is an important one to ask. Why is my water less valuable than someone who happens to live in the Chesapeake Bay watershed? Here's the context for this

A Break In Time Saves Nine

I can't use my left arm right now. In related news, I have this nagging feeling that I've been overworking myself. These may be related. I know I'm working too much, but I keep telling myself that I need to get to the other

Stating My Principles

Good morning! Today is a great day. Today my job is to feel good. My job is to start the day feeling good, and then to continue reaching for the better feeling thoughts throughout the day. I will encounter contrast today. Things will not be exactly how I imagined or

State Your Principles

Tomorrow is a big day! We are starting something new and exciting. Have you decided if you want to play along? If you aren't sure, I have an idea to share with you. There is a small but growing group of us that are all going to do

Forum: A Meeting Place to Share Ideas

I'm thinking about setting up a forum for us to organize the challenge on. I'm talking an old school message board style community space. The cool thing about forums is that they are structured around group conversation. Many of my favorite spaces on the internet have

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Good evening! I had a wonderful weekend. Well, I confess, I did let anger get the best of me last night. I like writing in the morning. I like going to bed early. I was so mad that I didn't get the writing done in the morning. I