Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Farming Life

"To many people, the rural life stands for the simple life, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is a life of almost
infinite complexity-not the social complexity of the city, but
something no less intricate, no less demanding. So how do I
welcome you here? Perhaps the best way is to guide you
through the chores......" V.K.

Verlyn Klinkenborg farms and writes for The New York Times. He is a scholar, teacher, and keeper of the land. I'm just getting to know him after reading his editorial Water and Grasses in the July 5th, 2010 edition. Here is an archive of articles published in the Times.

However, the most exciting discovery was a link to his
2006 blog entitled appropriately: The Rural Life. This, Reader, is treasure! Here one finds entries from the 1789 diary of Gilbert White, English naturalist, curate and author of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne
placed alongside Klinkenborg's own observations from his farm in New York. This is pure genius and joy. I haven't finished reading it, but it spans a mere seven months until the realities of actually maintaining a farm take over.



Selborne

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