Here are a few of my top recommendations of places to source herbs and maybe even find an Herbal CSA.

Why am I doing this.. And why now? As many of you know I feel particularly called to the mending work of land care and this entails many different facets.

The stark reality is that the health of our bodies and communities is intricately tied to the health of our soil.

When I was a child there were mornings I would wake convinced that the day was full of magic.

“She picked up the snake like it was a toy, she charmed the snake but not the boy…”

This used to be a snake farm - no joke. Sure, Great Grandpa Lem grew winter wheat, just like all the neighbors,

The sharp paring knife slices the apple into four quarters, then gently cuts a small crescent where the seeds lay embedded in the center of the apple. I pry them loose before breaking the apple into even smaller slices. I lay the apples on a plate beside a small glass bowl of amber honey, and set the plate down by a freshly lit candle - almost midnight.

When we crash landed at the family farm, I came with pots of yarrow up-rooted from our previous existence.

This morning while out checking the garden I could see tiny green leaves peeking out of the brown leaf mulch. As I pulled the mulch back I gently brushed one of the tiny green leaves and the air was instantly filled with the smell of lemon.

On our farm, we are emerging into the full glory of spring. Perennials are boldly surfacing from the mulch, and the early spring crops planted in chilly faith are just starting to bring their yields.

This week my email has been bombarded with messages somewhat like this:

“We cannot make topsoil, and we cannot make any substitute for it; we cannot do what it does.”

In the vicious chill of a Southern Kansas Winter the feeling came over me, insistent and emphatic:

I live in one of those so-called dying rural communities…

There are three ways to get to the place we call Cottonwood Falls…