There’s a commonly prevalent psychology of achievement among farmers (and I’m sure also hundreds of other professions and practices) that so easily drives activity and excessive effort against the grain and into resistance and obstacles, that the stubborn and dour farmer is a cliché in many cultures and countries.

And fair enough; you have to be more than a bit stubborn to draw up detailed planting plans and marketing schedules knowing full-well that the same weather that supports your plant growth, can just as easily and unpredictably hold it back. And if it was only the weather and climate to contend with, then that also would be a bit easier to contend with, than the multi-faceted confluence of hindrances that materialise to form an agricultural enterprise.

But there is more to the cliché of the well-worn farmer than just the ornery and pig-headed. For instance, if you’ve met an old Karoo-farmer with a sense of humour so dry that it’s as hard to see as the rain in the Karoo itself, then you might have seen, past the thick, weather-beaten appearance, a light in the eye or perhaps a clarity to the voice, that speaks of a spirit tried and tested, beaten back and humbled and shaped into form to be in stride alongside his environment and to become of it in a way that makes it all worth it.

Now, waxing poetic aside, I think it’s been a couple of years since I’ve started to balance my own forceful pigheadedness with a pragmatic synchrony to the environment. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for further development and growth of the connection between the ideas of health, environmental well-being and connectedness to nature that we’re trying to build and the feedback that reality provides us.

So in this spirit, I want to start the season with eyes, ears and mind open to find the channels to dig for energy to flow where it is already headed. And to this end, I want to facilitate some new ways for you to engage with your local farmers and producers, through regular meet-ups*, workshops and if all goes well, maybe a harvest festival or two!

As always, stay well and warm

Hannes

*thanks Dino, for the great idea of setting up a weekly meet-up-and-collect on the farm! An hour on a Thursday where you can collect your vegetables in Raithby, have a cup of tea in a field and catch up on the farm news that doesn’t make it into the newsletter, is exactly the kind of connection to soil, food and farmer that I’ve wanted to provide all along.