This is the time of year when I can finally exhale after a very busy growing season. Food preservation is almost complete, my Resilient Homestead Program is underway and it’s time to spend more time on some inner resilience practices (reading, dance classes, drawing class, visits with friends) that enable me to continue to do this work. These practices, and mapping out your ecosystem of support are at the core of my video today.
If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know that I often remind people that “agriculture was never meant to be a solitary act.” After over a decade of stewarding this land and almost two decades of growing food, I really need people to hear that. In our individualistic society, where the “hero’s journey” narrative is reflected in mainstream media, it takes discipline to remind ourselves that we are interdependent beings who need the support of community, especially if we want to grow our own food. But more importantly, we need community in order to become whole and healthy individuals in this world.
Just like an ecosystem relies on the diversity of plants, animals, minerals, soil, sun, microorganisms, and fungi to function properly and to thrive, we, as humans, need an equivalent support system around us. And that’s what my video is about today. In it, I talk about social systems design for your homestead and why you shouldn’t feel like a failure if you can’t do it all. I also share actions that you can take to feel more resourced as you engage in this work.