Convenience, Leaves, "Progress," and Living Spaces...
A compilation of thoughtful pieces
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It’s been a busy week filled with cows and learning and other fun things.
Thus, I haven’t had time to cover what I’d intended to cover in this week’s article.
So, I’m sharing 4 of the best articles or notes I’ve read this week.
I hope you get value out of these as I have.
Brett Scott.
He writes about money and the economy from a vastly different “lens” than most people see it.
I’ve followed his writing since I learned about him and see so many ways that holistic thinking about our ecology, food, and bodies overlaps with our economy….
If you like to explore ideas around currency, the problems of a cashless society, and other such ponderables, then you’ll want to follow Brett.
He posted this note this week:
If you’re up for being challenged about how you understand the economy, read any of Brett’s work. It’s all enlightening and will challenge you to view money, consciousness, and human behavior from a new lens.
Farmer and writer Brett Gallagher.
Oh look, two “Bretts” in a row! 😄 Brett writes about the absolute importance of leaves in our nutrient ecosystems.
I love love love this article for the gentle way he illustrates the importance of the leaves being in place and the thorough instructions on potatoes.
The only thing I might argue with in this article is this claim: “Potatoes happen to be the only food in the world, that if you were to eat them exclusively, you could not only survive, but maintain a fairly high level of health. Add a little butter or milk and you have a complete diet.”
C’mon now Brett…what about healthy, nourishing raw milk?? 😉
At least he gave butter and milk a plug in his article. Milk is a known whole food that humans can thrive on as well. But, that’s perhaps a friendly discussion for another day. It’s a great article. Please read it!
Katie Jgln tackles the idea of “Progress.”
Is “progress” always progress? I was immediately reminded of the time a farmer and I went to talk to our congressman and, upon hearing where this farmer was from, they said “oh, there’s a lot of development going on around there.”
They called it “development,” we called it “destruction.”
“Progress” as they call it, will ultimately end because, as Katie Jgln says “Our natural environment is neither an infinite resource nor a bottomless reservoir for waste, entirely separate from economic and other human activities. There are limits to how much we can extract, produce, and grow — limits that we continuously treat as optional and keep pushing beyond. Humanity has already surpassed six of the nine so-called planetary boundaries that keep Earth hospitable to modern life, and we’re on the verge of breaching the seventh.”
Tommy talks about creating intimate spaces.
And finally, a beautiful, thoughtful piece by a young carpenter. Tommy is brand new to Substack and he offers this reflection on creating meaningful living spaces on The Carpenter’s Workbench.
This article reminds me of how those of us in permaculture talk about intentionally- designed outdoor spaces. It’s also a testament to the power of creation, production and the slowness of truly artisan work.
Hope you enjoy one or all of these pieces as much as I did!
See you next week.
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