What did the neighbors think, my family, friends, and book readers always wanted to know. How did they react to our grass-finished beef ways, our no-chemical crops, our weed-eating goats?
Oh Beth, thank you for your wonderful, thoughtful words. I know that many times I refer to being on our farm where Larry grew up, but the experiences are so similar. We have even gotten mail addressed only to "that organic farm north of town." We feel so intimately what you are experiencing. The capstone to our adventurous life is building our strawbale house. Now take that to the coffee shop or bar! Hopefully over our lifetime of farming we have set an example of how to be crazy different and how to enjoy life.
Thank you Beth for sharing this powerful story and experience. Your storytelling shares so many complicated nuances and amazing nuggets of life on your farm. Grateful for all the pearls of wisdom you are gaining from your experiences, even when they are at times bittersweet. Thanks for writing this wonderful piece.
Thank you, Beth, for telling Leroy's story. Thanks to you and John for returning to Iowa to farm and doing that with such respect for the land and for the future of farming.
Great column! It is wild how we can be so nosy and at the same time so seemingly tolerant.
Of course, the nuances are that some absentee owners actually do care about the land and how it is treated, and some great neighbors and nearby owner-operators don't seem to have any conservation or stewardship ethic. We live in a complicated world!
I wondered as I read whether you allowed hunting. We always tell hunters to stay away, since many don't have any respect for the quiet that grazing cows appreciate.
Tremendous column, Beth! From my first visit to Whippoorwill Creek Farm, I’ve had a certainty that you and John are not only going to transform & improve your place, you’re probably going to inspire the same sort of positive changes all over the Lovilia area. Rural Iowa needs more fun innovators like the Hoffman-Hoaglands!
I grew up in western IL between Macomb and Burlington on some of the finest flat farmland anywhere. Dad grew corn and beans, of course. I found an aerial photo from 1941 of that region that included our home place. I wasn't born until '47. The one square mile centered around our home included 7 farmsteads. A photo from 2017 shows only one remains. All the others are gone and two have grain bins instead. Also, in the recent two years, a wind turbine farm is now working.
This is such a testament to the importance of community. I believe that building community (sometimes through shared struggles and triumphs) is essential to our human experience regardless of our individual ideologies. While I learned this as a child in rural Minnesota, I apply it now in my neighborhood in Oakland, California. In fact, you just reminded me I need to organize a trash cleanup with my neighbors. Thank you, Beth!
Oh Beth, thank you for your wonderful, thoughtful words. I know that many times I refer to being on our farm where Larry grew up, but the experiences are so similar. We have even gotten mail addressed only to "that organic farm north of town." We feel so intimately what you are experiencing. The capstone to our adventurous life is building our strawbale house. Now take that to the coffee shop or bar! Hopefully over our lifetime of farming we have set an example of how to be crazy different and how to enjoy life.
Great essay and analysis, Beth! "It takes crazy to make change." Hurrah from craziness!
Lovely.
Thank you Beth for sharing this powerful story and experience. Your storytelling shares so many complicated nuances and amazing nuggets of life on your farm. Grateful for all the pearls of wisdom you are gaining from your experiences, even when they are at times bittersweet. Thanks for writing this wonderful piece.
Thank you, Beth, for telling Leroy's story. Thanks to you and John for returning to Iowa to farm and doing that with such respect for the land and for the future of farming.
I think you hit the nail on the head - the problem is absentee ownership and we need more people living in rural Iowa. Great column.
“Mill-envy.” Just one of many delightful and significant nuggets in your piece. Thank you.
Great column! It is wild how we can be so nosy and at the same time so seemingly tolerant.
Of course, the nuances are that some absentee owners actually do care about the land and how it is treated, and some great neighbors and nearby owner-operators don't seem to have any conservation or stewardship ethic. We live in a complicated world!
I wondered as I read whether you allowed hunting. We always tell hunters to stay away, since many don't have any respect for the quiet that grazing cows appreciate.
Tremendous column, Beth! From my first visit to Whippoorwill Creek Farm, I’ve had a certainty that you and John are not only going to transform & improve your place, you’re probably going to inspire the same sort of positive changes all over the Lovilia area. Rural Iowa needs more fun innovators like the Hoffman-Hoaglands!
I grew up in western IL between Macomb and Burlington on some of the finest flat farmland anywhere. Dad grew corn and beans, of course. I found an aerial photo from 1941 of that region that included our home place. I wasn't born until '47. The one square mile centered around our home included 7 farmsteads. A photo from 2017 shows only one remains. All the others are gone and two have grain bins instead. Also, in the recent two years, a wind turbine farm is now working.
This is such a testament to the importance of community. I believe that building community (sometimes through shared struggles and triumphs) is essential to our human experience regardless of our individual ideologies. While I learned this as a child in rural Minnesota, I apply it now in my neighborhood in Oakland, California. In fact, you just reminded me I need to organize a trash cleanup with my neighbors. Thank you, Beth!