Note: This was written by a real person: me. Farming is the heart and soul of the Shenandoah Valley and the number one industry in most counties. But perhaps not for long. As I drive around, I can hardly look anywhere without seeing houses, cookie-cutter subdivisions, or big box stores...
I looked up and saw smoke rising from a field far upstream. I stopped in wonder. It can’t be smoke, I thought, because it’s brown. Then I realized it was a giant cloud of windblown soil reaching over a hundred feet into the air. Then I saw the tractor. The...
We have a small farm in Swoope along Trimbles Mill Road. The Middle River flows through it for half a mile. We call it the River Farm. The cows were fenced away from the river in 2004, and we planted trees along the banks. Sycamores Hold the Line I walk...
Note: The text from most of this post was published as an op-ed piece in the News-Leader on 7/17/20.
Most of the world remains sequestered at home from the COVID-19 pandemic. Demonstrators with assault weapons dressed in military gear protest stay-at-home orders. You might get harassed for wearing a face mask in public. Our political divide widens. Farming Proceeds Despite the Pandemic On the farm, there are no politics...
*Editor’s note: The text of this post was published in the Virginia Mercury on 5/1/20. When do prepositions protect our groundwater? When the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) says so. In County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund et al., Justice Stephen Breyer used the words from...
I am grateful. The Virginia Outdoor Writers Association (VOWA) selected Swoope Almanac, Stories of Love, Land, and Water in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley as First Place, Outstanding Book 2019. My sincere thanks for their support and to my team that helped edit, design, publish, release, and market the book. It has...
Winter in Swoope The grasslands in Swoope are brown and dormant. Late in the afternoon I stand on our deck with my binoculars and search the wide-open pastures for Short-eared Owls. I can see for several miles north and sweep slowly 180 degrees to the south. First, I spot a...
Note: The text from this post was published in the News-Leader on 2/27/20.
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