Unity and Diversity | A Note from Scott

"I love the concept of unity and diversity..."

The monarchs have returned in greater numbers than I have seen in recent years—an encouraging thing—and they grace the crimson clover, our milkweed meadow along Deep Lane, and the very beautiful stand of buckwheat now flowering white in the northwest corner of Birch Hill.

Our plantings are mostly completed, the problem insects have retired for the season, and our autumn crops continue to mature in our Town Lane fields. We are now bringing to the stand the autumn squash—that will only sweeten with the coming colder nights—spaghetti, acorn, delicate, sweet dumpling, the kabochas. Your harvesting chores will ease as we harvest for you from our farther fields—sweet potatoes, fall brassicas, more radish, turnips and an array of greens.

For one who works with the land, autumn, the harvest season, is thankfully a time for contemplation. Recently I have been reading an inspiring book by Terry Tempest Williams, “THE HOUR OF LAND, A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks.”

Asked to compose a written piece for Grand Teton National Park, Terry visits the New York office of one of those responsible for the significant expansion of the park, Laurance Rockefeller. Laurance, who transferred thousands of acres of land to Grand Teton National Park between 1969-1983, remarked: “How we treat land, how we build upon it, how we act toward our air and water, in the long run, will tell what kind of people we really are.”

When Terry visits his office, several years after he died at age 94, the room Laurance once occupied is primarily cleared of papers and objects, though on his desk and lining the shelves she encounters dozens of Buddhas and scales.

Laurance, the collector, had written this: “I love the concept of unity and diversity…most decisions are based on a tiny difference. People say this was right and that wrong—the difference was a feather…I keep scales wherever I am to remind me of that…They’re a symbol of my awareness of the distortion most people have of what’s better and what isn’t.”

“I love the concept of unity and diversity…” Something we can learn from the land, something to restore and to maintain on the land we inhabit, something to resonate within, and to pass on.

Yours,

Scott Chaskey

PS: A lovely surprise in my inbox last week from the Rollner family …

The farm is where Randy and I became family, so it is such a special place for us, from the very beginning of our story.

As the years go by and our family has grown, it is our favorite place to spend every Saturday morning of our summers.

Thank you for the joy and connectedness it brings.

Best,
Raine, Randy, Dylan, Aria & Indigo

Ready to Harvest

Kale & Collards, Potatoes, Basil, Dill & Cilantro, tomatoes (the last) cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, husk cherries, sweet & hot peppers, eggplant, leeks, bok choi, autumn/winter squash.