Committed to Agriculture while Respecting the Earth
Jonathan and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary in August. We met when we were in college, so it was always fun when my mother-in-law would bring out baby photos and show me how cute Jonathan was as a tow-headed tyke. There were a couple of photos that our parents found that were taken when we were about the same age…both with toy guns. We must have been made for each other, don’t you think?
Ride along with me in the tractor while I prepare the field for seeding barley and peas. If you’d like to learn more about how we grow barley and peas together, check out last year’s post.
Enjoy the ride!
The Gospel lesson and sermon in church this past Sunday touched on some things that have been running through my mind lately, especially after reading a blog post that was directed at one group of people in particular. The title of that post seemed to serve no other purpose than to belittle the group that they had a difference of opinion with.
The Gospel text was from John 13, where Jesus is instructing his disciples, and gave them a new commandment. Verses 34-35 say, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The sermon went on to explain that this means we are to love our neighbors. Douglas John Hall of Canada’s McGill University states: “It may be good enough, legally and politically, but it is not good enough for the one who did not say, ‘Tolerate your neighbor’, but ‘love your neighbor.” Uff da! To love someone as Jesus has loved me is not easy. That would mean an unconditional love. No judging, no scoffing, no name calling…unconditional.
We live in an age where, at any given moment, we are able to communicate with our fellow man – our neighbors – anywhere around the world. How are we supposed to show this love to neighbors we’ve never met in person? As our speaker, Jason Swenson, mentioned: “Biblical love is not all hearts and flowers, but actions and deeds.”
Actions and deeds… The beauty of living in this cyber age, is the ability to reach out and show our love through our actions, which in most cases, is conveyed through words. Unconditional love through words…hmm.
I did a little searching on the internet for quotes or thoughts about unconditional love, and the power of words. Besides a myriad of Bible verses, I found a ton of quotes by authors, philosophers, statesmen, and religious figures. One of the quotes that stood out to me was by an unknown author who said, “Let people march to their own beat of the drum and feel safe to be real around us. That’s what unconditional love is all about – being an encourager of people’s passions, loves, and dreams, even if you may disagree with them.” Look at the last part of the sentence again…”being an encourager of people’s passions, loves, and dreams, even if you may disagree with them.”
When we write blogs, Facebook posts, Tweets, or whatever…are we being encouragers or discouragers. Are we willing to show our love for our neighbor in the words we choose? Another unknown author asked, “If someone were to pay you 10 cents for every kind word you ever spoke and collect from you 5 cents for every unkind word, would you be rich or poor?”
It is so easy for us to hide behind the anonymity of user names on forums, to hide behind our job titles, or educational titles. We feel we can type whatever we want, and it won’t matter because we are right, or we are smarter, or they need to be educated. But those of us who are followers of Jesus, can we really say whatever we want without regard to how our words may affect another person?
I will admit, there are times when I have not shown love towards a neighbor…those are the times when I must ask forgiveness for my thoughts, and my words spoken in anger. It took being called out by my daughter, Laura, in a college paper to make me really look at how the words coming out of my head affect other people. That’s when you realize how true Psalm 16:24 is: “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”
Loving our neighbors does not mean that we all have to think the same thing, shop at the same store, or belong to the same political party. We can have lively discussions, and still show love. We can disagree about how to manage our businesses, and still show love. The key is in our actions and our words. Weigh your words carefully before you post something online. Leave out the inflammatory adjectives that are there mostly for spite. Ask yourself, am I building up the people around me, or am I tearing them down?
Ephesians 4:29 “Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.”
I love how quickly the landscape can change when the sun gets a chance to heat things up a little bit.
This photo is from April 25, 2013:
This photo is from April 26, 2013:
Both photos were taken from the same field driveway just to the north of our yard. The first one was taken from the van, the second one was taken on my walk…that I went on in shorts and a short sleeved shirt.
The guys are busy getting the planter ready, and I’ve received my spring assignment. If everything dries well this weekend, I will be out running the field cultivator next week! I can’t wait!
Look for photos and commentary on my spring in the fields…when we finally get out there. In the mean time, I’m going to be thankful for the first warm weekend since October.
Taken April 19th after yet another snowfall.
Listen to this while you read…
Farmers are in a boxing match right now. It’s becoming more of an us vs them atmosphere all the time.
In one corner, you have an organic farmer. In the other corner, you have a conventional farmer.
They meet in the middle, the ref gives the usual preliminary instructions, then the bell sounds.
Uppercut: Monsanto is evil
Left hook: Organic foods are no better than conventional. You don’t know the science.
The fight goes on until someone ends up on the canvas. Half of the crowd goes home elated that “they” won. The other half goes home feeling dejected.
So, who exactly is in this audience? Farmers, consumers, HSUS, PeTA, Sierra Club? Who is on the floor betting against this fight? Who is the bookie? The Environmental Working Group?
At the end of the day, who really won the match of farmer vs farmer? While one farmer may have ended up on the canvas, did the other one really go home unscathed? I don’t think so. The real winner in the fight is the anti-agriculture groups who are raking in big bucks, and profiting from our unwillingness to join the same team.
We have been so busy lately fighting one another that we haven’t noticed the anti’s quietly taking bets on who is going to survive. We really need to be on the same team here. Farmer vs Anti Ag should be the fight we are training for.
We all bring different things to the team. When you are training for a competition, you need cross training to enable your body to function at a higher level. When you are sparring to prepare for a bout, you need different sparring partners who throw different combinations of punches to keep you from getting too comfortable in your ways. In agriculture, the cross training is attending sessions about the newest research that will help you manage your farm to its highest potential. The sparring partners are the conversations we have with each other, and with those who use different methods. These interactions help to keep us on our toes, while at the same time hone our skills so we can be in the best shape possible. We can, and should, learn from each other.
At the end of the match, all farmers want agriculture to be the one standing with its arm raised in victory.
With yet another winter storm headed for Minnesota, I thought I’d share two photos. The first is from April 15, 2012. The second photo is from April 14, 2013. These are both taken from my front yard.
Over the last 72 hours, we have received between 15 to 18 inches of snow. We’ve had snow in 6 of the last 12 months here. Sigh. Typically we are getting the spring farm equipment out of the machine shed, and making sure everything is ready to go once the fields are dry.
Not this year! Instead of spending time in the tractor we use for preparing the seed bed, Jonathan spent time in the tractor used for clearing snow.
While he was busy clearing snow, I was getting ready to make some of these delicious little treats. Jonathan brought back this box of Beignet Mix from New Orleans when he was there with our youth group last summer.
I made a few, and decided I needed to practice my food photography a little bit. You know, things that help you stay sane on yet another snow day.
The good thing about spring snow storms is the fact that the snow will melt into the thawed ground instead of just running over the top. We can really use the moisture here, so we’re trying to be thankful. To be perfectly honest, though, I can’t wait until I see this out my window:
I love this little slice of heaven. In Minnesota, we just call it “the lake”.
I’ve been learning new camera techniques during our extended winter. I am loving Digital Photography School right now. The bonus – it’s free! Anyway, I was looking for something inside to try out a few new settings on, since the weather is rainy and cold. Not to mention the blah brown landscape we still have.
I have a camera collection that I display above my built in buffet. There are some really special ones in my collection that I love looking at. They are not special because of their monetary value, but for their stories.
This camera came from my father-in-law. He was drafted into the United States Army during peacetime in the 1950’s for two years. One year was spent in Germany. He had many entertaining stories about his time there, and about the ship ride home. It was on the ship that he came into possession of this camera. According to FIL, there were a few guys gambling to pass the time. One of the guys offered to sell his camera for $30 so he could pay his debt. My FIL agreed, and bought the camera. He used it for a while before updating to a newer Argus camera. He was a pretty good hobby photographer, but mostly used his cameras to take photos at family gatherings.
In this photo, I used natural light from our large east facing windows, and had black velvet behind and under the AGFA. Other settings: Canon 60D, Av mode, ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/125, 34mm focal length. The technique I was playing with was using Av mode to achieve a shallow DOF. I also used the manual focal point setting aimed at the lettering on the top ring of the lens.
