Farm News Monday 6th October I picked up the soil in one paw (I say paw because I fancy being a bear today) and the particles floated through my fingers like particles of sand. The next moment I forgot about being a bear and became Lawrence of Arabia instead. In the distance the sun was setting the tint of raspberry pavlova as I put my camel into gear and trotted over the beetroot field. What strange oasis is this, I wondered, as I went about the broccoli dunes? Is it a date palm or a cacti? It turned out to be a ring of sheep gathered about the water trough like standing stones. They were drinking. Drinking in the late incandescent light, their fleeces shining. It was very lovely and picturesque and I was reminded that thanks to them and the effect they have (the golden hoof effect) the land is instilled with vitality. I think this is what I love most about organic farming: its diversity. The crops, the animals, the geese in the sky making their way to the marsh, the evergreen reference to the soils. Signs like these turn you for a moment into a twentieth century hero. You’re able to glimpse your otherness. You can surf the desert. This is what I’m hearing now: the hum of the caterpillar tractor, the plough, the peewit, the rustle of a strawberry leaf, the swooning jackdaw playing about the chimney stacks; in the mornings (or the twilight), the turkeys gobbling and chatting in their molten plumage like medieval knights round a table. When I experience all this I’m filled with the certainty that the fields of England exist to inspire and nurture; that in this measureless circle glory shines around. Warm wishes, Andrew Dennis
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 11:16:57 +0000
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