The last ice age surely had its way with our corner of the world. They say the ice sheet was a mile or more thick here, which is a mind boggling verticality. It is almost beyond imagining that anything could emerge from that frozen compression with the ability to grow, but it did. Within...

One of the running prejudices that shows no sign of fatigue or going away in the corner of the world I know something about is the idea that all, or most, of our principal lunacies and strategies for self defeat live in our cities. Cities, full of operatic potential and wizardry, are our crazy...

Stephen Jenkinson on CBC's Fear Itself with Christy Ann Conlin Listen in on Christy Ann Conlin's interview with Stephen Jenkinson on CBC's radio show, Fear Itself. The show will be broadcast on Monday, August 13 at 7:30 PM and on Thursday August 16th at 9:30 AM. (All times Eastern Standard Time). The show will also...

For years we've had beavers on the land, and so far the risen water and the beavers together have killed five acres of bottom land on our already small farm. I've broken the dam several times and found it rebuilt and stronger within a day. I've tried trapping them out winter and summer to...

My daughter made the many mile drive to our farm to be with me on Father's Day, and I rewarded her by at one point talking about how I'm getting older. As is proper, she refused to have the conversation, which deepens my respect and admiration of her. Eventually we will have the conversation,...

To all the friends of this work, and to all those who still believe in a better day: Armloads of thanks as always for your encouragement and your passion for our Orphan Wisdom projects. The great surge towards summer, towards growth and heat and all things green has been fitful and hesitant, and it...

We have a little land in eastern Ontario, and a little of that land with a lot of manure seems willing to grow food for people. Those who come to our school are fed by her. The land is a glacial flood plain, sand and stone, one of those countless thousands of...

A few weeks ago I had a wretched autumn flu, meaning that kids have gone to school, swapped pathogens like playing cards and brought them home for all to enjoy. The fact that you've no school age kids at home doesn't save you. It didn't save me. Some well meaning neighbours...

If you've lived through a February in the northern part of the world, you've learned some valuable things. Thin layers beat one thick coat, for instance. Felted wool beats woven wool - that may not be science, but it seems true to me. And the shortest days of the year, the ones where...

Dying people die sometime before spring, if they can. Fierce and implacable, and demanding: spring has that face. The green surge, the endless evening light, the stupor of a curled, private sleep now broken by something strong in the air: all of this makes a claim on the living. It says: If you are...