Questions

There were some kimchi/kimchee related questions in yesterday’s comments that I will address soon, Also, at some point in the not-too-distant future, I intend to post about soil amending in more detail, partly in response to vpfarming’s occasional queries about the process that has resulted in our absurdly abundant gardens.

The issue of specific questions on this blog dovetails with the steadily increasing volume of other correspondence I’m receiving in relation to this site, my written work, or just life in general. Let me say right off the bat that I love hearing from folks. I mean, really, who wouldn’t? You’d have to be even more of a curmudgeon than I to realize it’s at least a minor honor that people take the time to reach out, either because they’re engaged enough to ask questions, or simply because something you’ve said or written has struck them. Besides which, whilst it may seem as if my life is just one raucous social event after another (this is a joke, because of course it couldn’t possibly seem like that), the inherent truth of the path we’ve chosen is that it’s, well, quiet. My paying work is primarily a solitary affair, occasionally bordering on lonely, and while I am immensely grateful for the company of my family, friends, and neighbors during day-in-day out goings-on of this little farm, I am also a gregarious fellow who sometimes craves more human interaction than this drowsy hill is capable of providing.

This is all a long-winded way of saying that I am struggling a bit with how to navigate the realities of the increasing readership of this site and to what extent I should devote my energies to satisfying that readership. I have to date invested only modest amounts of time and energy into this blog, and primarily to serve no one’s purpose but my own. But as traffic increases (don’t get me wrong, it’s still a humble fraction of what Jenna or Katz  or Amanda sees on a daily basis), I can’t help but consider its future. I am not quite so selfish as to not wonder if there might be ways I can make this space feel more inclusive, or simply useful. In other words, what purpose, really, should this site serve? Should I just ignore all the questions, because answering them takes time away from my paying work, or from the multitude of unfinished and unstarted tasks that await me? That’s hard for me to do, honestly. I like people. I enjoy sharing the knowledge and experience we are fortunate enough to have gleaned over the years, just as so many have so generously shared their knowledge and experience with us.

Complicating all this is the sticky reality of money. I try very hard to take my own advice and not allow money to master my emotions and spirit. Mostly, I think I’m pretty good at this. But I’m not so good that I can just will the stuff out of my life. That is not my reality, any more than it’s yours. I passionately believe that time and money should not be conflated, but I do not inhabit a society that shares this belief, and on some level, I must submit to the reality that the time I spend on this site, or answering questions via other mediums is time I can’t spend on the work that pays my family’s way in this world. We are not supported by  a trust fund. I did not cash out of a job in finance or tech. There’s nothing wrong with those paths; they just aren’t mine. What you see on this site – the books I have written, the links to magazine articles I’ve penned, the conferences and schools I’ve been lucky enough to speak at – are it. They are what pay for all the things we need but cannot provide for ourselves: Property taxes and diesel fuel, tractor parts and toilet paper. Soil amendments and snow tires.

Enough, already, eh? I hope none of you take this to mean that I don’t want to hear your questions or thoughts, because that is emphatically not the case. Truth is I want to hear more of them, though I might not always be able to reply. As has become my habit, I am merely using this space as a white board to work out the small questions of my life. And as always, I appreciate your support.