tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137295692024-03-18T08:03:25.776-04:00The Deliberate AgrarianOne Man's Ruminations About Faith, Family, and Livin' The Good LifeHerrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comBlogger1094125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-74457974333486987842019-06-23T10:57:00.001-04:002019-12-01T12:47:06.434-05:00Herrick Kimball Is Now Blogging At Heavenstretch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v6iJTkxMIU0/XQ-DAsFnaEI/AAAAAAAATpc/zc5jkQGrF_ogFnv5ZHXoDtcVd7_k2Tr6QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-06-23%2Bat%2B9.47.02%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="1600" height="141" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v6iJTkxMIU0/XQ-DAsFnaEI/AAAAAAAATpc/zc5jkQGrF_ogFnv5ZHXoDtcVd7_k2Tr6QCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-06-23%2Bat%2B9.47.02%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dateline: 23 June 2019</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I've blogged on this Blogger format for 14 years. Blogger was a good place for me for most of those years. But it has become so problematic that I've been forced leave. My new blogging home is now at WordPress. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Seeing as I had to move to a new blogging format, I've taken the opportunity to create a new blog name. <a href="https://heavenstretch.wordpress.com/">Heavenstretch</a> is now my place on the web. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Barring any unforeseen circumstances, <a href="https://heavenstretch.wordpress.com/">Heavenstretch</a> will be my "<i>last</i> blog and testament." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please stop on over and see what <a href="https://heavenstretch.wordpress.com/">Heavenstretch</a> is all about...</span></span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-27230792423644271722016-08-10T18:41:00.005-04:002016-08-21T10:23:28.801-04:00Upland...Blogging AfterThe Deliberate Agrarian<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 11 August 2016</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Dear Friends,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">After 11 years of blogging here,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I have moved to <a href="http://uplandgardener.blogspot.com/">Upland</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Please visit when you can.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Herrick Kimball</span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com103tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-14740123097789060102016-08-10T07:05:00.002-04:002020-07-18T21:07:14.144-04:00The Agrarian WritingsOf O.E. Baker(series links)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 10 August 2016</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Before closing down this blog I want to make sure I compile this list of essays on the agrarian writings of O.E. Baker. If you have an interest in agrarian thought, this man's writings will resonate with you...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-agrarian-writings-of-o-e-baker-part.html">The Agrarian Writings of O.E. Baker: Part 1</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-agrarian-writings-of-oe-baker-part-2.html">The Agrarian Writings of O.E. Baker: Part 2</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-agrarian-writings-of-oe-baker-part-3_28.html">The Agrarian Writings of O.E. Baker: Part 3</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-agrarian-writings-of-oe-baker-part-4.html">The Agrarian Writings of O.E. Baker: Part 4</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-agrarian-writings-of-oe-baker-part-5.html">The Agrarian Writings of O.E. Baker: Part 5</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-agrarian-writings-of-oe-baker-part-6.html">The Agrarian Writings of O.E. Baker: Part 6</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-agrarian-writings-of-oe-baker-part-7.html">The Agrarian Writings of O.E. Baker: Part 7</a></span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-88677799791563953062016-08-07T12:33:00.001-04:002016-08-07T12:35:26.921-04:00Atrazine Anger(A Christian-Agrarian Response)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Original Dateline: 26 April 2006</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Repost Dateline: 7 August 2016</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I heard on the radio a couple days ago that the European Union has recently banned the use of atrazine in E.U. countries. That got my attention. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The report stated that atrazine is the #1 selling herbicide in the world. 70 million pounds of the chemical killer are used by farmers in the U.S. each year. It is used primarily by corn growers to suppress weeds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The E.U has banned atrazine because it recently came to light that the toxin has a significant “adverse biological effect.” What that means, in part, is that atrazine was found to destroy the reproductive ability of frogs. That understanding led to further research where it was found that atrazine causes breast and prostate cancer in mammals. Not coincidentally, people who work closely with the chemical have significantly higher rates of those cancers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Atrazine runs off the fields, into streams and lakes, and finds its way into the drinking water supply. The acceptable U.S. drinking water standard for atrazine is 3 parts per billion. But new studies have found that as little as .1 part per billion (that is 1/30th of the standard) is enough to do harm. According to the news report, atrazine has been found in groundwater as far as 600 miles from where it was applied.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In light of the new findings, the Environmental Protection Agency here in the United States has NO intention of eliminating or even limiting the use of atrazine. Why would an agency of the government, charged with protecting the environment (which includes the people who live in the environment), NOT ban a widely-used synthetic poison that is making people sick? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’ll tell you why. It’s because the EPA is a government bureaucracy, and like every government bureaucracy the EPA is subject to political influence. And the chemical companies have a lot of political influence because they rake in a whole lot of MONEY when American farmers slather 70 million pounds of atrazine over the earth each year. Atrazine is a cash cow. Safety is really beside the point. MONEY is what it’s all about. And keep in mind that we are discussing just one of many such chemicals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Atrazine is yet another example of how corporate-industrialized agriculture is a sham and a failure. The monster proudly boasts that it “feeds the world” but, in the process, it poisons the environment, causes innocent people to suffer and, in many instances, kills them with impunity. Such lives are sacrificed on the altar of profit and success.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When technology kills innocent people as a “side effect” it is inherently wrong. I dare say it is evil. It is the result of sin and rebellion against God. He created the earth and all that is in it and when He was done He said, “It is good.” God made it good and sinful man destroys it. In the book of Romans, Paul says that creation longs to be set free from the bondage of sin. Creation longs to be set free from things like atrazine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I don’t believe the average modern Christian really cares much about atrazine. Most modern Christians do not really believe in exercising responsible stewardship of the earth. The concept of sustainability is foreign to them. They see the earth as expendable—something to be exploited and used up in the process of supporting the ease and comfort that come with their high standard of living.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This is, I believe, the natural extension of modern evangelical thinking that Christians are going to be raptured out of this world at any moment. That being the case, so the thinking goes, why should Christians give much concern for husbanding the earth? Few Christians will outright admit to that way of thinking, but actions (or lack of actions) speak louder than words.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And, by the way, doesn’t the Bible say that God is going to replace the earth with a new one someday? If that’s true, then we can exploit and destroy to our heart’s content, right? Let us eat, drink, be merry, and ravage the earth, for tomorrow we get a new one. Such thinking is also a sham and a failure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That God will one day create a new earth does not give His people license to destroy the one He has placed us in now. I do not think God winks at the pillaging of creation for vainglory achievement and personal profit. How presumptive and prideful and evil it is to assume such an attitude.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Any government that protects the corporate-industrial destroyers has forsaken it’s God-given mandate to protect the innocent. And Christians who buy into the technological destruction should be ashamed of themselves.</span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-51711387615823698442016-08-06T09:31:00.000-04:002016-08-06T09:31:26.229-04:00The Bad Cut<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Original Dateline: 1 June 2006</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Repost Dateline: 6 August 2016</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I was working in my garden yesterday afternoon, preparing the soil so I could plant tomatoes, when my son, Robert, called out to me from the kitchen window...</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">”Hey Dad! James cut his finger. It’s pretty bad. I think you should come in.”</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I stood up, straightened out my stiff back and marched toward the house, wondering what I was going to encounter. Just how bad was the cut going to be? Would I have to take my 11-year-old son to the emergency room? I wished Marlene was not away running errands.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">James was waiting for me just inside the door. He was clutching his finger. There was a very concerned look on his face. “<i>”How did you cut it?”</i> I asked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>”On the top of a can,”</i> he replied.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">”Let me see it.”</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He extended his right hand, and let off his grip around the finger. The cut was in the fleshy thumb-side of his middle finger, between two knuckles. It was a bit over an inch long, and deep. But not to the bone. It was hardly bleeding and that surprised me. I shook my head and pronounced in mock seriousness, <i>"Well, it looks like we’re going to have to amputate.”</i> James managed a weak smile.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I took my work boots off and walked into the kitchen with my wounded son following, and clutching. <i>”Tell me again how you did that.”</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He showed me an empty can of Bush's Baked Beans on the counter. The round top, held to the can by a small section of rim metal, was hinged straight up. James had reached into the cabinet over the counter for a drinking glass and brought his hand down on the sharp lid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It so happened that James and Robert were hungry. Marlene wasn’t there to feed them so they opened the can and satisfied their empty stomachs with the beans. I like it when my boys fend for themselves, but I stated the obvious: <i>”You shouldn’t leave the lid up like that. Next time, fold it down into the can and throw the can away.”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>”It’s starting to hurt a little now,”</i> James said, looking at his finger.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I replied, <i>”Oh it’s gonna hurt all right! I expect you’ll be screaming in pain in a few minutes.”</i> He didn’t say anything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>”I’m going to have to wash it real good,”</i> I announced. <i>”Because if I don’t wash it out, it could get infected and swell up and turn green and ooze pus and gangrene will spread up your arm and they’ll have to cut yer whole arm off.”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He protested with a frown... <i>”That’s not a nice thing to say. It doesn’t make me feel good.”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I quit the kidding, grinned, and told him, in all seriousness, <i>”You’re going to be fine, Buddy. Dr. Kimball’s going to fix you up real good.”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My hands were soiled from working in the garden. I made a big show of sudsing, scrubbing and rinsing up to my elbows, with him waiting patiently by the sink. Once clean, I regulated the water to a comfortable warm, worked lots of fresh soap suds into my hands and gently washed his hand in mine. Then I rinsed his hand off and patted it dry with a clean towel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The gaping wound showed meat and was, frankly, a little unsettling to me but I didn’t tell him that. </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">”That’s a good one, James. Did I ever tell you about the time I cut myself bad and your Mom sewed it back together for me?”</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He responded by showing me a diagonal scar on the base of his left index finger, where he had cut himself with a knife a couple years ago. I had never noticed the scar before, but it sure did look familiar. I looked at the same spot on my own left index finger and there it was.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>”Look at that, James,”</i> I said, proudly showing him the scar on my finger. <i>”That’s the one Mom sewed up. You and me got the same scar!”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I reached for a bottle of Betadine in the kitchen cabinet. </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">”Is that going to sting?”</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">”No, it shouldn’t sting.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I flooded the cut with the solution and told him to wait while I went to my shop. There, in a file cabinet drawer, I keep a bunch of first-aid supplies, including a selection of military surplus sutures....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But I did not get any sutures. I got the next best thing—little butterfly bandages. Butterfly’s will hold most cuts together very well, especially if they are not bleeding too much. They are, to my down-home, self-sufficient way of thinking, a satisfactory substitute for stitches. I always keep a supply of butterfly bandages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One butterfly, carefully placed, pulled the wound together very nicely. To keep it clean, I applied a couple of oversize Band Aids. Then I told my patient not to get the hand dirty or wet for at least a couple of days, and not to put a lot of stress on the finger— Doctor’s orders.</span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-25553977148307619462016-08-05T07:37:00.000-04:002016-08-05T07:37:23.921-04:00This Deliberate Agrarian'sLong Swan Song<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 6 August 2016</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A swan song is <span style="background-color: white;">a metaphorical phrase for "a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">My swan song as "The Deliberate Agrarian" is in process, and it will be a somewhat drawn out final gesture. It will conclude with my retirement from this blog. Hopefully not my death. But wouldn't that be dramatic... concluding this Deliberate Agrarian swan song and then dying! One never knows.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">This blog, which began in the spring of 2005, now has 1,110 posts in the archive. That's a lot. I am in the process of going through each one, starting with the first. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">I'm closing off the comments so the posts don't get loaded with spam comments (I am continually removing them). I'm deleting some of the posts. And I'm reposting a few, as you may have noticed the last few days.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's not like I have nothing else to do, so all of this could go on for a couple of months. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">And then that will be that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">My future plan is to launch another blog. It will NOT be about "Faith, Family and </span>Livin' the Good Life." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Well, maybe it will be a little. But my main focus will be on.....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Oh, but I'll save that for later. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(I don't think it will be a big surprise, but it's still an idea in its infancy). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So, with the end in sight, I hope you will enjoy my swan song of selected blog reposts.</span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-69662148900871490772016-08-04T17:42:00.000-04:002016-08-04T17:42:24.998-04:00Christian-Agrarianism:Not Isolationism,But Counter-Revolution<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Original Dateline: 14 April 2006</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Repost Dateline: 4 August 2016</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Please note that Isaiah's vision of the future <br />was peaceful and agrarian.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I believe God is actively working in the hearts of more and more of His people to convict them of their “industrial” sins. As a result, He is bringing about a modern day Exodus. We who feel this calling (and it is a calling) desire to leave the bondage of corporate-industrial “Egypt.” We are leading the way for our families, for the generations that follow, and for other believers who will, in God’s time, come to the realization that agrarianism is not an option, it is a mandate. God has always intended for His people to live primarily within the agrarian paradigm, and for good reason. It is inevitable that Christian agrarianism will become more of a movement that gets noticed by more and more people within the community of Believers. In fact, it already is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One case in point is a recent <i>Chalcedon Foundation</i> blog article titled, <a href="http://www.thephora.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6149">Babylon, Agrarianism, and the Military-Industrial Complex</a>. My thanks to Carmon Friedrich who recently mentioned this article at her blog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The article is well worth your reading, as is just about everything that Chalcedon puts out. But the following excerpt is the part I find most compelling...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“I find it interesting that when Isaiah prophesied (chapter 2) of the glorious kingdom he described it in terms of a <i>repentance in technology</i>: swords are made into plowshares, and spears are converted into pruninghooks. <i>Converted hearts lead to converted technology</i>. This is ably demonstrated by the present emphasis upon agrarianism. The movement is emblematic of a righteous "restraint" upon the abuses of technology and the sin it inspires. All to say, the fulfilled kingdom may appear more Amish than the steel and stone of Huxley's <i>Brave New World</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The same has often been said about hunting -- old-school rocker Ted Nugent is one of the most outspoken advocates of this idea. Christians are rediscovering a lost world, by discarding much of the plastic society and the cultural control grid of corporate advertising. By removing their children from public schools, and by disengaging from certain social tentacles, today's Christian can better taste the potency of God's creation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The issue here is not isolationism -- far from it. It is a counter-revolution to an exclusively institutional and industrial existence. It is a self-imposed restraint upon the use of certain technology, and the adoption of older technology that is pure and God-sanctioned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The new Tower of Babel is a vast system contrived and built by humanistic man, and is intended to have dominion over every area of life. We, as modern Christians, are plugged into this system. We should always be looking for ways to "unplug" so as to circumvent its control in our lives. Educating our children is the first step. Removing ourselves from the neo-babylonian churches is next. These mega-wonders of institutional worship are drenched in technology, and serve as faithful ambassadors of the state.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I find other movements, such as agrarianism, as helpful to the cause of Christ. I also see a helpful trend within the family-based churches, despite the shrills of patriarchy. My goodness, so long as sinful people are involved any system can be abused! But centering on the family helps to de-tox Christians from their slavish adherence to institutions. We can only rejoice then as faithful Christians work to decentralize a one-world order. Bureaucracy is a great opponent to the expedient application of Biblical law.”</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"History has never been dominated by majorities, but only by dedicated minorities who stand unconditionally on their faith."</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">—R. J. Rushdoony</span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-71478726510877154642016-08-02T07:16:00.002-04:002016-08-02T07:16:32.411-04:00Crunchy ConsAnd Christian Agrarians<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Original Dateline: 8 March 2006</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Repost Dateline: 3 August 2016</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I stopped by Carmon “Prairie Muffin” Friedrich’s Blog, <i>Buried Treasure Books</i>, this morning and read her most recent post about <b> Crunchy Cons</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Crunchy Cons</b> is the name of a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400050642/sr=8-1/qid=1141796677/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-5068379-7729709?%5Fencoding=UTF8/softanswerinc">book</a> written by Rod Dreher. <b> Cons</b> is short for conservatives. <b>Crunchy</b> is a reference to eating granola. <b>Crunchy Cons</b> are people who embrace conservative ideology, but do not fit into the dominant conservative stereotype. The book’s subtitle sheds a bit more light on what it is all about:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Since I just learned about the book this morning, I have not read it. But I did read an interview which Carmon provided a link to. The interviewer describes Dreher’s book as <i>“a manifesto that celebrates faith, family, community and nature against the forces of greed and lust.” </i>Hey, that sounds a lot like the subtitle found up at the head of this blog! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Though I do not necessarily agree with everything Mr. Dreher says in his interview, he and I are definitely on the same page when it comes to a lot of things. It sounds to me like Crunchy Cons and Christian agrarians have a lot in common. In fact, it would appear to me that, even though he lives in an urban setting, Rod Dreher is a <i>Christian agrarian</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I predict that it is only a matter of time before he and his family start a garden and get a few hens for eggs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Here are some quotes to give you a taste of where Rod Dreher and his Crunchy Cons are coming from...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“I'd say that Crunchy Conservatism is nothing new. It's a rediscovery of the kind of traditionalism espoused by Russell Kirk and Richard Weaver and others in the 1940s and 1950s. It's a conservatism that values religion, family, and culture...”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“The institution most essential to conserve is the family. Beauty is more important than efficiency. Small, local, old and particular are almost always better than big, global, new and abstract.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“There are a lot of people out there who don't fit into left-right categories. Robert Hutchins, one of the Christian farmers I wrote about, told me that he sometimes feels that he and his family have more in common with hippy organic farmers than with Republicans living in the suburbs ... and Robert is very Republican.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“God did give man dominion over animals, but he didn't intend for us to turn these creatures into widgets. That's what's so foul about factory farming.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“I interviewed a woman for the book who lived with her family in Midland, Texas. She and her husband were Presbyterians, and they were church planters there, and they had eight kids, and they were home schooling, and they ate a lot of natural food, and no TV, the whole magilla, and you know she told me, "It's the weirdest thing, we're living in the most Christian, most Republican place we've ever lived, and we look around and we can't see how people's faith affects the way they live their lives at all. They're all captives to the consumer culture. They're all buying their kids the most expensive new things. She said that's not how Christians are supposed to live; that's not how conservatives are supposed to live. They've sold out to the values of the world, and think that as long as they profess to hold the beliefs of the Christian faith, that that's enough.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“What we try to do with our kids is teach them the tools they need to spot when they're being manipulated. If parents don't see their role to be actively countercultural—not passively countercultural—then they're going to lose. We see people losing all the time, good conservative people who don't see how the messages of mass consumer marketing work against their values.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“I think that as Christians we know that the world is filled with God's presence and everything is given to us as a gift, and perhaps that's the secret to joy—being grateful for everything and taking joy in small things, and realizing through a sacramental mentality that this is how the Lord shows himself to us, through these little things, and we should rejoice in it.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“The point is though that if you're going to attract people to a way of life, you've got to show them not only that it honors God and our conservative convictions, but that it's joyful, it's a fun way to live. And I really do think that if you live by the principles I outline in Crunchy Cons, where you place your faith and your family at the center of everything, and you learn how to value things like food and wine, and aesthetic things, beauty as the expression of the divine, then life becomes a lot more colorful and interesting and passionate.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“I think only religious faith has the power to resist our very powerful commercial culture.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“...Crunchy Cons is not primarily a book about policy; yes I have a few policy changes I'd like to see. I'd like to see laws passed to make it easier for families to homeschool, for families to start small farms and small businesses, but ultimately Crunchy Conservatism is about what Vaclav Havel called anti-political politics. And what he meant was the idea that the only way to rebuild society after the horrors of communism was through individual ethical choices and collective ethical choices made every single day...”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“I have no illusions that I'm going to be able to change America by what I believe, but I can change my family. I can change my parish. I can change what Edmund Burke called the "little platoons" of which I am a part. And I think that's enough. That's got to be enough because that's what I have control over. And maybe other people will see by the examples we live—I'm not talking about withdrawing and becoming neo-Amish—but by making these small changes, by living a good, virtuous life every single day, we can effect a more lasting change, a change that comes from deep within.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Okay, I’m back... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Did he say <b>neo-Amish</b>? That’s the first time I’ve heard that term. As a Christian agrarian, I think that withdrawing from the popular culture or, as Pastor McConnell has termed it, <i>cultural secession</i> to some degree is a necessary part of living a successful Christian agrarian life. And I dare say it is part of what Crunchy Cons are also doing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Whatever the case, it looks like the fundamental beliefs of Christian agrarianism are starting to attract a larger audience and that is a good thing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Update: 2016</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Well, ten years after posting this essay, Carmon Friedrich's blog, <i>Buried Treasure Books</i>, is no longer on the internet. The interview I mentioned with Rod Dreher is no longer on the internet. Pastor McConnell is no longer on the internet. And I don't think the Republican Party is worth saving. But the <i>contra mundum</i> worldview expressed by Rod Dreher in the above quotes is still, in my opinion, right on. And Rod Dreher's last quote pretty much sums up the question of <i>"What can we do?"</i> in the midst of the slow collapse of American civilization.</span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-14514637165819200182016-08-01T06:20:00.000-04:002016-08-01T06:20:35.533-04:00To Be Of Use<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Original Dateline: 7 March 2006</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Repost Dateline: 2 August 2016</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I'd like to share with you the following poem by Marge Piercy. It is in the book, <i>Circles on The Water</i>. I love the agrarian analogies. I appreciate the words that celebrate the value of hard, diligent work.... "work that is real."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>To Be Of Use</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The people I love the best</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">jump into work head first</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">without dallying in the shallows</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They seem to become natives of that element,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">the black sleek heads of seals</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">bouncing like half submerged balls. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">who do what has to be done, again and again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I want to be with people who submerge</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">in the task, who go into the fields to harvest</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and work in a row and pass the bags along,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">who stand in the line and haul in their places,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">who are not parlor generals and field deserters</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">but move in a common rhythm</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">when the food must come in or the fire be put out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The work of the world is common as mud.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But the thing worth doing well done</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Greek amphoras for wine or oil,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">but you know they were made to be used.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The pitcher cries for water to carry</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and a person for work that is real.</span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-2099941711628719702016-07-31T06:24:00.001-04:002016-07-31T10:27:56.369-04:00A Son's IdentityPart 3(an archive selection)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Original Dateline: 10 July 2005</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Repost Dateline: 1 August 2016</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In <a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/07/a-sons-identity-part-1-repost-from-da.html">Part 1</a> and <a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/07/a-sons-identity-part-2-archive-selection.html">Part 2</a> of this series I discussed how boys seek role models and that these role models shape a boy’s identity. I also pointed out that godly fathers must not only endeavor to be a godly role model for their boys, they must also provide their boys with wholesome alternatives to the sorry examples of manly role models that the popular culture provides for our children.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Now, finally, I want to tell you about a wholesome character-building, identity-shaping, resource that I believe is an incredibly effective tool that fathers can use to help their boys mature into wise and well-adjusted men. But this is not just a resource that fathers can use. It is something that mothers and grandparents and, even, close friends and relatives can give to a young boy and it will make a difference for good in that boy’s life. And I think young girls will like it too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I discovered this resource three years ago, when my two youngest boys were 7 and 10. Christmas was coming and I was surfing the internet, looking for unique gifts. I got the idea that some books-on-tape would be good for the kids. It would be an alternative to television (which we do <b>not</b> watch a lot of) and videos. I bought a couple G.A. Henty books on tape. Then I found a tape series called <b>Sugar Creek Gang</b>. I read the description of the series and the testimonials and I decided to part with the money to give the first 12 tapes in the series a try (there are 72 recorded stories altogether). I also bought each of the kids a $12 tape recorder from WalMart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Come Christmas day, the kids opened their books-on-tape gifts and were not exactly thrilled. They were polite and thankful and set the tapes aside so they could play with the more exciting gifts. Later on, they gave their recorders a try.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Now, here we are three years later. The Henty tapes were listened to once. The “more exciting gifts” have been forgotten. But <i>The Sugar Creek Gang</i> tapes are still being listened to.... <b>every single day!</b> I kid you not. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My kids listen to the stories on these tapes (I’ve purchased 4 volumes out of 6, so far) <i>every single day</i>. They listen to them in the car when we are traveling. They go to sleep at night listening to them. My two youngest boys absolutely love these tapes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The tapes are narrations of the original Sugar Creek Gang books written by Paul Hutchens, starting in 1939. They are based on Mr. Hutchens’ own boyhood days growing up on a farm in Sugar Creek township (near Thorntown) in Indiana. Mr. Hutchens was born in 1902. The stories are a wonderful celebration of agrarian life. Hutchens had six brothers and two sisters. His childhood memories were the inspiration for the books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The tapes I have are narrated by Paul Ramseyer, who does <i>such a good job</i>. They are fast paced, exciting and boy do they ever <b>teach good things!</b> When I hear my boys saying bible verses, singing portions of hymns, and quoting poetry (i.e., “Barefoot Boy With Cheeks of Tan” or “Under The Spreading Chestnut Tree” ) that they picked up from these tapes, I am delighted. When my youngest son asks me, “Dad, do you know what a Quaker Blessing is?,” and then tells me when I say no, I’m impressed. And when these boys <b>want</b> to help their mother in the kitchen or me in the garden, because of the influence of these stories, I’m grateful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I simply can not say enough good about these audio recordings!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I asked my youngest which <i>Sugar Creek Gang</i> stories he likes best. It was hard for him to decide, but his top three are “The Timberwolf,” The Treasure Hunt,” and “The Killer Bear.” I asked him what “The Killer Bear” was about and he told me it is about how “Little Jim” shoots an angry bear with “Big Jim’s” rifle. Big Jim is fifteen and the leader of the gang. Little Jim is only 8 years old. I won’t tell you how he does it. Wow! What a story! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When I asked my 14-year his favorites, he thought awhile and said “The Lost Campers,” “The Trapline Thief,” and “The Blue Cow,” but quickly added that they were all good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Marlene says I should tell you that Bill Collins’ father (the book’s are written from Bill’s perspective) is not portrayed as a bumbling idiot, like fathers are portrayed in the media today. Instead, this father is a good Christian man who leads his family with wisdom and compassion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I purchased these tapes on the internet from <a href="http://www.belovedbooks.com/page/page/1567474.htm">Beloved Books</a>. They are worth every penny of their cost. I know this sounds like an infomercial. Let me officially say that I do not have any any financial interest in any way with Beloved Books. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Today I am ordering volumes 5 and 6 for my boys. I should not have put it off. I see that Beloved Books has a special introductory offer. You can get two hours of listening to “The Swamp Robber,” for $4.95, postage paid. I encourage you to at least get this tape and listen to it. Do it today. You’re going to enjoy it as much as your kids!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This concludes my 3-part series on <b>A Son’s Identity</b>. Thank you for reading it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>2016 Update</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It has been 11 years since I first posted this essay. My boys are no longer children. My two youngest (who were 7 and 10 when I first bought them those <a href="http://www.pavekmuseum.org/Ramseyer.htm"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(71, 135, 255); color: #4787ff;">Paul Ramseyer</span></a> cassette tapes of The Sugar Creek Gang) are now 22 and 25. They haven't listened to the audios in a lot of years. But if you ask them about those stories, they will still tell you how much they loved them. Now, of course, the audio recordings are available in CD format.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I believe those audios from Beloved Books were the the absolute best educational and character-building resources I ever bought my kids. I thank God I found them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There are also Sugar Creek Gang books and there is a relatively new DVD series. But I'm persuaded that these old audios by Paul Ramseyer are uniquely special. They engage the imagination far better than a film can do. Hutchens just has a way of telling the stories so well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>You can see what I mean for yourself by listening to the first story in this audio series now. Just go to this link:</b></span> <a href="http://www.belovedbooks.com/freebie.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(71, 135, 255); color: #4787ff;">A Free Gift From Beloved Books</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One more thought... Times have changed. My kids didn't have phones and Facebook when they were younger. And I did not allow any video games in my home. Will Paul Ramseyer's audio readings of The Sugar Creek Gang still appeal to young boys now in 2016? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Probably not all boys, especially not those who have been well mentored by popular culture and the peer conformity dictated by popular culture. But if you can introduce these stories to boys at just the right age, I think they can still resonate. There is still the potential to make a tremendous positive difference.</span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-86862026515837727182016-07-30T21:17:00.000-04:002016-07-30T21:17:25.018-04:00A Son's IdentityPart 2(an archive selection)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Original Dateline: 9 July 2005</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Repost Dateline: 31 July 2016</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This immoral fictional character was </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">one of my biggest boyhood role models.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In <a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/07/a-sons-identity-part-1-repost-from-da.html">A Son's Identity: Part 1</a> I explained how all young boys look for role models they want to be just like. When this happens, the boy, in a very real sense, allows these role models to shape his identity. Then I told you how, as an 8-year-old boy, I wanted to be a super secret agent, like Derek Flint and James Bond.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Having read all the James Bond books when I was a boy, I can tell you the lifestyle of this man is one of materialism, womanizing, gambling, and substance abuse (alcohol and tobacco). Sure, there are all kinds of thrills in 007's life, but thrills do not lead to fulfillment. Look under the glamour and you'll find a shallow, self-centered, and vain man whose life is void of substantive meaning. In short, Bond is a desperate and pitiful human being. He is a product of, and a classic example of, the modern industrialized man.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So how, you might wonder, did I make the transition from idolizing to indicting this fictional paragon of vainglory foolishness? Well, it's a God thing, really. I became a Christian, grew in my faith and, eventually, caught the vision of God's archetype for manhood, which is pretty much the complete opposite of the 007 example.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And then there is the Agrarian connection. As I’ve mentioned in previous blog entries, my family moved from our suburban tract-house outside Syracuse, N.Y. to an old farm house on 25 acres out in the country. <b>This was a significant life-changing experience for me.</b> I was not a complete stranger to the country. My grandfather (another role model I’ll talk about one day) was a retired potato farmer in Northern Maine, and I have wonderful memories of summers spent visiting my grandparents. But I was not a country boy. And our family’s move was not a visit. It was for life. I’m still here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I am firmly convinced, from my own experience, that there is no better place for a boy to grow up than out in the country. Agrarian life at its best fulfills a boy’s deepest yearnings and can ignite his imagination in countless wholesome ways. The little adventures and experiences that come from living in close contact with the woods, fields, streams, wildlife, and work of a simple rural farm or homestead are also incredibly valuable when it comes to instilling character and integrity in a boy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But Agrarian life does not, in itself, provide a boy with the positive identity-shaping influences he needs. <b>Within the Agrarian framework, there needs to be an example of a real man. </b> I’m not speaking of a hollywood super hero or a sports star or a rock musician or any of the sordid subculture icons that vie for a modern boy’s attention and, in reality, his life. I’m talking of a real, reach-out-and-touch-him-talk-to-him-and-do-stuff-with him man. This man should, preferably, be the boy’s father (but a grandfather or other man can fill the role).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A father who lives, and loves, and leads in a wholesome, God-glorifying manner will impact a boy’s life like nothing else. If a son sees the good fruit of a godly father, he will, 99.9% of the time, embrace the beliefs of the father. I believe a father’s primary ministry and work in life should be to his family. A father must not only provide a godly example, he must <b>protect</b> his children from the influence of unwholesome role models. And he must <b>provide</b> his children with other examples of wholesome role models.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This is what I believe to be true. This is what I endeavor to do in my family with my boys. I am not the best at it, but I’m aware of the importance of being and doing what I’ve just told you, and I believe, with God’s help, it is making a difference in my children’s lives. My boys are thriving in this kind of environment. They are having a far better childhood than I ever had. They will, I trust and pray, grow up to be better men than I.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I have one more thing to say along the lines of this subject, but I have decided to save it for the next entry. I will tell you about a resource for young boys (and, to some extent, girls) that is a powerfully effective, wholesome, identity-shaping and character-building influence. It is something I discovered three years ago and I have seen it bear remarkable fruit in the life of my two youngest boys. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Stay tuned.......</span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-3132732987729126952016-07-30T08:01:00.002-04:002016-07-30T08:06:19.691-04:00A Son's IdentityPart 1(an archive selection)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Original Dateline: 7 July 2005</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Repost Dateline: 30 July 2016</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-emqAUwBiprc/V5yVvYWdMhI/AAAAAAAAPpc/F8BjarFFFTcKwyue8GVpJz_oK6L9WI7IQCLcB/s1600/ourmanflint_coburn.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-emqAUwBiprc/V5yVvYWdMhI/AAAAAAAAPpc/F8BjarFFFTcKwyue8GVpJz_oK6L9WI7IQCLcB/s400/ourmanflint_coburn.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">James Coburn as Derek Flint</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">All boys seek out and identify with role models that they want to be just like. It is part of the process a boy goes through to find his identity. I do not understand the psychology behind it. I just know it to be true. It is true with every single boy. No exceptions. I suspect it is true with girls too. But it is especially true with boys. <b>This is a very powerful truth.</b> It is something that every father needs to understand.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I want to explain this a little better by giving you an actual example of what I’m talking about. When I was a boy, I lived in a housing development outside Syracuse, New York. I enjoyed reading Hardy Boys and Brains Benton mysteries. These books were not bad but they did not inspire my young mind in ways that were as good as could have been the case with better books. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I believe those books prepared me for that fateful day in 1966 (I was eight) when my stepfather took me to see the movie, <b>Our Man Flint</b>, starring James Coburn. Flint was a super secret agent who, with a bevy of buxom beauties fawning over him, nonchalantly saved the world from a nefarious bad guy. He did it again the next year in the sequel, <b>In Like Flint</b>. I thought Derek Flint was the coolest man on earth. Never mind that those movies were a total spoof of the whole secret agent “thing” that was a part of popular culture at the time. I took the Flint movies <b>very</b> seriously. I wanted to be Flint.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I idolized this fictional invention of Hollywood to the point that I would not allow anyone to take my picture. How could I ever be a super secret agent if there were photographs to identify me. My parents thought this was cute.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A boy who rode my bus (he was four years older than I) bore a remarkable resemblance to James Coburn, or so it seemed to me. I secretly observed this kid’s every move. I noticed that sometimes the muscles in his jaws would ripple. I thought that was very cool. I figured out how to repeatedly clench my teeth so I could do the same thing. I wanted to be just like this kid because he was the closest tangible example of my secret agent idol. <b>This is the way young boys think and act.</b> (This is also the way they get into trouble).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Then came James Bond. My dad took me to see my first Bond movie in 1969 (I was 11). It was <b>On Her Majesty’s Secret Service</b> starring George Lazenby as Bond and Diana Rigg as the Contessa Teresa Di Vicenzo (a.k.a., Tracy). She was the daughter of a European mobster and became 007’s wife. Right after the wedding, Earnst Stavro Blofeld and Irma Bundt machine-gunned Tracy to death. I had a new idol to attach my identity to.... I wanted to be James Bond.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I never missed an opportunity to watch a Bond movie. But I didn’t just watch them, I absorbed them. I used my reel-to-reel recorder to tape the movies when they were on television. I thank God there were no VCR’s back then. But there were James Bond books. I read them all. I can tell you these are not the kind of books you want your impressionable pre-teen reading. None of this was good for me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It is because of this experience of mine, innocent as it was compared to so many others, that I am very conscious of identity-shaping influences in the lives of my boys.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I see the ungodly popular culture around me as a destroyer of boys who, but for the lack of proper identity-shaping influences in their lives, would grow to be men of incredible virtue, honor, and responsibility. The world sadly needs more men like that, don’t you think?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In the next installment of this Blog, I will tell you why I did not become a super secret agent. I’ll tell you a little about what I think a boy needs in order to one day become a man in the best sense of the word. And I’ll tell you about an incredibly powerful and totally wholesome identity-shaping resource for young boys that I discovered three years ago. Stay tuned.....</span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-78247601509554086532016-07-16T14:17:00.001-04:002016-07-16T21:53:27.592-04:00Advice ForSoft, Fat & Weak AmericansFrom A Nigerian Survivor<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">All reliable indicators tell us that the American economy is in decline. Many people in the know say the now-unfolding European banking crisis will have a further deleterious effect on America's economy. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The good news is that America is not as bad off as Nigeria.... yet. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">With the recent drop in oil prices, Nigeria (the world's 6th largest oil producer) has been hard hit. The unemployment rate is 70%+. Some government workers have not been paid in months. The best areas of the country may get electricity for only two hours a day. Robbery is common. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If Americans were faced with a crisis similar to what is now occurring in Nigeria, they would die. That's because so many Americans are "soft, fat and weak." That's what Joshua Sheats, host of the <i>Radical Personal Finance</i> website says in this podcast interview: <a href="https://radicalpersonalfinance.com/348/">Think You've Got it Tough?</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The interview is a discussion with a Nigerian man who has a survivor mentality. He is managing to make a living in a very tough economy, without expecting the government to help him. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What I found most interesting about the interview is near the end, when Joshua asks the man if he has any advice for American's who may be experiencing trouble finding a job and making money. His advice is full of useful wisdom and encouragement.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If you are without a job, or you know someone who is looking for a job, this interview is well worth listening to. </span></span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-29978722783077511252016-07-10T14:35:00.000-04:002016-07-11T06:57:54.189-04:00Bucket IrrigationAnd Part 2 OfMy Stewardculture Interview<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 10 July 2016 AD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I've cranked out another YouTube video. This one is on the subject of <i>Whizbang Bucket Irrigation For Gardeners</i>. The video has information about a new strawberry-growing idea I'm trying this year. I also show my tomato plants on a string trellis, and Whizbang tire sidewall cloches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As some of you know, I'm not blogging here much this summer, but I am posting fairly regularly to my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/whizbanggardening/">Whizbang Gardening Facebook Page</a>. Stop on by sometime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Stewardculture</i> magazine has now morphed into a much more user-friendly blog and is being hosted at the <i>Sustainable Traditions</i> web site. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif;">And you can go there right now to read Part 2 of my <i>Stewardculture</i> interview</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large;">... </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://sustainabletraditions.com/2016/07/insights-herrick-kimball-deliberate-agrarian-part-2/" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Herrick's Stewardculture Interview, Part 2</a><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">.</span></span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-5988860852325818402016-07-03T08:55:00.000-04:002016-07-03T08:55:10.808-04:00An Early Summer TourOf My Garden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dateline: 3 July 2016 AD</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>First An Update...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Last month this blog passed the 11-year mile marker. Occasionally, I'll go back and read something I wrote long ago and had completely forgotten. I can't help but see that my early writings were undertaken with much more skill and contemplation. That was the case, no doubt, because I had far more time to think and write when I worked at my state prison job. Though I do not miss that job at all (3.5 years after leaving), I do miss the contemplative opportunities it afforded me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Some of you may have noticed that I haven't blogged here much lately. I'm not sure how much I'll be blogging here in the future. For this month of July, I may dig up some of my posts from past years and repost them. We'll see.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>About The Garden Tour...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I decided that I would create a simple video tour of my garden here in early summer. That's it up top of this page. It's a simple production. Some will find it too boring to watch through. Others will stick with it and, hopefully, come away with some possible ideas to use in their own gardening pursuits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My garden is, essentially, a large kitchen garden. I am growing primarily for two people. Marlene cans and freezes quite a bit. I usually grow enough onions, garlic, and potatoes for us to last the year. I try to get enough carrots planted to last us a whole year too. Our objective is not to grow all the food we need, but to grow a lot of wholesome, healthful food so we can, hopefully, have wholesome, healthy bodies that continue to work well for years to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the event of a significant social/economic crisis, you can bet my gardening efforts would ramp up in response. Every square foot of available and suitable yard space would get planted and seriously tended ( I would also establish garden areas on our 16-acre field, which is a short hike away from our house). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I've developed the needed gardening skills over the years (I've gardened since I was 16), and I have the tools and materials to expand. I also have tools and materials for my sons, who are not, sad to say, much interested in gardening at his point.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>My Next</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b> Gardening Book</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I am in the very early stages of putting together another book on the subject of gardening. Specifically, I'm working on the outline. The book will not be out anytime soon. I am thinking it will be published in the spring of 2018 or 2019. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So many gardening books have been written over the years, and there are so many gardening books being published all the time. I own many of them in either pdf or hard copy. None that I've seen thus far have been written from the perspective, and with the specific focus, that my next gardening book will have. That's all I'll say for now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Speaking of gardening books, there are only 3 days left in <a href="http://planetwhizbanggiveaways.blogspot.com/2016/06/giveaway-4-how-to-grow-world-record.html?spref=fb">Planet Whizbang Giveaway #4</a>. I'll be giving away 3 copies of the above book, which is a great book for anyone who has an interest in gardening. Go to the web site link above and get yourself entered. It's a simple thing. No strings attached, as they say. You can enter once a day if you wish, and that will, of course, increase your chances of winning the book.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>An Economic Note</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">From my perspective as the owner of a small-scale mail order business, I see evidence of economic decline. My sales are definitely down from previous years. It may be due, in part, to more people now selling the products I sell. But there is something else going on, for sure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It's not a crisis for me to have reduced sales. We have no debt. We have some savings. We don't live high on the hog. And we have land to draw more sustenance from (than we already are). I'm more concerned about all the others "out there" (average Americans?) who are in debt-slavery and almost totally dependent on not only the industrial providers, but a continually expanding economy to keep themselves and their families sheltered and fed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The fundamental problem is, of course, that we now have an economic system that is based on ever-expanding debt that can never be repaid, AND the system is predicated on the premise that the economy will always be expanding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There is no precedent in nature or history for continual expansion. The natural pattern of life is growth and decline, followed by growth and decline. </span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-42210446661504321542016-06-28T06:57:00.001-04:002016-06-28T07:08:10.364-04:00Petit PoisHarvest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">After Pam Baker mentioned how she liked Petit Pois peas in a comment at this blog, I <a href="http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/search?item=779">tracked down some seeds</a> and planted one of my raised garden beds with them. Specifically, I planted two rows down the center of the 30" wide bed (x 15' long). The two rows were 4" apart and the seeds were planted 1" apart in the rows. That planting scheme worked very well. It has been noted in my <a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/02/how-to-keep-simple-logical-useful.html">Whizbang Garden Journal</a>, and I'll repeat it in future years when growing "bed peas," (as opposed to trellised peas).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I planted the seeds on March 24. We harvested the peas yesterday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It's worth noting that we have had a long stretch of hot and dry weather here, and I did no watering of the plants. Nevertheless, they grew vigorously, produced an abundance of pods, and the pods all matured at pretty much the same time. Had I planted the bed more intensely, I suspect the plants would have had a difficult time getting adequate moisture from the subsoil.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My wife, Marlene, pulled all the vines and brought them to the patio behind our house, where we have shade from the sun. We then picked off all the pods, before commencing to shell them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We hand-shelled together for nearly an hour and a half. The pleasure of hand-shelling peas started to wane after about half an hour. I was glad when that job was done.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Marlene will freeze the peas and we will enjoy them through the winter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I'm wondering if anyone reading this has used a pea-sheller device of some sort to shell English peas, like these. If so, what kind, and how well did it work?</span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-2826186986321617802016-06-20T12:18:00.003-04:002016-06-20T12:18:46.048-04:00Hotter Than A JulyTwooooo-Mayyyyyyy-Toe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It's not July yet but, as Greg Brown sings in his classic down-t0-earth song, "Canned Goods," it's been hotter than a July Twoooooooooo-Mayyyyyyyyyyy-Toe here in upstate New York.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Deliberate Agrarian blog reader, Elizabeth, from out in the future free state of Jefferson, California, reads my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/whizbanggardening/">Whizbang Gardening Facebook Page</a>, and she saw the recent post I made there about the above YouTube clip. After which she wrote the following...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Well, I wanted to make a comment about the "Canned Goods" song by Greg Brown, and wanted to make it on your blog...Thanks so much for that touching song. It's almost like my theme song for your blog, Herrick. The song and this blog mean a lot to me. I feel like I'm part of a family, so many names of people who comment have become familiar to me, and precious, as you and your family have become to me as well. That's what that song churned up in me, gratefulness, the good life, relationships!!!"</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">That's beautiful, Elizabeth. Thank you. I'll get back to writing at this blog soon, I hope.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As for the song, I recommend that everyone watch the YouTube clip above. At 38 seconds into the movie you will see some potatoes in a basement. That picture happens to be of my potato harvest from years ago. I posted it here to this blog. I was so surprised to see my picture there, and that's how I happened to mention it on my Facebook page.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If you like the <i>Canned Goods</i> song, and you want to hear a long, rambling, version, check out this link: <a href="https://youtu.be/wcs0oEz4QSE">Canned Goods by Greg Brown (the delightful long version)</a>.</span></span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-85076358231109797322016-06-12T10:12:00.003-04:002016-06-12T10:12:50.436-04:00Strawberry Season<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Berries picked this morning.<br />(click the picture for a delicious close-up view)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Hello Dear Readers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I'm not blogging much these days. Life is just too busy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But I am keeping the strawberries picked, and we are certainly enjoying them, even if they are a bit on the small side this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I hope everyone's summer is off to a great start.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If you haven't yet entered <a href="http://planetwhizbanggiveaways.blogspot.com/2016/06/giveaway-3-mother-earth-news-almanac.html">Planet Whizbang Giveaway #3</a>, please go check it out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">TTFN,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Herrick</span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-49493700610368913262016-06-05T14:12:00.000-04:002016-06-05T18:46:39.161-04:00Summer ReadingMemories<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 5 June 2016</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The older we get, the more we experience nostalgia. And it is hot summer days that evoke a particularly sweet nostalgia in me. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I have relatively few truly good memories of my younger days, growing up in a suburban neighborhood outside Syracuse, New York. But there were days in the summer when I would set myself up in the back yard, under the shade of a birch tree, on an old rattan chaise lounge, with a pile of books, and a cool drink, and just read. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That chaise lounge was like a boat in the ocean. It took me to places where I was not. Just me and my books. I was an avid comic book reader early on. Then came the Hardy Boys and Brains Benton mysteries. From there, I graduated to more grown-up reading interests.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The old chaise lounge came from my stepfather's family. It looked very much (but not exactly) like this one...</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The chaise had four old, sturdy purple cushions made with a short bristley fabric. It had wheels just like in the picture. But the arms were different in that they had a rattan cup holder and a place to store reading materials.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When my family moved out of the suburbs to an old farmhouse in the country (I was in 9th grade), the chaise went upstairs into the barn, where it only occasionally was brought outdoors in the summer. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The fact is, in the suburbs, I had pretty much nothing to do in the summer. I mowed the lawn, but that was it for responsibilities. So I would read for hours on end. There were, after all, no computers or video games in those days. And I am thankful for that.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But when we got to the country, there was so much else to be doing that I never read for hours under the shade of a tree in the backyard like I once did. And I've always missed that about summer.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The old barn at my parent's place gradually fell into disrepair. The roof leaked in places. I would often go up into the barn and check on the old chaise lounge to make sure it wasn't getting wet. Then in the late 1980's a big wind blew most of the roof off the barn and it partially collapsed.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Upon hearing of the damage, I went up to see for myself how bad it was. My main concern was the chaise lounge. Had it survived?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Part of the upper floor where it was had collapsed. And portions of the roof had fallen in. The chaise was buried but it was in a pocket of jumbled lumber pieces, completely unharmed. I considered it's preservation from destruction to be something of a miracle at the time. With considerable effort, I got it out of there and brought it home.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I made space for the antique in my shop. My thought being that someday I would have the time to spend a whole summer day in my back yard doing nothing but reading books. The nostalgia was powerful.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Then, around ten years later, I did something with that chaise lounge that I never expected I would do..... I sold it. I really needed the space in my shop, but, more than that, I needed the money. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I couldn't find any pictures or information about the chaise online back then. So I listed it on EBAY with a minimum bid of $100. The single winning bid came from a couple in Maine. They drove all the way to central New York to get the piece, and they were delighted with their purchase.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It so happened that they collected and restored antique rattan furniture. They knew the history of the chaise. It was made in Massachusetts in the 1800's (my stepfather's family was from Massachusetts). The man told me it was in remarkably good shape. "They're hard to find in this condition."</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I smiled and waved good bye as the nice couple drove back to Maine with my chaise lounge. I regretted what I had just done, and I regret it even more to this day.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Then I went in my house and checked out the web site the couple had given me. It showed several nice houses on the Maine coast that they rented out in the summers. The pictures of the interior of the houses looked like pictures out of a magazine. They showed beautifully decorated interiors with an abundance of restored antique rattan furniture. Ocean views could be seen through the windows. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I needed money at the time. That couple apparently had an abundance of it. And they also had my beloved old chaise lounge. I felt pretty low.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was just a piece of furniture. I can't take it with me when I leave this realm. and it would have no meaning to my children. But still.... the nostalgia.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">These days, my summers are not for lounging and reading. I typically work at my business, in my garden, on my land, or around my house (I'm still trying to get the roof finished) every day from morning to dark, or until I "hit the wall," as we say around here.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My work is not too laborious, and I take small breaks when they're warranted. But I'm persistently slogging away at several projects every day, until my brain or my body are spent. I like to work. I like to be exhausted at the end of a day. I like it when my arms and hands and back and shoulders ache from use. I feel better about myself, and I sleep better.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So, yesterday, a Saturday in June, I worked in my garden for awhile, before getting my <a href="http://whizbangbooks.blogspot.com/">Planet Whizbang</a> mail-orders packaged. Then I worked for awhile at making <a href="http://classicamericanclothespins.blogspot.com/">Classic American Clothespins</a>. Then I worked for awhile on handles for the <a href="http://planetwhizbang.blogspot.com/">Whizbang Wheel Hoe kits</a> I sell. Then I hit the wall.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was late afternoon. Still fairly early. And I remembered that I got an old gardening book in the mail. Marlene's anti-gravity chair was empty in the back yard.....</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It's far from a vintage rattan chaise lounge, but close enough. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And for a little while I was a kid again.</span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-60369211861871779262016-06-01T15:12:00.000-04:002016-06-01T19:49:06.528-04:00Interview With Jean-Martin Fortier<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 1 June 2016</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Jean-Martin and his wife, Maude-Hèléne.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Jean-Martin Fortier's book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0865717656/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0865717656&linkCode=as2&tag=whizbook-20&linkId=ES5TEQQZUTWBWBHH">The Market Gardener</a>, really impacted the way I garden. First, his use of 30" wide permanent planting beds with 18" walkways is the ideal size for me to work with. I had experimented in years past with wider beds and narrower walkways and I wasn't happy with any of them. But 30" and 18" is just right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And it was Fortier's book that broke down my 30+ year bias against black plastic in my garden. His use of heavy plastic as an <a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2014/05/occulation-covers-in-garden.html">occultation cover</a> makes so much sense that I had to give it a try, and I'm glad I did. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So it's no wonder that the current <a href="http://planetwhizbanggiveaways.blogspot.com/2016/05/giveaway-2-market-gardeners-toolkit.html?spref=fb">Planet Whizbang Giveaway</a> is for a DVD documentary of Jean-Martin's 1.5 acre farm in Quebec. There are 6 days left before the contest ends. There will be three winners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Besides the new documentary, I want to let the avid gardeners among my readership know about the recent interview with Jean-Martin. I highly recommend it. Here's the link: <a href="http://www.farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/fortier"> J.M. Fortier on Six-Figure Farming With The Market Garden</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There is so much for a home gardener to consider in the interview. Jean-Martin discusses his gardening system, including bed/walkway widths, and the use of occultation plastic. But I learned something new when he discussed the use of a broad fork (his favorite tool). It turns out that the fork is NOT used to turn or seriously disrupt the soil in his garden beds. It is used only to aerate the beds. Check out the interview.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One more thing... <a href="http://www.farmertofarmerpodcast.com/">The Farmer to Farmer Podcast</a> (where the interview can be found) is an exceptional web site and resource for people who are interested in gardening and small-scale agriculture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I've listened to several of the interviews at that web site and another good one that I recommend is <a href="http://www.farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/hammer">Karl Hammer on Microbes, Carbon, and The Compost Connection</a>. That title may sound a bit esoteric but, WOW, I really enjoyed listening to Karl Hammer. He has a way with words and the man is <i>passionate</i> about soil biology, manure, compost, and all of that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For those who don't know, Karl Hammer owns the <a href="http://www.vermontcompost.com/">Vermont Compost Company</a>. The compost-based seed starting mix he makes is legendary. </span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-63758101603462235802016-05-31T06:24:00.000-04:002016-05-31T06:32:16.611-04:00The Lee Reich Compost Bin Design<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 30 May 2016</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">There it is. Thank you, Lee Reich!<br />(click the picture)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Back in 2007 my family went to the <i>Pennsylvania Renewable Energy & Sustainable Living Festival</i>. While there, I attended a presentation by the garden writer, <a href="http://www.leereich.com/">Lee Reich</a>. In the course of his talk, Lee showed a picture of his compost bins. Someone asked how he made them, and Lee provided a verbal explanation of how he made the interlocking side boards.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Shortly after I got home, I figured out how to make the sides and built a couple of the bins. The pictures below give you an idea how the bins go together. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Lee uses 1 x 12 boards to make his compost bins. I used 1 x 8 boards. The finished bins ended up being kind of expensive but they have lasted 9 years and will likely last quite a bit longer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The secret to getting maximum lifespan out of your boards is to not leave them outdoors, full of compost, year round. If you take the bins apart at the end of the garden season, let the boards dry out, and store them out of the weather in the winter, they will last. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.finegardening.com/building-compost-bin">Click Here</a> for an article showing how Lee Reich makes his compost bins.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This pile of old boards will fit together to make my compost bin.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I attached the end cleats with Gorilla glue and three wood screws. Two screws through one side and one through the other. None of the cleats have come off in nine years.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This picture shows how the boards interlock at the corners.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I made two bins nine years ago. One is bigger than the other.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Yesterday I mowed and raked up a truckload of grass and weeds to fill my compost bins.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I layered in the fresh-cut greens with some comfrey. I'm not using any animal manure because of a bad experience I had with herbicide residue in horse manure a few years ago. I think the fresh-cut weeds and comfrey will have enough nitrogen and moisture to compost without manure.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Full compost bin, for now. It will settle considerably, of course. I filled the other bin after taking the picture.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is the desired final result. I sifted this compost from the remnants of last year's compost pile.</span></td></tr>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-34326615852416403542016-05-28T13:59:00.000-04:002016-05-28T15:26:56.897-04:00Interview WithEliot Coleman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 28 May 2016</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Eliot Coleman<br /><a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/875298/eliot-colemans-fertile-dozen-recommended-reading-organic-growers">(photo link)</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My introduction to Eliot Coleman came back in the 1970's when he was featured in <i>Organic Farming & Gardening</i> magazine (I still have that issue somewhere). Eliot is now 77 years old, and is the <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/elder+statesman">elder statesman</a> of American organic gardeners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If you're any kind of a gardener, you have at least one of Eliot Coleman's gardening books. Click on the photo link under his picture and you'll find a "fertile dozen" of vintage gardening-related books (besides his own) that he recommends. I just tracked down a couple of the less expensive ones and ordered them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Better yet, if you want to listen to a great (and fairly recent) interview with Eliot Coleman, click here: <a href="http://www.farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/coleman">Eliot Coleman on the Importance of Observation and Making the Soil Work For Your Farm.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I enjoyed the interview so much that I've listened to it twice.</span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-14762324176443104462016-05-16T20:59:00.000-04:002016-05-17T06:47:12.799-04:00Planet WhizbangPocket Cultivator Giveaway...With Four Winners!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 16 May 2016</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">It's a downright handy tool for any gardener!<br />(click picture for enlarged view)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Among the best of ideas in my <a href="http://whizbanggardening.blogspot.com/">Planet Whizbang Idea Book For Gardeners</a> is the homemade Whizbang pocket cultivator, an example of which you can see in the picture above. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Don't let the obvious simplicity of this tool deceive you. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My own Whizbang pocket cultivator is one of the most useful gardening tools I own. It is perfectly suited for </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">light cultivating</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> of garden soil up close to plants, and in other areas that are too small to get into with a hoe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There are three "secrets" to making a most useful pocket cultivator. First, the length of the fork must be just right. Second, the handle end of the fork must have a bulbous shape to it. This swollen end makes it so much easier to grasp and work with the fork. In my book (page 69) I reveal the ideal pocket cultivator length and I tell how to make the bulbous end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The third secret to making a really good pocket cultivator is to choose the right fork. While any dinner fork will do the job, a heavy-duty fork with long tines is so much nicer than a fork with short tines made of lightweight metal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I have made a study of dinner forks at thrift stores and antique shops and I've discovered that ideal-pocket-cultivator-grade forks are surprisingly hard to find. There is an abundance of cheaply-made lightweight forks to choose from, but there are far less of the better quality forks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With that in mind, you might imagine my delight at finding 18 assorted vintage dinner forks that were just right for making pocket cultivators at an antique shop a few days ago. I sorted through a box with hundreds of pieces of odd cutlery to get the 18 forks, and I paid a whopping 70 cents each for them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This recent discovery is what has prompted me to launch this Whizbang pocket cultivator giveaway. I've made four pocket cultivators like you see in the picture above. These are <i>deluxe</i> Whizbang pocket cultivators because I have given the handles a coating of Plasti-Dip rubber.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I'm using Rafflecopter to compile the names of everyone who enters this giveaway. And Rafflecopter will choose the four winners at random. This <i>should</i> save me a lot of time and trouble.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However, Rafflecopter is new to me and I'm still kind of figuring it out. I hope everything goes smoothly. I hope you will bear with me if there are any glitches.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">To enter the contest, you need to click in the appropriate spot in the Rafflecopter box below. Rafflecopter will need either your name and e-mail address or your Facebook identity. After you enter that information you will be asked to visit the <i>Whizbang Gardening</i> Facebook page. Then click "I visited" in the entry box, and you will be officially entered in the contest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Winners will be chosen by Rafflecopter on May 24th and announced here shortly thereafter. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No purchase is necessary for this giveaway. There will be four winners, chosen randomly by Rafflecopter. Each winner will receive a homemade Whizbang Pocket Cultivator, like shown in the picture at the top of this page. The contest is for US residents only. If you win, you will be contacted by e-mail. You have 48 hours to reply to the e-mail with your mailing address. If you don't respond in that time, another person will be chosen.</span></span></div>
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<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="fc2f7a171" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/fc2f7a171/" id="rcwidget_xn2d6elh" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There is still time to take advantage of the unprecedented 2-fer sale on the <i>Planet Whizbang Idea Book For Gardeners</i>. Two books for the price of one ($21.95), and shipping is included. The sale runs to the end of this month. <a href="http://whizbanggardening.blogspot.com/2013/04/whizbang-gardening-8.html">CLICK HERE</a> for details and to order.</span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-58272908670922645012016-05-15T16:24:00.000-04:002016-05-15T16:24:16.941-04:00Good News From"Further South"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For those who don't already know, David the Good and family, formerly of Florida, have left America. David revealed this in his <a href="http://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/further-south/#comments">Blog Post a couple days ago</a>. As explained in the short YouTube video above, they are renting a cocoa farm at "an undisclosed location near the equator." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Those who have read this blog for awhile know that I've mentioned David several times. We "met" back in 2013 when he purchased a <a href="http://planetwhizbang.blogspot.com/">Whizbang Wheel Hoe kit</a> from me and reviewed it at his blog. Later, when I came out with my <a href="http://classicamericanclothespins.blogspot.com/">Classic American Clothespins</a>, David bought some and reviewed them too (<a href="http://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/american-made-artisan-clothespins-tha/">Here is the Review Link</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">And David is, like me, a self-published gardening book author (<a href="http://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/david-goods-books-videos/">see his books Here</a>). He also has a slightly <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/zany">zany</a> sense of humor that is frequently manifested in some of his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/davidthegood">YouTube Videos</a>. For the most part, I <i>get</i> the humor and appreciate it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">When you move your family from Florida to a cocoa farm in an undisclosed location near the equator, taking all your stuff can be expensive. So you just don't take all your stuff. You take only the most essential and valued items. Which means, of course, that if you are a "survival gardener" you take your Whizbang wheel hoe, and I was very pleased to hear that is exactly what David has done. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">At this point, I don't know if the clothespins and David's <a href="http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2016/04/planet-whizbang-hats-now-available.html">Planet Whizbang Hat</a> were deemed necessary and worthy enough to make the journey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Now, as I pondered this move, it occurred to me that David would have at least one problem moving to an undisclosed location near the equator. That problem being that his blog is titled <i><b>Florida</b> Survival Gardening</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But I just looked, and it's now titled <a href="http://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/">The Survival Gardener</a>. So I guess that little problem is solved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">David and family (his wife and a number of children) are among a growing number of American <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expatriate">expatriates</a>. It's an exciting idea to consider, and I wish this family all the best in their new tropical homestead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">P.S. I've been privileged to know about this planned exodus for some time, and I actually know where the undisclosed location near the equator is. But I've been told it is <b><span style="color: red;">Top Secret</span></b> (for now), and I'm very good at keeping a secret. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Who knows... I might want to head down there myself someday. Wouldn't that be something! And I'll change the name of this blog to The <i>Deliberate Tropical Agrarian</i>.</span></div>
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-85138664391465328102016-05-05T23:02:00.000-04:002016-05-06T06:40:37.081-04:00It's A Down-To-Earth,Theological Tour De Force(Joel Salatin's Newest Book)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dateline: 5 May 2016 AD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I'm in the midst of a little blogging break but I'm returning to tell you about Joel Salatin's newest book, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Marvelous-Pigness-Pigs-Respecting-Creation/dp/1455536970">The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs</a>, </i>which I am in the process of reading. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Don't let the title mislead you. It isn't a book about pigs. It's a book written directly to professing Christians on the subject of responsible creation stewardship. In short, <i>The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs</i> is a well reasoned, much needed theological slap upside the head of modern mainstream Christianity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I must confess that I've only read up to page 68 thus far (189 pages yet to read). But I can tell you I haven't enjoyed a book as much as this one in a long time. It is insightful, thought provoking, spiritually convicting and, occasionally, kind of shocking. The book </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">makes one powerful point after another. Here are a few random quotes that give you a little bit of the "attitude" of this book....</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The fact is that the religious right has neglected earth stewardship and given it over to creation worshippers instead of owning it as Creator worshipers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I would suggest that a culture that views its pigs as just mechanical objects to be reprogrammed and manipulated will view its citizens the same way, and ultimately God the same way. A deity to be manipulated and formed into something of our liking.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We're the first culture in the world that routinely eats things that have never lived. In spiritual parlance, we're ingesting things that are an abomination to our bodies—and then requesting prayer for the ailments that result.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In many ways, GMOs are far more insidious and destructive than alcohol or tobacco...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I find it fascinating that sexual abstinence is front and center on youth Bible study agendas, but junk food orgies are perfectly fine.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For Christians to make jokes about Rachel Carson and the definitive understanding that DDT created infertile frogs, three-legged salamanders, and a dead zone the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico is simply unconscionable in light of our creation stewardship mandate. The earth is the Lord's, not ours. If we took care of our employers' physical interests the way we take care of God's physical interests, we'd be fired and probably put in jail.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The world we live in is holy. The life we embrace is holy. My dad used to say, "To us, every bush is a burning bush."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There is so much more to this book than those few quotes convey. If you are a Christian and an agrarian (as many readers of this blog are) there isn't a doubt in my mind that you will enjoy <i>The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs</i>.</span><br />
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Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.com11