Ahh, Pen...this warms my heart and soul beyond words. I grew up on a small cattle ranch in Northern Arizona, and I think it was in your second link, it mentioned the "Babbit" ranch...This was owned by my Godmother's family! And although we did not then know about all the science behind all this Holistic Land Management, we could see with our own eyes how important it was to work with the natural cycle and relationship between the land, the animals, the water, and humans. Even when I studied Animal Husbandry in the early 1960's, the focus was primarily on using chemical fertilizers (The "Green Revolution"), and shutting the cattle up in feedlots to be fattened on corn, rather than pasturing naturally on grass. And I can tell you for sure that grass-fed, free-pastured beef has a totally different flavor than that which has been force-fed on corn in a feedlot...and of course the tons of manure which the feedlots produce add to the methane problems in global warming. Instead, if we followed this holistic method, the manure would nourish the grass, replenish the soil, and cause far less methane to be released into the atmosphere. Thank you for this sign of hope for our planet...and for reminding me of my own roots! (You can take the farm girl out of the farm, but even in the Anchorhold, she's still a farm girl!)
Oh, your godmother's family! How lovely to see that connection.
I think your farming background is actually a vital artery of prayer in your Anchorhold, because the Holy Spirit breathes along the whole web of life, and is integral to our rhythms of intercession and praise.
2 comments:
Ahh, Pen...this warms my heart and soul beyond words. I grew up on a small cattle ranch in Northern Arizona, and I think it was in your second link, it mentioned the "Babbit" ranch...This was owned by my Godmother's family! And although we did not then know about all the science behind all this Holistic Land Management, we could see with our own eyes how important it was to work with the natural cycle and relationship between the land, the animals, the water, and humans. Even when I studied Animal Husbandry in the early 1960's, the focus was primarily on using chemical fertilizers (The "Green Revolution"), and shutting the cattle up in feedlots to be fattened on corn, rather than pasturing naturally on grass. And I can tell you for sure that grass-fed, free-pastured beef has a totally different flavor than that which has been force-fed on corn in a feedlot...and of course the tons of manure which the feedlots produce add to the methane problems in global warming. Instead, if we followed this holistic method, the manure would nourish the grass, replenish the soil, and cause far less methane to be released into the atmosphere. Thank you for this sign of hope for our planet...and for reminding me of my own roots! (You can take the farm girl out of the farm, but even in the Anchorhold, she's still a farm girl!)
Oh, your godmother's family! How lovely to see that connection.
I think your farming background is actually a vital artery of prayer in your Anchorhold, because the Holy Spirit breathes along the whole web of life, and is integral to our rhythms of intercession and praise.
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