Objective

When I first began to consider managing a larger piece of property, I had to ask myself why - or rather, what was it I was actually taking on? Did I want to become a farmer? No, I did not - at least not this late in life, though I might have considered it earlier on.

My friends and I, living in Denver in the early 70s, had an interest in gardening - one even worked at the Botanical Gardens for several years, and I had a brief stint in the nursery business, in addition to my backyard urban kitchen garden efforts. But for us, it didn't seem like a viable career choice, and it altogether lacked the context of environmental repair or restoration. Permaculture hadn't even been invented yet, so far as I know. But Drop City, near Trinidad, Colorado, was already abandoned.

Thinking of it now, I return to that scene in the film "Easy Rider" where the back-to-the-land hippies are broadcasting all sorts of seeds out onto what is obviously unmulched dry-as-a-bone desert soil. Dennis Hopper (high as a kite, if I recall correctly) laughs off their earnest effort, predicting these folks are going to starve. His buddy Peter Fonda, squinting into the distant future apparently, says something like, "No, they're going to make it."

But who in the world wanted to fail at that? And why?

So, here I am, some fifty years later, somewhat better prepared but still asking myself those same questions. What is the purpose of this little venture, at this late date? Here's the short answer: I'd like to help repair the damage done by my participation in that other choice, some fifty years ago, to travel a different path. I want to plant trees and repair the soil, and I think I know how that might be accomplished, if there's time.