The last broiler chicks went out this week, which means that for the first time since March the brooder is empty. Seasonality is a defining characteristic of farming systems that imbed with integrity into the ecological womb.

Over the weekend, daughter-in-law Sheri and I did a marketing school for the Back to Your Roots conference near Shreveport, Louisiana. This is tall pine country, but it has become a monoculture rather than a polyculture due to the last half century of forestry management.

A registered nurse in Colorado sent me a memo received from the Department of Regulatory Agencies prior to Labor Day. Here is the pertinent portion:

n the Aug. 27, 2020 Proceedings of the Academy of Comprehensive Integrative Medicine, a paper titled "Viral pandemic: A Review of Integrative Medicine Treatment Considerations" by Holloway, Bergeron, Conneally, and Fetters dares to offer something besides vaccines as a response to Covid-19.

Yesterday was labor day and it made me realize how much I enjoy my work. According to business statistics, 80 percent of Americans hate their jobs. Some 62 percent of jobs are in the service sector. Perhaps that's some of the reason.

Wow, thank you all for the outpouring of support for POLYFACE DESIGNS, an upcoming book that former apprentice engineer Chris Slattery and graphic design maven Jennifer Dehoff wrapped around my text. It's heavy on diagrams and shorter on text--just enough to keep you going.

With yesterday's announcement behind me, I'm going to do a series of posts about how our farm and family view diversity, tolerance, inclusion and dialogue. I'm shocked by what people say on social media and by how people handle disagreement. I fear we've moved into a broadening adoption of vitriol and verbal extortion.

Our hearts are deeply saddened by the decision and announcement by Mother Earth News magazine on Aug. 25 to terminate their relationship with Polyface and Joel Salatin due to "a significant ideological impasse" over political and social issues.

Few things are as enjoyable as watching your enemies fight each other. It's a whole lot better than fighting you. The vegan meat substitute manufacturer Lightlife Foods has taken out huge full page ads in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other major newspapers titled "An Open Letter to Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods."

Finally, the day has arrived to offer POLYFACE DESIGNS for presale. We expect to have it in hand and available for shipping Sept. 21.

Yesterday I spent all morning with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Management (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries) official in our region planning a forest burn for early next spring. The crew and I spent the morning traipsing over Little North Mountain on which much of our farm acreage lies.

As I look at the shortfalls in my life, too often they've been the result of choosing convenience over consequence. In general, when I've chosen what was inconvenient, the long-term consequences were better. When I've chosen the convenience of the moment, the consequences were decidedly poorer.