Quick Notes

We are soon heading south to New England. We are particularly interested in visiting with folks in Vermont. Which brings up Orion Magazine. It had a great article in the May/June 2007 issue entitled "Burgers a la Thomas Jefferson". Its about Tod Murphy and the Farmers Diner. From the article:

"Murphy, forty-one, and his wife, Pam Van Deursen, left a retail coffee business in New York in 1997 to teach themselves how to run their two-hundred-acre sheep farm in Washington, Vermont. Raised by farming grandparents in Connecticut, Murphy was profoundly influenced by Wallace Stegner and, later, Wendell Berry. Some observers have suggested that he is carrying on Berry's work, linking husbandry and yeoman farming to true citizenship and a vibrant democracy."

Read the article, its very good. We will try to visit the Farmers Diner and Tod Murphy. While you are at it, read "Land, Farmer, Community: A Sacred Trust" for a new view of farming that needs to be understood and "Horse Power" for an old view of farming that needs to be appreciated. Both are in the September/October issue of Orion that is now online. Better yet, go to Orion and read everything.

... Bob