AF with Andrew French

Ben & Maggie of Greenlight Farm talk candidly about the trials and tribulations of starting a small sustainable flower farm in Western Wisconsin. We touch on topics as diverse as finding love while weeding, self-driving tractors, reading 50 books per year, and much much more. If you have been dreaming of starting a farm and want to hear how to do it, you will find much to learn here. There were a few technical issues - my mic volume was turned down at the beginning and we had a fan going that ended up being a bit noisier than I had hoped. Sorry folks, but it is definitely worth getting through those things to gather great nuggets of gold here.

I read and discuss my article on ethical eating, "There is No Such Thing as a Vegan", at: https://medium.com/@drewfrench/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-vegan-361202bd3345

PIECE OF DREW PODCAST #3 - Static Notes Check out my writing on Medium.com https://medium.com/@drewfrench https://medium.com/@drewfrench/ignore-the-static-to-turn-work-into-play-9b4b0a5fe8d1 This podcast hosted on Soundcloud.com https://soundcloud.com/drew-french-3 An amazing show: 6 Feet Under https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Feet_Under_(TV_series) How do you seperate the wheat from the chaff? “People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh https://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Zen-and-the-Art-of-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Audiobook/B002VA8G6M “The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it's right. If it disturbs you it's wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed.” ― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values “Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” -Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” -Albert Einstein “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ― Anaïs Nin The Diwan of Shams of Tabriz 1823 I don`t get tired of You. Don`t grow weary of being compassionate toward me! All this thirst-equiptment must surely be tired of me, the waterjar, the water-carrier. Show me the way to the Ocean! Break these half-measures, these snall containers. All this fantasy and grief. Let my house be drowned in the wave that rose last night out of the courtyard hidden in the center of my chest . Joseph fell like the moon into my well. The Harvest i expected was washed away. But no matter. A fire has risen above my tombstone hat. I don`t want learning, or dignity, or respectability. I want this music and this dawn and the warmth of your cheek against mine. The grief-armies assemble , but I`m not going with them. This is how it always is when I finish a poem. A Great Silence overcomes me, and I wonder why I ever thought to use language. -Rumi

PIECE OF DREW PODCAST #2 Notes Check out my writing on Medium.com https://medium.com/@drewfrench Check out the best long form writing software, Scrivener, here: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview “All experiences are preceded by mind, having mind as their master, created by mind.” -Buddha, Dhammapada Check out MARIA POPOVA at www.BrainPickings.ORG, where I picked up this quote: Seneca, translated here by classics scholar Moses Hadas, admonishes against the trap of power and prestige: “We are all chained to fortune: the chain of one is made of gold, and wide, while that of another is short and rusty. But what difference does it make? The same prison surrounds all of us, and even those who have bound others are bound themselves; unless perchance you think that a chain on the left side is lighter. Honors bind one man, wealth another; nobility oppresses some, humility others; some are held in subjection by an external power, while others obey the tyrant within; banishments keep some in one place, the priesthood others. All life is slavery. Therefore each one must accustom himself to his own condition and complain about it as little as possible, and lay hold of whatever good is to be found near him. “ “As once the winged energy of delight carried you over childhood's dark abysses, now beyond your own life build the great arch of unimagined bridges. Wonders happen if we can succeed in passing through the harshest danger; but only in a bright and purely granted achievement can we realize the wonder. To work with Things in the indescribable relationship is not too hard for us; the pattern grows more intricate and subtle, and being swept along is not enough. Take your practiced powers and stretch them out until they span the chasm between two contradictions...For the god wants to know himself in you. “ Rainer Maria Rilke

My 3 Morning Habits to Win the Day, plus a poem