Feature
Up on the Farm
Where Young Christian Families Are Finding New Roots by Kathleen Curran Sweeney
In the rolling countryside of Virginia, along the curling road, there are old stone walls alternating with neat new wood fences. In the bright green grass dotted with buttercups, the cows munch passively: a peaceful scene in the gentle freshness of April. I come to the small sign for Whiffletree Farm and wind my car up the long narrow road to the large white house and farm buildings. Along a wall, I see a row of pails hanging neatly on hooks. Just inside, a glimpse of many stacked up egg cartons gives evidence of the daily work going on. I have come because I want to hear what life is like for the young family here, who have bravely started from scratch learning how to farm.
Is it possible for someone who has not grown up learning farming skills to become a successful farmer? What would motivate someone to try it? What values does a family farm have for the family, the local community, and the larger society? Are there implications for the ecology? Can family farming generate a spiritually grounded ecology and an awareness of work as participation in the goodness of created reality?
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on culture from the online archives
35.2—Mar/Apr 2022
on Fatigued Christians Deciding to Engage the Culture by Keith Lowery
29.3—May/June 2016
Our Choice Is Obedience or Jesus as Anti-Christ by Anthony Esolen
more from the online archives
31.5—September/October 2018
Errands into the Moral Wilderness
Forms of Christian Family Witness & Renewal by Allan C. Carlson
24.3—May/June 2011
The Making & Endurance of the King James Bible, 1611-2011 by Barton Swaim
28.5—Sept/Oct 2015
on Our Sacred Duty to Teach the Devil to Death by Marcus Johnson
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
