Up on the Farm by Kathleen Curran Sweeney

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:


subscription options

Order
Print/Online
Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!

Order
Online Only
Subscription

Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!

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

32.2—March/April 2019

The Mimetic Bachelor

Reality Shows, Even in a Popular TV Series by C. E. Smith

32.4—July/August 2019

Malaise in Malaysia

Will Islamicization Become Its New Future by Peter Riddell

32.5—September/October 2019

Must Say No

on When Christians Can't Compromise by Joshua Steely


more from the online archives

33.3—May/June 2020

Consolation in Death

Bach's Cantata BWV 106, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbesteZeit (God's time is the very best time) by Ken Myers

32.1—January/February 2019

Is Patriarchy Inevitable?

Answers Secular & Religious by Allan C. Carlson

20.7—September 2007

Retaking Mars Hill

Paul Didn’t Build Bridges to Popular Culture by Russell D. Moore

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

Support Touchstone

00