A bit about the Almanac…
The internet is full of homesteading and farming content, all extolling the virtues of the simple life, or otherwise promoting an allegedly easeful alternative to an admittedly disappointing and increasingly disturbing status quo. To my eye, much of this content appears to have been created to sell online courses, or otherwise monetize the losing game of “self-sufficiency”, while some of it, primarily in the realm of permaculture and regenerative agriculture, seems to be pure speculation. That is to say, some of it is bullshit, and the rest of it is horseshit. Pardon my French.
I began writing The Fox Holler Almanac near the end of 2022 as a way to counter this misleading content with honest documentation of some of the struggles we experience here in real life, as a small, sustainability focused farm. After about a year, this almanac has taken me to places I didn’t expect. Not that I’ve ever left the farm for more than eight hours.
As the writer of an almanac, I try to put some focus on the seasonality of this “simple life”, which from time to time leads to climate change, but more often than not, this little project of mine will end up in the weeds a bit. Commentary, history, and observation have all found their way in. I enjoy contemplating land use politics, or agrarian labor movements at times, and also enjoy focusing in on local ecology. I even spent a good chunk of time in 2023 writing a handy little document about how to use a scythe for beginners (available under the resources heading on my homepage) to counter the commonly available online information on the subject (again, either spuriously written or coded in inaccessible and esoteric language). In 2024 I am again looking to spend some considerable time on a new, freely accessible handbook, and to further begin exploring solutions to a broken and dysfunctional food system. Solutions that wouldn’t lead to mass starvation, ecological ruin, or climate extinction, if I can help it.
Your subscription to the Almanac is greatly appreciated, as is knowing that more or less half of y’all with a subscription actually open up my emails. A free subscription entitles the bearer to most of my posts, plus the prior 3 months of my archives. All supporting readers get access to some special paywalled editions of the almanac, often deeper explorations of the subjects and themes which come up in the regular newsletter. Supporting readers who subscribe by the month will get access to the full digital archives, and annual supporting readers will receive both the complete archives and the print edition of the first year of the Almanac, which I am currently in the process of editing and formatting.
The Fox Holler Almanac is written without artificial intelligence or bullshit, and only minimal horseshit. Thanks for reading, friends.
