At first glance, being a priest and a farmer may not seem like a life on the edge. Until you hear how our Episode 5 guest, Rachel Field does it! Rachel walks us through what it’s like to inhabit two roles that, for millennia, were primarily controlled by men. Hear where compassion and courage can call us, and where deep empathy and connection with nature can lead. If you practice a traditional religion, you’ll be encouraged in your practice. If you find your spirituality in nature, you’ll be encouraged in your path. If you look to connection with your fellow humans across time and generations, you’ll be encouraged in your pursuits. Rachel helps open us to new understandings and tools to look for wisdom. Most of all, we take on realities so largely invisible to most of us in this country, but so shockingly vivid in other crisis-torn parts of our world - our very real dependence on food, and what can happen to our souls when we reconnect most honestly with that physical dimension of life. Find rest, connection, compassion and a bigger world, in Episode 5.

Since the beginning of time, farming has been a family business. With Episode 4 guest Becky Castle we get a glimpse of how that reality plays out in a modern family. In these “modern” times, it’s rarely enough for farmers just to farm. Almost all farmers have another income layer to make farming possible. For many, it’s an “off-farm” job - so they can do the real job, the harder job, the one that keeps their home and land in the family - farming. Becky and her husband, Bob, knew this when they came home to a family farm. So they chose ice cream as the value add! Their astute and fun-loving approach launched them into the challenges of adding industry to hard work. In this episode we see the innovations and adaptations their business requires, and the sweet outcomes it yields, for a business and a family. The Castle family’s dedication, cooperation and very hard work is a fascinating story - and make sure you listen till the end, for the real “sisters” bringing the anarchy (that is actually very well and beautifully organized chaos) when left to their own devices!

Episode 3 is a very personal conversation with an educational innovator, Michaela Ryan. For almost 20 years, Micaela has operated a farm school for kids ages 5 - 18, called New Village Farm in Shelburne, VT Many children, including a young woman named Resika, (who introduced us to Michaela) grew up farming at New Village. For them it’s a completely normal part of their lives.. Beginning with rabbits and chickens, children learn not only animal husbandry skills, but deep empathy, front-lines life and death realities, and the joy of giving care. As early learners grow, they move into the feeding, moving, milking and understanding of goats and their baby kids, Eventually these children, fully capable and mindful of their own safety, graduate to caring for enormous dairy cows, as well as how responsibly and successfully to engage these animals, who are over 10 times their size! Michaela talks us through the incredible layers and dimensions of learning in this profound environment, and its impact on human development, including her own very personal story.

Young Farmers are the future of food. Without them to keep growing our food, the vast majority of farmers will age-out in about 20 years with noone to replace them. This episode couldn’t be more important - our lives literally are in their hands! How did they take up farming? What do they know? What do they think about? Isabelle Lourie-Wisbaum and Karen Clark generously share their stories, their views and their vision for our collective future. By education and experience, both women bring sophistication, passion and expertise to their farming and to our show. They are provocative, enlightening and give us reason to hope. Share their passion, energy and unique experiences, on Episode 2, of Women, Land and Food.

We launch our podcast with a guest whose life demonstrates all the topics we hope to explore this season. In Episode 1 guest, Kristin Kimball, the Women Land and Food exemplar, talks us through the essentials of being fully nourished, making some bite-size change, and food as a love language on the way to joy. Kristin’s book “The Dirty Life” was a primary light on our host’s path to Vermont, and Kristin’s second book, “Good Husbandry” was waiting to greet Karen when she arrived. Kristin co-owns Essex Farm, one of the only full-diet, free-choice membership farms in the world. In this episode, we are treated to readings by the author, glimpses into Kristin’s real, dirty life, and lived wisdom from a woman who made an intuitive leap from Harvard to farming. Join us for a joy-filled excursion into a life quite different than most of ours, and discover some bite-size change through which we can share Kristin’s vitality and wisdom.

Women's Stories Unearthed From The Land That Sources And Nourishes Life. 8 Women, 8 Weeks, 8 Powerful Stories.