William Castle is a craftsman. As such he is steeped in the traditions of work process, of the fit and effectiveness of tools, of the grain of each circumstance, of the integration and protection of heritage, of the next earned comfort. All of these things and much more go into the assessment that here is a man who is best suited to step up as guide and instructor of this way of working. In an artisan’s manner Castle accumulated, over his long service with work horses, measurements of the appropriate and of the transformative, tools and fittings.

The old husband and wife partnership has worked a lifetime on this farm, caring for their four acres of orchard, the 4 two-acre fields of legume pasture and hay, and these two acres of poultry operation. They hold title to 20 acres that feels to them as a very large outdoor garden, house, and sanctuary. In the beginning, (their beginning), they cared, with thoughtful vigor, for five bee hives as they also cared for all of the intertwined parts and elements of their farming. While it has become more unpredictable, difficult and demanding they maintain hives still, they farm still.

My dad said a lot of things to me in his life. One of them was “Never underestimate your audience,” which I thought was quite an amazing thing for a World War II veteran to say who only had grade 11 and had never been on a stage in his life. The other thing he said to me while I was busy trying to be an artist / musician and having doubts was, “Even the little Prairie chickens dance.” Another thing I remember him saying was “Go ye to the plains” … that was supposedly from the Bible. Now the first few quotes that I’ve mentioned I totally get, but this last quote has me stumped and I’ve been searching for where it says that in the Bible for most of my life and I haven’t found it yet.

Lynn, You recently wrote you were short on shop tips, so here’s something I’ve found usefull.

For our last trip to France, Liz and I decided to spend the whole of our time in Paris. We stayed in an apartment on the sixth floor of a classic Haussmannera building in the 1st arrondissement, close to the magnificent church of St. Eustache. We wanted to experience the day-to-day life of the city rather than that of a typical tourist, constantly on the move from one city or region to another. This almost radical (for a farmer) urban experience got me thinking about the great cities of the world and the connections they might share with the countryside that surrounds them. What follows is a somewhat rambling collection of thoughts and observations on the subject.

found in a collapsing shoe box

We have always believed that farming and making art are parallel, even cojoined, human endeavors. What loops around tends to be inclusive. Gazing over Sharon Yates’ cow paintings makes me feel completely at home and at the same time challenged. They come to us as straight as the front shoulder rise of that seated cud-chewing cow. I found out about her and these fine paintings when she wrote me a letter.

Small Farm Rising is a little gem of a documentary, filmed and directed by photographer and filmmaker Ben Stechschulte of New York City. While it was completed and released back in 2012, it seems to have quietly held its space on the internet without a lot of attention. The film dips in and out of several ordinary days throughout the seasons on three different first-generation farms in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State: Asgaard Farm, Fledging Crow Vegetables, and Essex Farm.

Auctions are a great place to meet your next work partner and equine friend. It is also an opportunity for them to find the new homes that they need. I appreciate the trainers who help make horses the helpful partners that they want to be. Above all I am grateful for the gift of the wonderful horses that have been in my life and thank you Waverly for helping us meet some of them.