Keeping Kith: Field Notes from the Prairie Podcast

Keeping Kith with Margaret

Short episode and short show notes this week. I’m a little underwater with finishing projects, travel, and now puppy wrangling! But I do want to include links to the two places/orgs I mention toward the end: https://knollfarm.org/ [https://knollfarm.org/] and https://www.theinterwoveninstitute.org/ [http://ttps://www.theinterwoveninstitute.org/] Also, if you are looking for a book to read this summer, consider Helen Whybrow [https://helenwhybrow.com/]’s memoir The Salt Stones (she’s the owner/operator at Knoll Farm)—it’s wonderful, and is how I found my way to her farm! Get full access to Our Little Pasture at elizablue.substack.com/subscribe [https://elizablue.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Keeping Kith with Uncertainty

UUUUFFFFFFFFFFF!!!! This week has been hard. Lambing, jet lag, trying to get the plants in the ground, planning for and setting up the Keeping Kith festival this weekend…I can’t believe how physically exhausted I am. And in the midst of it all, the emotional work of lambing, which always has highs and lows—the portal between birth and death is open wide during these times on the ranch, and the intensity of it has not diminished even after over a decade of working with the flock. This year has been my most successful year lambing so far—all the babies were born healthy, which is a pretty big deal. The last ewe had her baby yesterday afternoon. And, amazingly, the ewe I’m following around in this episode is doing much better today. She’s not out of the woods, but she’s certainly heading in the right direction. Meanwhile, I hope to see some of you tomorrow! Get full access to Our Little Pasture at elizablue.substack.com/subscribe [https://elizablue.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Keeping Kith with the Humans

Hello! I just got back from the most wonderful trip! I won’t say much here as I go into a lot of detail during the episode…but you can click here for more information about —->MOTH [https://mothlife.org/about/] (which I also talk about) for those interested. Meanwhile, when I left, it felt like early spring, and now it feels like midsummer! The kids are done with school, too, so we are tasting the freedom of long, hot afternoons and cooling salmon pink dusks. We’ve started camping out with the sheep who are lambing—a long-held dream of mine—at a homestead we are leasing west of town. So next week I am sure will feature sheep again! Lamb time is the best time of the year. I hope you all are doing well! Get full access to Our Little Pasture at elizablue.substack.com/subscribe [https://elizablue.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Keeping Kith with chicks and calves and sheep

The past few weeks have been filled with every emotion I’ve ever felt: Joy, gratitude, despair, utter exhaustion, more despair, more joy. It’s been the best of times, the worst of times, and every other time all at once. Human-ing has never felt more challenging or more beautifully fragile, and yet I somehow feel luckier than ever to be here now, sharing the planet with you and everyone else. SO this episode is a simple one—you get to come with me to do my morning chores. Sometimes it is hard to get myself moving in the morning, but I never fail to love it once my body is in motion. This year’s batch of chicks is just as precious as every other year’s, as are the bottle calf and the yearling lambs. Peace of mind comes easily in their company. Meanwhile, I hope you are all finding kithship with new buds and blossoms and birds. And I hope you are finding joy even if you are also facing challenges. It feels like almost everyone I know is dealing with really, really hard and painful stuff, and if that is you, too, I am sending you love. Also, if you live in or around Bison, SD, come dance with us next month! We are holding a ‘mini-music fest’ in our backyard next to the Sheep Shed Cafe from 5-9ish. There will be a food truck, art demos, garden tours, and, of course, beautiful music. All are welcome… Get full access to Our Little Pasture at elizablue.substack.com/subscribe [https://elizablue.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Keeping Kith with Pine Trees

Another windy recording! If you’ve been following along, you know wind noise has been the ongoing challenge of making these field recordings. And yes, there are a lot of windy days here on the short grass prairie, but the 100% overlap between recording days and windy days is starting to seem like more than a coincidence. So I gave the wind a chance to have its say…which also meant capturing one of my favorite sounds: the wind moving through the long needles of a Ponderosa Pine, a tree both beautiful and resilient. In other new news: Toward the end of the episode, I introduce the next iteration of “Keeping Kith,” which will be a more formalized version of this podcast. I am working on it now. The five-episode arc investigating how faith and spirituality can inform our relationships to land will come out in June as part of the storytelling endeavors of the Rural Faith Initiative [https://www.ruralstrategies.org/rural-faith-initiative]. My first interview this week brought a new favorite question to combat the anxiety and despair many of us feel when we think about our rapidly changing world: What are the eco-wonders where you keep kith? What and where do you find joy when you get to spend time outside with your human and more-than-human neighbors? Also, maybe you know someone who works in agriculture or land stewardship, whom you think I should interview? I’d love to hear suggestions! Get full access to Our Little Pasture at elizablue.substack.com/subscribe [https://elizablue.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]