Agraria_Journal_Summer_2022

14 AGRARIA JOURNAL 2022 earth’s internet. The study of quantum physics illuminates other communication pathways, with quantum superposition perhaps explaining why photosynthesis is an almost miraculous transmutation of light into chemical energy. Beyond reframing the natural world and our place in it, embracing our relationship with a caring and responsive planet opens up new opportunities for growth and healing of the planet and ourselves. The recent precipitous decline in human mental and physical health can be traced in some ways to a disconnection from our planetary home; the explosion of interest in forest bathing and books like The Overstory and The Secret Life of Trees suggest a longing to replant the canopy and to find our way back into its embrace. As Carver, Kimmerer, Stamets, and many mystics and shamans have written, life (God, plants fungi, trees, and grasses) sings all around us. The question is, are we listening? TUNING IN TO THE FUTURE The pressing question of how we can serve in this transformative time has become central to our organizational, educational, land-based and community work, and wonderings at Agraria. As we learn about bioregional regeneration and regenerative thinking and practice, the development of an organizational culture that prioritizes listening to and learning from each other and the planet becomes a key focus. Informed by the work of regenerative philosopher Carol Sanford and others, we are moving from a goal-oriented paradigm of arresting disorder to a living-systems paradigm of regenerating life. At a recent educational retreat, we engaged in practices from Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects Network, listening in one session to the voices of water, rock, and moss who entreated us to work with joy and celebration as a necessary antidote for a world in distress. These emerging ideas help inform our educational practices with children and adults. Our youth educational programs provide opportunities for deep immersion in nature, and our adult programming helps our community build practical skills, gain knowledge, and pay attention and listen to what is outside and inside themselves, through classes, for example, in bird language, seed saving, and companion plantings. On the land we continue to rebuild connective tissue above and below the ground. The restoration of and around Jacoby Creek will provide habitat for multiple species of birds, mammals, and insects. Our gardens and fields provide research and teaching opportunities for regional colleagues. This year we are also beginning the design of a George Washington Carver Demonstration Farm to honor his holistic practices, listening ear, and indefatigable work for Black farmers. With teaching areas of annuals and perennial cropping systems, research plots, and fiber and dye gardens, the demonstration farm will also house a compost research and education center as well as a biochar pyrolyzer. With the farm, incubation spaces, and a silvopasture site, we hope to demonstrate how small farmers and homesteaders can become more resilient individually and in cooperative community. In our broader community we continue to work on land access, to reconnect food systems, and to get fresh produce into neighborhoods that need it. Our work in Springfield and West Dayton is helping regrow the tissue of our bioregional community, and we are also working to heal our disconnection through storytelling, anti-racism workshops and trauma-informed training. We hope you will join us on the land and in all of our nested communities, as we listen, learn, and adjust our practices, working together in this time of great re- membering of ourselves and the planet. Susan Jennings is executive director of Agraria. AMY HARPER Learning the language of birds requires sitting quietly, listening, observing, and opening to the natural world around us. The birds on Agraria talked and this area resident listened during a Wednesday Bird Language program last spring with Agraria naturalist Emily Foubert.