By virtue of their nitrogen-fixing capacity, beans are high in protein and fill in the nutritional gaps left by corn.

When I stare too long at the world with science eyes, I see an afterimage of traditional knowledge.

The potentials for plants were seen purely through the lens of animal capacity. Until quite recently no one seriously explored the possibility that plants might “speak” to one another. But pollen has been carried reliably on the wind for eons, communicated by males to receptive females to make those very nuts. If the wind can be trusted with that

How can we begin to move toward ecological and cultural sustainability if we cannot even imagine what the path feels like?

When you have all the time in the world, you can spend it, not on going somewhere, but on being where you are. So I stretch out, close my eyes, and listen to the rain.

What happens to one happens to us all. We can starve together or feast together. All flourishing is mutual.

But in scientific language our terminology is used to define the boundaries of our knowing. What lies beyond our grasp remains unnamed.

If people only knew … then they would, what? Stop? I honor their faith in people, but so far the if-then formula isn’t working. People do know the consequences of our collective damage, they do know the wages of an extractive economy, but they don’t stop.

Our work and our joy is to pass along the gift and to trust that what we put out into the universe will always come back.