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Quote of the Day: Henry Beston

August 28th, 2016

“Nature must never be anything else but an alliance. Alas, I know well enough that nature has her hostile moods, and I am equally aware that we must often face and fight as we can her waywardness, her divine profusion, and her divine irrationality. Even then, I will have it, the alliance holds. When we begin to consider nature as something to be robbed greedily like an unguarded treasure, or used as an enemy, we put ourselves in thought outside of nature of which we are inescapably a part. Be it storm and flood, hail and fire, or the yielding furrow and the fruitful plain, an alliance it is, and that alliance is the cornerstone of our humanity.”

Henry Beston in Northern Farm

cloudy_skies
rain
Ice Storm 1
digging in the soil
Main edible garden 2

3 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Henry Beston”
  1. Nebraska Dave on August 28, 2016 at 8:35 am

    Susy, I must agree with Henry. To work entirely against nature is a losing battle. I contemplate what will happen to my Terra Nova Gardens when I can’t garden any more. It will quickly return to wild with some evidence that cultivation once reigned supreme there but nature is patient. Not too long after I’m gone the vegetation will take over and the critters will return to their ancestor’s home. Nature can be harsh at times but it can be helpful as well if used in the right way. Some years insect devastation is rampant but if just left to her ways, nature will bring in the predator bugs to correct the situation. Only mankind in it’s infinite wisdom has chosen to kill all bug life and think they have won the battle over nature. It’s a false security that has caused row crop farming to become totally dependent on chemicals and destined to fail. Eventually, nature will win. It may take several decades but nature has been around for a long time and isn’t in a hurry to take back what was taken.

    I follow your lead and try my best to work with nature and try to control to some degree the wild life. This has been a good garden year for me. I’m becoming a part of nature on my little garden spot and not trying to control nature.

    Have a great nature alliance day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  2. Charlie@Seattle Trekker on August 28, 2016 at 2:26 pm

    The world is truly a uniquely odd combination of strange ‘bed fellows”. We are all here on the stage for a few moments and then we exit when our brief lines are done.

    Reply to Charlie@Seattle Trekker's comment

  3. Chris on August 28, 2016 at 7:15 pm

    I love Henry Beston…if only the world’s human inhabitants would heed his words of wisdom…
    Lovely photos to go with this quote…

    On another note…I’m not sure if you recieved my e-mail but thanks so much for the poppy seeds…I look forward to seeing them in my friendship garden next year! :)

    Reply to Chris's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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