As we reflect on 2023, we would like to share a few words of gratitude for you all, our community.
It was a strange way to decide to become a farmer, but as I have learned, the process of becoming a farmer can take many different forms. It is something that I have seen firsthand through my work with the Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) called Managing Pasture for Healthy Farms and Soils Across Vermont on which Bio-Logical Capital is one of several partners.
I love to ask what books people are reading and what they are learning. I always come away from these conversation with new ideas and exciting book titles. It also means that I have books piled on tables all around my house.
Over one hundred thousand years ago, during the last ice age, clothing was arguably introduced as a form of survival and protection from the elements. For millennia, and up only until recently, our garments have been solely produced from animal or plant material- many of which are grown or harvested from farm and agricultural processes. Since their origin, textiles have been transformed by cultures and individuals into a representation of status, wealth, personal expression, gender, and ingenuity. To tell a story of the history of textiles, there is a lot of ground to cover.
Steve’s work spanned more than 35 years and focused on understanding the connection between human and natural systems. He served on committees of the National Academy of Sciences and has won distinguished achievement awards from the Society of Conservation Biology, the National Wildlife Federation and the North American Association for Environmental Education.
Every Monday, The Urban Land Institute asks industry experts to weigh in on current directions in commercial real estate, as reflected in a metric. See why Bio-Logical Capital CEO and Founder, Grant McCargo, picked the number 18.
This year’s Western Places/Western Spaces conference will address the transformative land use legal and policy developments in the Rocky Mountain West that have influenced the shape of our communities today. We will also explore the trends and innovations—like demographic shifts, climate change, and economic forces—that are likely to affect the future of the West.
At Bio-Logical Capital, we believe in taking the time to fully understand the natural systems in which we work. As we are in awe of the elegance, resiliency and complexity of nature, we try our best to emulate the patterns, forms and processes that we observe. Nature is our model for sustainably producing food, cleaning water, supplying energy and shaping our built environment. We are testing these ideas on the ground at Hana Ranch in Hawaii.
One of our projects, Philo Ridge Farm, made news this past year as the host of the annual Farm to Ballet performance in Vermont. Ticket sales from the performance were donated back to the Farm to Ballet Project to support their creative work in the arts. Many thanks to the 350 attendees and to Meg Boucher Wilson, who photographed the event!
That quote regarding “the truth cannot be unseen” pretty much sums up my understanding of sustainable agriculture. All the years of “that won’t work here”, “you can’t feed the world with organic food”, “it’s not as productive”, “oh those chemicals don’t hurt anything”, “there’s no way to make that affordable”, and all the other go-to myths people spout against the practice tend to drain one’s resolve. Even though I have life-long experience with organic farming, a degree in plant and soil science, and a passion for knowledge, only recently have I been shown the truth.
