This week’s book snap is Charles Massey’s impressive agricultural call to arms; Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture a new Earth. Currently learning more about sustainable agriculture than I ever thought I needed to know. This is a great book, not just for the blueprint it offers on sustainable agriculture but for the lyrical nature writing that Massey scatters through this scholarly, but personal text. In every sense a remarkable and important work. The USQ library has an ebook version of the book but despite my best efforts at embracing ebooks I would still much rather read a paper book than a screen. Bronte took pity on me and gave me a hard copy.
Will post properly when internet is better and hopefully have read more of this great book, at the moment I am slowly dipping in and out.
The above image was taken at Maidenwell at the free campground there just behind the pub. We decided to snatch the opportunity for a long weekend getaway and G picked me up from work on Thursday, and we drove to Maidenwell for the night then onto the coast. Bron came too, she has been wanting to confirm what we have suspected, that Cassie is part duck. Cassie has these huge webbed paws and sure enough, they were put to good use in the water. Cassie is much more at home in an aquatic environment than Ada and she has succeeded in doing what we were struggling to do, teach our land-loving hound how to swim. Not entirely sure what Cassie is but my money would be on a significant percentage of German shorthair pointer.
Gum trees and Galaxies 
Hope you had a great time. I have to agree with you about ebooks – still prefer a “real” book. Besides, we read differently when it’s paper vs digital. I haven’t really given audio books a go either – I just think I would get frustrated about not being able to flick back and reread and I’m most likely to zone out and miss a whole chunk. That book sound really interesting. Despite the media representation, I think there are farmers who care about sustainability and farming organically. It’s just a much harder road to travel.
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I have tried audiobooks via librivox and sometimes on youtube but I have to confess they tend to just put me to sleep because I do zone out. Nothing beats a real book.
I have known farmers, those that seem to be especially in tune with the land and their livestock to be generally good, sustainable managers, when profit becomes all-important and greed starts dictating decision making that is when problems occur and bad land management results. Massey gives example after example of farmers who do an exceptional job of farming sustainably. I think the more in tune with the land you are the better you generally do in terms of sustainable decision making which also results in better returns in the long run. Hopefully the kind of holistic and environmentally aware farming that Massey advocates will become even more widespread. Bronte tells me she has seen a steady stream of farmers coming into the bookshop and asking for Massey’s book, the kind of guys that don’t normally come in looking for books, which I thought was interesting.
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Interesting observation by Bronte. Maybe I’ll get it for Paul. He’s not much of a reader either, but he is keen on organic farming and being sustainable.
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