The Fox Holler Almanac

Introducing a new writing project for 2023.

Howdy y’all,

Welcome to my Substack, the Fox Holler Almanac. Here I will begin the work of chronicling life here on our community-based, diverse small-farm project. Along with a weekly record of life here, I’ll offer up a few musings as they come to me while I’m out staring at goats and grass. Follow along to learn about the finer points of hog calling, trench digging, hedgeball chucking, and bucket shitting. Everything kicks off next week with a year-end retrospective.

I want to be upfront with folks from the top. This newsletter is not to serve as inspiration for others. I will do my best to tell the truth in it, and not mislead anyone into thinking that sustainable agriculture is fun, financially rewarding, or even possible for most folks. I do believe that agriculture has to happen, and that it’s best left to people who are serious about it. Also, it actually is kinda fun.

The internet does not need another homestead blog. Media consumers do not need another huckster with an online course (be it from an individual or an organization) convincing them they should quit the rat race and go take up space and waste resources in the country. Me, I just ended up here, after ten years I finally know what I’m doing, I’m too stubborn to quit, and I have a decade long gap in my resume even if I did want to do something else.

I hope this newsletter will serve as a form of record, chronicling what a functioning, community-scale sustainable food program looks like on the ground. I hope it will serve to help fill in the gap in understanding between what looks to be an idyllic, romantic, fulfilling lifestyle, and the cold, mud-drenched and shit-covered reality. And yes, if I manage to consistently write here for a couple of months, I may well monetize some of my pieces, because farming is not profitable, no matter what Joel Salatin tells you. Joel Salatin, by the way, is primarily an author and media figure. I’m certain his book and lecture hustle are far more profitable than his farm… please don’t blame me for following his lead and hustling a bit myself.

In all, if you as a reader make it through 2023 with me and still feel like farming, so be it. It’s a free country for certain demographics, is it not? I could offer you an internship if it still sounds like a good idea. You’ll be paid in experience.

Anyhow, the sun has been gone for days, and what remains of the daylight is better spent putting away tools and dragging a goat shelter or two. Stick around if you’d like to hear the truth about pigs, firewood, farmer’s markets, and labor co-ops. If you prefer a rosier picture, I refer you to the rest of the internet.

Yours truly,

BB