As we reflect on 2023, we would like to share a few words of gratitude for you all, our community. 

When a disaster strikes, our society’s easy access to data (like video clips on social media and headlines at our fingertips) provide us with an initial window from afar into the stories of the communities experiencing that disaster. And as time passes, the news moves on to the next headline, as does our attention despite the fact that these communities are still impacted.

Philo Ridge Farm has been one of BLC’s core management projects for the past ten years and we’ve watched their team grow the operation and grow the impact they have in their community. For this month’s blog post, I want to share a piece that their team recently published speaking to the creative process involved in managing a kitchen at the heart of a farm.

Why potatoes you may ask? Why is our team so fascinated by potatoes? The honest truth is that I don’t know. And that I let go of trying to answer that question a long time ago, and I instead rolled up my sleeves and joined the #potatoes team Slack channel.

We are grateful for this work, for our team, and the communities and landscapes that we spend time with. Here is to all of the learnings and questions that lay ahead in this year of 2023.

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.

Our team is constantly curious. Observing, listening, and learning are core aspects of the work we do. And summertime, with its longer and lighter days, often provides more space and energy for cultivating our curiosity.

A poem written by Meriwether Hardie.

In our work we are met with failures and successes, sometime in the same project in the same week. We celebrate our success! And we are constantly learning from our missed steps and failures. And forever, we have a lot to learn. Here is to both celebrating 2021 and looking forward to 2022 and the commitment to continued learning, work and growth.

After college I began working as an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), an organization that takes students of all ages and experiences into wilderness classrooms around the world. Though I didn’t know it at the time, my work with NOLS was about to become a common thread woven into my life.

This month Meriwether shares Four Seasons— a reflection she wrote inspired by the rhythms of change.

We launched into 2020 with a clear strategic plan and vision for what this year would entail. Yet, just a month or so into that plan, the world changed around as we entered into a global pandemic. As the Buddhist teacher and author Pema Chödrön writes, “sometimes when things fall apart, well, that's the big opportunity to change.” And that has been our mantra for this year.

Around the world communities have been make drastic changes to their daily routine due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Our team is no exception as we closed our Denver office and shifted to working remotely. This is a sobering time as we watch statistics roll in around the devastating effects of coronavirus on individuals, families, and businesses. As I’ve reflected on this information, I asked our team to share some thoughts and recommended reading as we all spend more time at home and on our computers.

In 2019, I felt a major shift in the conversations that I engaged in across the U.S. with farmers, entrepreneurs, investors, teachers and consumers. And climate change took center stage. Last year we experienced the second warmest year, warmest month, and warmest decade on record globally. These weather patterns had devastating impacts on communities around the globe. From areas without rain (and extreme fires) to areas with too much rain (and serious floods), some lost homes, lost jobs, lost crops and some lost their lives.