Gene Logsdon

A couple of months ago I heard about Gene Logsdon through reading some essays by Wendell Berry. Logsdon lives and farms in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Gene has a blog on organictobe.org that is full of great information and advice for anyone who is interested in gardening or what Gene calls garden farming. I recently read Logsdon's short story The Man Who Created Paradise about a man who recovers land that had been strip-mined in southeastern Ohio. I also purchased Logsdon's book The Contrary Farmer. It has been a difficult process, at times, accepting that I have a contrarian nature, so I expect to connect with the book. The book opens with a poem by Wendell Berry. Here are a few lines from that poem,

I am done with apologies. If contrariness is my inheritance
and destiny, so be it. If it is my mission
to go in at exits and come out at entrances, so be it.

Going against men, I have heard at times a deep harmony
thrumming in the mixture, and when they ask me what
I say I don't know. It is not the only or the easiest
way to come to truth. It is one way.

I look forward to reading more from Gene Logsdon and the other agrarian authors I am discovering. If you want to read more from Gene Logsdon visit his blog. His latest post is on making hotbeds for winter growing.