TO LEAVE THE LAND BETTER THAN WE FOUND IT BRYCE & BRITA LUNDBERG–LUNDBERG FAMILY FARM
To “leave the land better than we found it,” should be the ethic of all Gardeners. It is the North Star ethic of regenerative and organic farming leaders: Lundberg Family Rice. Third- and fourth-generation stewards of rice, land, and planet, Bryce and Brita Lundberg join Cultivating Place this week to share why, and all that grows from that single dedication.
With the Autumnal Equinox upon us, I am reminded: If there is one thing the daily, monthly, and annual cycles of days, moons, and seasons assures us, it is that everything is circular. Progressive and building on the past, but circular. Which in many ways is the concept behind a concept we’re hearing a lot about recently: Regenerative. Regenerative garden, farming, living. All of which comes back to re- generating the past into the future with what we do right now. Not degenerative, but regenerative.
To kick off an intermittent series of conversations on what this looks like
in our world, and how we might potentially avoid the greenwashing and dilution of its good goals, I am joined today by early leaders in this field Bryce and Brita Lundberg, third and fourth generation members, respectively, of renowned Lundberg Family Farms – organic and regenerative organic rice growers and land stewards. The Lundberg Family’s successful, and scaled, business model since 1937 has been based on leaving the land better than you found it: inclusive of plants (like a rich diversity of rice alongside habitat), soil, water, air, and people.
Join us!
Follow The Lundberg Family online:
and on Instagram:
Photos Courtesy of Lundberg Family Rice, All Rights Reserved.
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JOIN US again next week: Sometimes we have look back to grow forward! Cultivating Place Host Abra Lee shares her research into an intrepid and unflagging cultivator of place from our past in Virginia’s Tidewater Region, Asa Sims. A businessman, educator, floral grower and designer, Asa was also a cofounder of the Historic Black Garden Clubs of Virginia. Join us! That's right here, next week. Listen in!
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Thinking out loud this week...
Hey, it's Jennifer—
You all know that I love a seasonal marker: a solstice, an equinox, a full moon, a new moon. And I thrilled to offer this conversation out as we enter into the Autumnal Equinox season. Even more thrilled that just a week after you hear this conversation, we will be gathering in person in South Bend to join energies around the very concept and meaning- making of Cultivating Place – no matter what the season may be.
Enjoy these slower days of transition…maybe they transform us always into what we were meant to be and do and grow…..from here.
I have been contemplating the idea of dedication. In the last few months, we have had a handful of people contribute to the work of Cultivating Place and dedicate their gift to another person: Bwana Sinha in honor of Mani Bhushan Prasad. Wild Cultivations gave in honor of Professor Birdsall. Tysh McGrail gave in honor of Skip Tilt… There is something moving about this act of supporting this work in honor of another.
Dedicate and Dedication have multiple moods, right? We can dedicate to, we can be dedicated to. Wendell Berry dedicated his life to re-connecting humans to the environment and laws of nature, thereby restoring the environment and us to sanity; Dolly Parton was dedicated to music and kindness; Gloria Steinem was dedicated to the rights and value of women.
I think of Cultivating Place as a dedication as well: each of us is dedicated to the human impulse to be in relationship with and to tend to plants in our places, and this work of Cultivating Place is dedicated to the value and importance of home gardeners everywhere – and we are everywhere.
If we see it, if we understand our own cultivating of place as a dedication, how do we deepen it? How are we more dedicated, and to whom or what is our dedication dedicated? Mine? It is dedicated to my parents, to my daughters, and TO YOU. To EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU. Thank you for listening; thank you for cultivating your place with care and dedication.
Happy Equinox!
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