If you have ever had a deep conversation with a philosopher, you may have noticed that they seem to keep returning back to the basic tenets of the argument to ensure that the foundation is sound. In a sense, we like to do the same on the farm. We always keep going back to look at the roots. If the roots are not healthy, then the plant will bear few fruit. This season we are hosting a friend and former co-worker of Farmer Dave's from the Republic of Georgia. Lasha, on a sort of sabbatical, is learning and observing our life in America and our work on the farm. Though he spent time in MA about 15 years ago when he completed his graduate studies in development economics at Williams College in the Berkshires, he finds this experience in Massachusetts very different. He is far from the theoretical macro-economics work of Williams or from his agricultural economics work with the United Nations. He is here to better learn the empirical micro-economics and plant physiology of putting seed in the ground on a small farm like ours, more similar to the farms his work impacts. And while here he is asking us the deciding questions that keep returning us to question our roots.

This week we celebrate the independence of the United States of America as a sovereign country free to make decisions on our own as a representative democracy. Our country has evolved a lot since gaining independence. While there is still a lot to improve in America, we are still a great country. Alexis de Tocqueville, a Frenchman who traveled throughout America trying to uncover just what made America endure in its greatness found that, "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

Thank you to these two foreigners. Through their eyes and words we are able to see and question America and Farmer Dave's in a different light so that we remain true to our roots.

Have a good week in our great country,

Farmer Dave