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Agriculture weaves through the fabric of my life as vividly as the threads of pottery, art, education, and inner development. Soil care and soul care are the heartbeat of the community in which I have chosen to live: Camphill Village Kimberton Hills in Pennsylvania. I was drawn to its practice of biodynamic agriculture and social therapy – part of a world-wide involvement of life-sharing with mentally handicapped adults in need of special soul care.
It might be assumed that I would live in a hand-craft based Camphill, like the one in Copake, New York, but I felt I had that element in my life already. I preferred to commit myself to an active support of healthy land and healthy food.
I felt honored and touched by the farmers’ request to make ceramic containers for their compost preparations: oak bark, nettle, chamomile, yarrow and dandelion. And the community turned to me for clay foundation stones to go into the earth under the altar of their new hall: Rose Hall…
In Kimberton I have taught art in the agriculture course, developing “The Renewal of Art Through Agriculture.” I have weeded the strawberries and gathered the basil, calendula, asparagus, sweet potatoes.
It is a privilege to live in a daily healing relationship to cows, field crops, garden, orchard, vineyard, berry patch, forest, and stream. Since childhood, I have loved the feel of the earth and cherished the non-toxic arts of agriculture. We cannot save our souls if we do not save the soil. The wholeness I seek resonates in the clay, color, and mystery of the earth’s body. We need more farmers!
- MC Richards, 1916-1999
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