jillfineis | photography

"Blessings on the blossoms, blessings on the fruit, blessings on the leaves and stems and blessings on the root."

My beloved community farm of Ann Arbor. The place where my heart and soul were transformed. The space in which I was able to grow alongside  vegetables,  animals, music and connections to other people. Ann and Paul, I am so deeply indebted to you for everything you did for me. This path I'm on is a direct result of my interactions with you and your journey; your life's work and passion for sustaining community through Biodynamic agriculture. 

When I visited the farm last summer, it was so quiet. Annie was in Seattle, (of all places) and Paul had just returned from a retreat in California late the night before. My visiting was unannounced until the day or two before. It was an unusually quiet day on the farm, but not unusually introspective. the farm had grown more, but everything else was the same. 

In our age of technology and iPhones and being constantly connected to a device has dismantled our sense of place, visiting the farm shattered all of that. It helped remind me what is most important.  

The Community Farm of Ann Arbor is a place where I found a deep and rich form of community.. It's a wonderfully, magical place unlike any other farm I've ever worked on or been apart of. These photos are only a small slice of the story. 

Wisdom I gleaned and continue to cherish via Ann and Paul: 

relentless kindness

passion

deep listening

radical simplicity

authenticity 

humor and humility and in the face of adversity

planning, hard work, and sweat, but also stopping for meditation

the work is never done and never will be

community cultivating, and that includes us too

sustainability

composting, and all other forms of reduce, reuse and rebirth

the art of the thriftstore purchase 

simple pleasures--  hot earl grey tea with cream after a long day of thinning carrots in 40˚ rain. and the joy of cantaloupe on a 90˚ day after a full day of work.

spirituality

love notes

horn silica

connection to place

community community community

"The silver rain, the shining sun, the fields where golden dandelions run and all the ripples in the wheat are in the bread that we do eat, so when we sit at every meal we give thanks and we do feel that we are eating rain and sun, and fields where golden dandelions run."