Guiding Principles of the Land

Community Harvest Whetstone

Community Harvest Whetstone came together in service of the land, knowing that, with dedication and care, the land would reciprocate. As we have developed in our relationship, it has materialised that the land was far more generous than we could ever be. The things it has given us back are impossible to number. Yes, without reservation, it requited our tenderness with delicious food, but, even more than that — it gave us a whole host of additional things we could not have comprehended when we started this journey.

Community

The first of these precious gifts was Community. While it seems the rest of the world is fighting, the soil invited us, as special guests, to a feast. When Community Harvest Whetstone is first discovered, it feels like a secret has been revealed. On the surface of it, there is quietness, but under the surface, teeming with life, are the most generous givers you will ever meet — both beneath the soil, and in the people who care for it.

Wisdom

Next, it surpasses our greatest expectations, by freely providing us with its wisdom. Teaching us its systems as we observe — and gently introducing us to its responsiveness to changing circumstances. When we are in turmoil, we look to the land and the community connected to it. When we are in pain, we look to its abundance of healing properties, and the way it heals itself. When we are confused, we look to its principles, consistently guiding and introducing us to the hum of life, and wonder, and the awe of its immensity.

Humanity

Lastly, and far from most important, but vital nonetheless — it teaches us how to be human, without the self-importance, without the perfectionism. How to grow and bleed and face death with dignity and embrace life to its fullest. There's always something growing, some guest, sat under a rock or hidden under the land. Some new facet of existence, popping its head up, or turning one thing into another, or bringing wonderment from circumstances which appeared so hopeless upon first glance.

Everything else grows from this.