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Atina Diffley is an organic farmer, author, public speaker and consultant. From 1973 to 2008, Atina and her husband Martin owned and operated Gardens of Eagan, one of the first certified organic produce farms in the Midwest. The award-winning video documentary Turn Here Sweet Corn, filmed when the 5th generation Diffley family farm was lost to development, focuses on the loss of greenbelt farmlands to suburbia. In 2006, when the Diffley’s second farm was threatened with eminent domain by a Koch Industries crude oil pipeline, Atina worked with consumers and government to create the Minnesota Organic Mitigation Plan. Atina can be reached at www.atinadiffley.com
List of contents
Contents
Cold, Hard WaterMy Name Is TinaIt’s Not HereThe Other Has My HeartForward through FirePast in the PresentSpring’s Fault, 1985Songbirds NestingAncient NeedRock and BirdHealth Is True WealthDrought of ’88Endangered SpeciesNomadsAs-If-It-Never-ExistedWhat to Hold on ToSubsoil Is the Mineral BaseEurekaIf Soil Is VirginMaison DiffleySpring Covenant, 1994Fertile GroundThe DifferenceThe Real World of Fresh ProduceLiving in the Relative PresentLooking to the FutureKale versus KochDefinitely Not FungibleSoil versus OilOrganic IntegrityHail Thaws into LifeNormal Process
PostscriptGratitude
About the author
Atina Diffley is an organic vegetable farmer who now educates consumers, farmers, and policymakers about organic farming through the consulting business Organic Farming Works LLC, owned by her and her husband, Martin. From 1973 through 2007, the Diffleys owned and operated Gardens of Eagan, one of the first certified organic produce farms in the Midwest.
Summary
In telling her story of working the land, Atina Diffley reminds us that we live in relationships-with the earth, plants and animals, families and communities. A memoir of making these essential relationships work in the face of challenges from weather to corporate politics, this is a firsthand history of getting in at the "ground level" of organic farming.
