The Natural Farmer

Fall 2022
Stress & Wellbeing

Image Credit: Mumbets Freedom Farm,

The publication of this issue was delayed - it was mailed to subscribers in February of 2023 and is TNF's most recent issue.

Letter from the Editor: Farmer Stress & Wellbeing

Letter from the Editor As you may know, this issue on Farmer Stress & Wellbeing was supposed to be published in September 2022. I’m not...

The Beginning of Things: Acknowledging the Origins of Common Gardening Techniques

By Christa Núñez Ecological Gardening & Knowledge Sharing Have you ever been out working in your fields or kitchen garden and been...

Resilience in Times of Uncertainty

By Ann Adams As we near the end of 2020, we find our world vastly changed from how the year began. If someone had told me that most...

Growing Health at Daigle Farm in Brooklyn CT

By Becca Toms As you drive down the long driveway to reach Daigle Farm in Brooklyn, you may see deer pausing by the property's pond after...

Cultivemos: Cultivating Farmer Wellbeing in the Northeast

By Jac Wypler (they+she) Since living through Covid-19, it’s easy to recall times when friends and family sought to relieve stress by...

Just Breathe: Coping Skills on the Farm

By Valerie Woodhouse Self-care as we usually imagine it doesn’t have a place on my farm. I’d love to say that my clinical social work...

Finding a Home in Farming

By Hamadi Mganga, he/him Alam is Providence Farm Collective’s newest incubator farmer. Providence Farm Collective, or PFC, is a nonprofit...

Farmer & Collective Care at Rock Steady

By Maggie Cheney This is a good point in the season to talk about farmer care. In the Spring, there’s always such a palpable joy and...

Solidarity & Organizing get us a Food System that Supports Workers’ and Farmers’ Wellbeing

By Jon Magee “We have to break with the professional doctrine that ascribes virtually all of the problems that clients experience to...

Conflict Mediation

By Claudia Kenny Conflict Stress Conflicts are stressful and over time can have destructive effects on our relationships. During a...

Mumbet’s Freedom Farm:A conversation with Sunder Ashni while walking through the herb beds

By Angela Highsmith AH: What initially comes to mind when you think about mental health on the farm? AS: When I think about mental...

Ten Ways To Practice Simple, Daily Acts of Gratitude

By Ricky Baruch and Deb Habib, Seeds of Solidarity Farm Face the direction of sunrise upon waking and wash it over yourself. Let the...

Upstate New York to West Cork: why we travel

By Karma Glos I believe our urge to travel was inspired by French interns. Early in our farming, we hosted several French agricultural...

Farmer Stress, Suicide and Support

By Elizabeth Gabriel Mental health is often an overlooked challenge farmers face nationwide. There are a multitude of issues that...

Your Approach to Decision-Making Can Alleviate Stress

By Erica Frenay What causes you to feel stressed out? Major sources of stress in my life include, in no particular order: money, kids,...

I am the Farmer : Mothering & Farming

By Megan Browning, NOFA-VT Abbie Corse, an owner and operator of the Corse Farm Dairy, in Whitingham, Vermont, has been learning to...

Remembering our Roots: Al Johnson’s Odyssey Making the NOFA Film

By Sara Norton With a borrowed camera and a list of people to track down, Al Johnson set out on an odyssey of 1,600 miles to make the...