Plant your apple tree: An organic farmer on Christian homesteading and the case for getting your hands in the dirt - Daniel Miller - November 17th - Friday Night Lecture

"If I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would plant an apple tree today.” — Martin Luther

 

When his mother's cancer diagnosis brought Daniel Miller back from college to rural Minnesota, he had no intention of staying. But after his mom’s death, he developed a deep longing to reconnect with his ancestral farming roots in the area. After meeting his wife Hannah, the Millers bought 30 acres of farmland only five miles from where Daniel's great-great grandparents homesteaded in the mid-1800s. With lots of big ideas and pitifully limited experience, they quickly bought a milk cow, two work horses, and started having babies. Full of youthful energy and bucolic zeal, they embraced the hard work of trial-by-lots-of-error farming. Reflecting on 14 whirlwind-years of farm life, Daniel still sees Christian homesteading as a unique way to work together as a family and cultivate community. When rooted in Christ, taking care of some land can train one's eyes to see His redemptive action through nature, work, and family. With our main-stream culture very busy attempting to live digitally and detach from the natural world, Daniel sees a counter-cultural alternative in reconnecting with the ancient paths of family, land, and tight community. Come join us for a lively presentation and discussion.

 

Daniel Miller is an organic vegetable farmer and has a degree in political science from the University of Minnesota. His essays have appeared in the Minnesota Daily, Green Blade, and Critique. He and his wife Hannah live near Zumbro Falls, Minnesota, with their five children.