In this circle, we explore Placedness as something subtler than rootedness and more accountable than mobility. Placedness does not require permanence. It invites attention. It invites reciprocity. It invites us to participate in a place without claiming it. Read more

Our Placedness cycle takes us next to a special aspect of place: Terroir. Terroir is the unique flavor and properties a food or drink develops depending on the unique regional conditions in which it was grown. When we experience or aspire to placedness, in many ways we’re aspiring the deepening of our relationship with cultural and physical terroir. Read more

Storyteller and artist Jackie Morris and Tamsin Abbott have released their new book, “Wild Folk”, a beautiful mix of mythopoetic language and stained glass imagery. In this special otherWisdom Circle to celebrate the coming of Spring, they’ll join us to share some readings from the seven stories in their book, rooted in the earth, stone, wood, sky and sea. Their stories and pictures are a place of wild enchantment and folksy wonder. They will also speak to the absolute magic of reading, which can be so easily taken for granted by the literate, and to the wild magic that links stone, tree, fox, and star. Read more

Understanding how to care for trees is an integral part of developing diverse perennial food systems. Perennial plantings are a powerful approach to reclaiming the essential labor of local food production, because there is the possibility of continuous growth and harvest, without as much input of labor. A few key agroforestry skills for caring for our largest perennial kin are pruning, grafting and coppicing trees. Pruning keeps the tree healthy and encourages fruiting. Grafting allows one to grow a diversity of varieties from one plant, and allows one to trade and forage varieties from various sources. And coppicing allows one to harvest fire (and other forms of) wood without the devastating effects or intensive processing of logging and full tree felling. Read more

In this circle, we will explore hospitality as a relational practice shaped by place. What responsibilities come with welcoming? What discernment? How do we introduce others in ways that honor Indigenous presence, ecological limits, and local histories? How do we receive guests without erasing context — and how do we become guests well? Read more

For this otherGardens installment, we’ll explore grass-based livestock farming, land regeneration, and the realities of building a values-driven farm with Jenn Colby of Howling Wolf Farm in Vermont. A longtime agricultural educator, consultant, host of the *Choosing to Farm* podcast, and organizer of the biannual New England Grazing conference *Gathering of Good Graziers*, Jenn brings over 25 years of experience supporting farmers while also managing her own sheep operation with a focus on sustainable grazing, biodiversity, and healing and wholeness for the human participants in the system. Read more

Through fresh framing, hands-on collage, guided reflection, and small group conversation, participants will articulate the challenging and creative realities of economic life circa 2026, while imagining oikonmia and visualizing what an economy rooted in care and wellbeing might look like if it were inherent to living in Vermont. Read more

Modernity has accelerated its sprint over a cliff these last few weeks. Those in power seem determined to escalate suffering, while we emerge from our second warmest winter on record, and life — human and more-than-human alike — continues to struggle under immense pressure. If there’s any part of these unfolding endings you’d like to explore, join us for this open, virtual conversation. Read more

For our first gathering in the Indigenous Sovereignty cycle, we’re offering a special in-person gathering with members of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band in the land settlers named Massachusetts. We will visit with tribal leaders and members, share a meal from their farm, and walk their land together. We’ll learn about the Nipmuc Nations ongoing history and the work they’re currently engaged in, from farm projects to Land Back. Read more

Together, participants will learn to spot transactional patterns in everyday interactions, reflect on how those patterns show up in food systems and community life, and experiment with alternative relational practices — gestures that invite curiosity, reciprocity, and wider, wilder ways of being together. Expect reflective exercises, facilitated dialogue, and hands-on creative exploration in the welcoming, art-centered space of Hard-Pressed. Read more