If we throw mother nature out the window, she comes back in the door with a pitchfork.

I wonder how it is that people's philosophies have come to spin faster than the changing seasons.

I believe that a revolution can begin from this one strand of straw. Seen at a glance, this rice straw may appear light and insignificant. Hardly anyone would believe that it could start a revolution. But I have come to realize the weight and power of this straw. For me, this revolution is very real.

Left alone, the earth maintains its own fertility, in accordance with the orderly cycle of plant and animal life.

We receive our nourishment from the Mother Earth. So we should put our hands together in an attitude of prayer and say "please" and "thank you" when dealing with nature.

As far as my planting program goes, I simply broadcast rye and barley seed on separate fields in the fall . . . while the rice in those areas is still standing. A few weeks after that I harvest the rice, and then spread its straw back over the fields as mulch.

The simple hearth of the small farm is the true center of our universe.