Lord Northbourne, compassion in farming and spirituality

This is day 2 after submission of my completed ,manuscript and I am feeling an immense sense of anticlimax, it has to be said! I suspect this will soon be drowned out by the necessary checking of proofs, cover designs etc etc. But in this lull I can take advantage of the time to read other hitherto neglected books.

I have discovered a real gem! Lord Northbourne lived from 1896 to 1982, and was a farmer, painter, Olympic rower, and widely respected author on both ecology and religion. So reads the publisher's note on the back cover for "Of the land and spirit - the Essential Lord Northbourne on Ecology and Religion." This is an anthology drawn together from his books and articles. Long before Rachel Carson and her exposure of the dangers of chemicals in our food and our soil, in Silent Spring, Lord  Northbourne was recognising the need to respect the cycle of nature and the part we play in it, alongside his vision that the root of many of the world's problems was a loss of our spirituality and healthy relationship with the land. He first coined the term "organic farming" and supported Rudolf Steiner's similar principles in horti- and agri- culture. I shall come back to his work from time to time as I continue reading but his work is immensely interesting.

I think the pig was called Winston - he was very friendly and smelly!!