On this Veterans Day, I honor the healing process of offering veterans a place to plant, to build, to work, to rest, to sweat, to sing, to eat … to reflect and to emerge into feeling held by community. Jon Turner has offered his Wild Roots Farm in Bristol for this work to happen.
On Memorial Day weekend, Jon and fellow veterans built a sweat lodge. They then used the sweat lodge. Chanting and singing helped the cleansing. Friends, family and community welcomed their emergence with food and company. The ages ranged from 6 months to 83 years.
In the fall, two events happened. One weekend, Middlebury College students and others, with some guiding from Yestermorrow, built structures to house veterans in the future. On another weekend a group of men, women and children inoculated logs with plugs of shitake, lion’s mane, and oyster spawn mushrooms.
I am grateful that Jon Turner has this vision for his Wild Roots Farm. His farm is part of a larger organization called the Farmer Veteran Coalition. I hope that being rooted in growth, veterans will have the opportunity to gain some peace of mind, body and spirit.
Patricia Heather-Lea
Bristol