“Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking.”

Wangari Maathai

This weekend we are spending a little time in Newington, Georgia, visiting with Zandra and Ed. You may remember reading about Rebekah’s cousin and her husband in a couple of posts from last summer (Hope in Rural America, and Hope in Rural America Part 2)

Saturday, Ed took me over to Statesboro to play golf. The Georgia Southern course is a beautiful layout and we really enjoyed playing. But the weather deteriorated and our second nine got rained out.

Once again, I could not find my rhythm or make more than a few good swings. But I am not discouraged, things are sure to fall in place again before too long.

Normally, missing out on nine holes of a golf game would make me very sad… but this turned out to be a serendipity because, instead, Ed took me over to Sylvania for a tour of his family farm. I’m not sure that I can do justice to the experience in one short post but I will give it a try.

1500 Amazing Acres!

Ed’s family farm started when his great-great-grandfather purchased the first parcel of land around 1870. By the early part of the 20th-Century the current 1,470 acre tract was complete.

What’s cool about this land is that it is pretty much all trees. The farm includes around 900 acres of carefully managed timber – somewhere in the neighborhood of 450,000 loblolly and longleaf pine – and over 500 acres of natural growth.

The property has around ten miles of road, several ponds (including one organized and maintained by some overly enthusiastic beavers), and many interesting artifacts that hold fascinating stories of farming in days gone by.

It is a beautiful place, and all the more engaging because the land is so carefully managed, with trees anywhere from one to thirty years old, carefully harvested and replanted in an ongoing cycle of regeneration and productivity. Then, in the extensive natural area, some of the trees are old growth, predating early settlement in the pre-revolutionary era.

As we toured I kept thinking about the beauty and the goodness that defines prudent stewardship of this good Earth. Ed’s family have cared for these 1,500 acres for more than 150 years, working in partnership with God in ways designed to both make a living and benefit the community.

Creative land management is good for everyone, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of God’s instructions to humankind in the beginning of Genesis.

“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground… The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it…” – Genesis 2:8-9, 15

I believe the traditional translations in the story of Adam and Eve are wrong. I’m pretty sure that the man’s name was Ed.

Taking care of this world is more than just admiring the view. It is about doing something, and Ed is doing it well.

Grateful for this latest lesson – DEREK