Mary & Emma are on a brief hiatus and plan to return next spring. Please enjoy this episode that was originally aired on 11/17/23.

Our guest today is Baron Wormser, award winning poet, professor and author of "The Road Washes Out in Spring: A Poet's Memoir of Living Off the Grid". In this episode, Baron shares stories from his experience living and raising a family off the grid in rural Maine for 23 years, as well as his insight into connecting poetry with how we live, the value of simple living, and how we connect more deeply with the earth. We hear about his journey from the beginning in the mid 1970s, the day-to-day logistics of an off-grid life, raising children in that setting, and the eventual reentry into the contemporary world. Baron has been an example of slow and sustainable living throughout his life and career, and brings his gift of storytelling and poetry to this inspiring conversation.

Topics Discussed

• "Convenience" by W.S. Merwin

• Membership Pledge Drive

• Why Choose to Live Off the Grid

• The Logistics of the Day-to-Day

• Historical Precedence of Living without Electric Power

• Living Through the Mid 70s

• Needs vs. Wants

• Defining Hardship

• Living Off the Grid Then vs. Living On the Grid Now

• Human Adaptability

• Do We Truly Need the Internet?

• Raising Children in an Off the Grid Lifestyle

• Neighbor Stories

• The Recognition of Hard Work

• Money & Rural Towns

• Deconstruction the Romanticization of an Off the Grid Lifestyle

• Finding Your Ordinary

• Reentry to the Grid

• Baron's View on Hope

• Falling in Love with the World

Episode Resources:

• Join Us in The ALMANAC 

• "Convenience" by W.S. Merwin

• Listen to The Good Dirt "151. 'Lawns into Meadows' with Author Owen Wormser on Regenerative Agriculture"

• "The Road Washes Out in Spring: A Poet's Memoir of Living Off the Grid" by Baron Wormser

Connect with Baron Wormser:

• Website: https://baronwormser.com/

• Books: https://baronwormser.com/books.html

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• Join The Lady Farmer ALMANAC

• Email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail! Call 443-459-1950 and ask a question or share what the good dirt means to you!

Original music by John Kingsley. Editing and podcast production by Fast Forward Production.