What have I wrought, I’m asking myself.

I’m standing at Kayu Besar (Big Wood), named in honor of our friend, Ris Azihari. It the highest part of our 8-acre property in upstate NY - and overlooks an upper pasture that’s over an acre. It used to graze cows; now, not having been mowed for 15 years, it’s an annual wonder of pasture flowers that grow upon it.

This is not an idle thought. Annie and I use our entire property. There’s a small woodlot above that has more wood than we’ll ever need - and borders this pasture on the west. I mow a regular path around the pastures - and actively walk or use them frequently. I’m going to be up here now a lot, I’m thinking.

I’m looking over the field. A half-acre of it now is a grid of 18” augered holes, a foot deep. 25 rows, each row 120’ long. The holes are 6’ apart, as are the rows. 500+ holes, I’m thinking.

I’m not saying this, though, with any dread or apprehension. It’s kinda like the wonder of 500 holes in the pasture that I, Seth Hersh, 72 year old entrepreneur, has to deal with.

This is my last hurrah in terms of big, physical projects. I thought last year was the end of these ‘over the top’ physical efforts when I did the last rows of comfrey plants in the adjacent pasture. That brought me to nearly 400 comfrey plants. Enough, I said. I now just have to harvest the comfrey, not plant it. Easy. Let me swing in my hammock a bit.

In the big scheme of things, which is essentially the life I’m living, I’ve always taken the road less traveled. Not quite sure why the route less taken carried so much appeal. I have never met a road I didn’t like. My dad finally acknowledged this singular inclination when he made me a decoupage plaque with Thoreau’s ‘different drummer’ bit.

I was challenged - and committed to the comfrey. The simplicity of the medicinal benefit had me take up that challenge. And has kept me energized and involved, out and about, again in the big scheme of things. I meet interesting folk through my travels with Catskills Comfrey ointments.

I’m now challenged with the idea that I can grow my own CBD-dominant hemp - and know that the CBD I’m putting into Catskills Comfrey ~ CBD ointment is from the most reliable source I know. Me.

Those five hundred 18” augered holes, a foot deep, now have to get filled with nutrients so that they can be planted with hemp seedlings. And watered. And pruned. And fertilized. And harvested. And dried.

I’d already, actually, resolved the CBD reliability issue. An hour from me is High Falls Hemp Company (HFHC), a very ‘think global, act local’ operation, focusing on CBD and other active ingredients found in particular strains of CBD-dominant hemp.

HFHC is the source of the full-spectrum CBD distillate that goes in our ointment now. I used to follow the maxim ‘Know your jeweler.’; today, for me, it’s now ‘know your CBD supplier.’ And I literally do.

I had determined that HFHC grew on various local famers’ lands - and on their own . HFHC had the NY State license to grow hemp; they simply entrusted local farmers to grow additional hemp for them. Hey, HFHC, I’ve got an acre. Can I grow for you? My practical sense said ½ acre was better suited - and that was what we agreed to.

Be careful of what you ask for, you might just get it. So this will be a very fun challenge. HFHC is offering expert advice and full cooperation. I’ll be outdoors in my upper Catskills pasture, enjoying the rains and the sun, growing the new rage in farming.

Stay tuned. This challenge isn’t finished yet; it’s only beginning. In the big scheme of things, a good time will be had by all.

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Photo Credit: CCO Public Domain