So many good and valuable people are in the world; I love few things more than finding one and taking their portrait. I know little about David Weeks other than that he has devoted his love to studying soil, hay, and nutrients, and we have been feeding our animals his hay for two years now.

I love seeking them out and taking their pictures. They are always surprised when I take out the camera, but no one has ever said no to being photographed.

We are becoming friends, and I’m going to learn more. David is a pleasure to work with – he is honest, knowledgeable, and fun to talk with.  He and Maria can talk about soil and science for hours; I’m only good for five or ten minutes.

I can’t quite grasp David’s knowledge and methods; he is a scientist and speaks like one. But he’s eager to teach me and tolerant of my ignorance. I know he plants different things, including rye, and has experimented with skipping fertilizers and allowing the soil to replenish itself in different ways, including planting hay on top of the rye.

That’s all I could figure out. I’ll keep trying.

David is one of the people I love – they work hard and are conscientious, empathic, and considerate. The ones I have found are also entirely trustworthy.

His hay is rich, heavy, and stuffed with nutrients he has been growing for years. He’s coming to dinner over the next few weeks so we can get to know him better and learn more about our animals and their health and nutrition. David’s hay costs $9.25 a bale and is perhaps the only sold item in America whose price didn’t rise this year.

I purchase the hay through John Riegel’s Country Power Products; they both are a pleasure to work with. I’ll get all the winter hay I need in October, but I can call John any time during the year and get more if I need it. That is a soothing thing to know. The hay that came today was last year’s. This years will be up soon. Our order is in for next winter – 70 bales.

Since we have been feeding our sheep David’s hay, even the older ones have grown visibly deeper and thicker wool coats; Maria will have a lot of beautiful yarn to sell this Spring and Fall. We first gave them too much hay this winter, understanding the quality of the grass and the soil underneath it.

The donkeys have a rich golden sheen around their ears and neck. We’ve never seen that before, either.

David has studied hay and other crops for years. I’ve never met any other farmer/scientist who knows more about making the how the earth works sound, respectful and healthy. Our animals have never looked better.

We have cut back. David has all kinds of theories about soil and nitrogen; I hope to hear more.

The donkey’s coats have never been smoother or richer. David loves what he does, and Maria can even understand some of what he says about his research. That is his first cut hay; his second cut hay is even richer. The sheep need shearing and they are getting one on Saturday.

I will work on understanding how David is doing, but I can see the outcome; we are thrilled with his hay and how the animals look. I’m eager to learn more.

We’ve never had wool as rich and deep as we have on our sheep. There is no doubt that David’s hay did this. We were getting short; David came by with 20 fresh bales today. These are big, heavy, and sweet-selling bales.

Maria stacked some of it, but the bales were too big and heavy even for her; David came into the barn to help. I wish I could have joined in; I know better at long last.

David even sweeps up. This is one of the things I love most about where I live, I get to meet the most extraordinary people, and so many are so good. I keep meeting more.