64. Partnering with Powerful Trees - How and Why with Akiva Silver of Twisted Tree Farm

Akiva Silver is the owner of Twisted Tree Farm in New York, where he raises over 20,000 individual trees annually — no small feat as a sole proprietor!

Earlier this year, Akiva published Trees of Power: Ten Essential Arboreal Allies via Chelsea Green, and this is one of those books that, for me, strikes a perfect balance between the practical and the philosophical. You’ll learn not just how but why to foster co-creative relationships with some of the world’s most generous and abundant tree species, whether your desired outcome is fruit, nuts, fuel, timber, or medicine.

Or: what if there was no desired outcome at all? What if the true value of working with trees was to be found simply in the daily unfolding of life in all its beautiful complexity? Understanding that “the good life” is located in the Here and Now, how do we fully embrace the present moment and eschew delaying gratification for years or decades as we wait for our tree crops to bear fruit?

I think Akiva’s story offers us a lovely lesson in the art of contentment: working for today, not tomorrow.

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Today’s theme song is called “Cherry Plum Woman”, written and recorded by me especially for this episode. This one is free to stream and download! and most of my other music can be found in my ever-growing podcast music archive, which you can access when you become a subscriber on Patreon.