There is a farm
honoring this moment of the story | learn more about Button Snail Farm
Hello, Noticing Matters friend.
I’m thinking of you, where you are… and sensing the blur between what we call “here” and “there.”
I’m currently in a farmhouse on 95 acres of land in Minnesota, looking out across a prairie rich with grasses and wildflowers and bees. Earlier this morning I walked in the forest beyond the prairie, along a river called Spirit River.
The river, the trees, the prairie, the birds, the insects, the porch swing, the wind, the sky, the soil, the silence, and the slow… they are holding me, guiding me, nourishing me as I am inside this moment of here-and-there…
on land (my feet touch) as I dream-listen to land (my soul knows).
Here is a farm and… There is a farm.
Read on to hear her song and learn more about her glimpse and pulse.
As delight, Melissa
There is a farm, a Button Snail Farm
where we honor the small and the slow
where we root in soil and sky
where we flow as water and forest
where we bow in awe and sing in praise
where we play and wonder and delight
where we unlearn and let go
where we listen to children and the child within ourselves
where we remember that we, too, are small
and held in the spiral of everything.
Farm comes from dher, to hold and support.
Dharma also roots from dher.
Farm is dharma—golden thread and rooted wings of purpose, vision, truth.
To farm is to tend the soils of our own, and collective, dharma.
There are many kinds of soil.
And we need many kinds of farmers.
What is Button Snail Farm?
Is it a farm? Is it a school? Is it a farm school?
Button Snail Farm lives in the overlap of farm and school.
If, <farm = hum and dharma> and <school = aliveness of learning>, then: Button Snail Farm is a farm, a school, and a farm school.
It’s NOT a farm with a “school,” nor is it a school to learn about “farming.”
Button Snail Farm lives between where we are and what we are creating, including our forms, systems, and understandings of “farm” and “school.”
Button Snail Farm is…
a bridge into new ways of learning, school, and community.
a classroom to tend our inner curriculum and nurture seeds of possibility for the wider world.
a gathering place to wonder, sing, story, dream, and remember.
a connection point for spirals of miracle, delight, gratitude, and love for all beings.
a hum of welcome for all who sense its call.
Button Snail Farm is a learning farm where we plant, tend, and pollinate liberatory learning for a more beautiful world.
This moment of story:
Finding a place to root | July 2026
The message is clear: Button Snail Farm needs a place to root, a geography of soil and sky, a connection point for pollination.
Our collective learning of small and slow, unlearning of school, remembering of who we are and what we know requires a network of roots. Yes, our curriculum is to tend the soils within ourselves. And… we must place our bare feet in soil and place our gaze in sky. We need a place to place ourselves. We need a location to hold us as we learn to let go and allow ourselves to be held.
Here we are: Listening to Minnesota land. Wondering if perhaps there is a place of soil and sky who wants to partner with, and root, Button Snail Farm. Trusting that whatever emerges is an essential part of the story.
Read more of the farm’s emergence story…
find many questions + answers,
learn more about what the farm is (and will be),
and discover ways you might collaborate and get involved…
Button Snail Farm
Support Button Snail Farm
You can support the emergence of Button Snail Farm by sharing its delight (and webpage) with others and by joining Noticing Matters as a paid subscriber. Special codes are listed below in the footer to allow you to subscribe at whatever amount works for you. Your financial contribution (of any amount) matters significantly and is deeply appreciated for its nourishment of me and this larger work. Thank you.
This is a beautiful time to nourish how you listen and connect with children and the child within yourself.
Listening to Children has a spacious, flexible practice design. There are eight audio-recorded listening practices for you to experience at your own pace. You’ll be able to take the time you need, pausing if you’d like more space to feel something, daydream, or reflect on what you notice. You may choose to listen while seated in a quiet place or while walking outside. Alongside the audio practices are reflection questions and invitations for you to apply within your everyday life.
The summer is a perfect time to explore these listening practices. They aren’t about adding more to your plate or trying new techniques. Listening to Children invites soft, slow shifts of attention, allowing you to open to deeper presence with children and with yourself.
I trust that the practices will feel supportive and nourishing wherever you find yourself this summer. Learn more and register here.
Child & Nature Network: Vitamin N Challenge
I love this invitation for children and families to slow down and NOTICE. Learn more from the wonderful Child & Nature Network.
Oh, this beautiful book!
The Coziest Place on the Moon (Enchanted Lion Books, 2025)
Written by Maria Popova | Illustrated by Sarah Jacoby
And a beautiful song…
Thanks for being YOU and sharing your attention with Noticing Matters.
Love that you are there! Must catch up when you return.
What a beautiful vision, Melissa! It's exciting to watch this unfold!