The Running Hare by John Lewis-Stempel

A story about a golden field of wheat with wildflowers and a family of Hares

Hi, I’m Sue and I write about the beauty and ingenuity of Nature, and how we can deepen our connection for our optimum health and wellbeing. Discover more Nature-inspired content on Spiral Leaf, Twitter and my video Nature Channel.

Having so enjoyed a year in the life of The Wood by John Lewis-Stempel, I was even more absorbed by 'The Running Hare' which tells the story of a barren field transformed into a sanctuary for Nature and a golden sea of wheat - sown and scattered using traditional equipment, tools and methods of the old farming ways.

As we feel instinctively in our bones that it's time to get back to our roots where we were once at one with the land, the elements and the wilds of Nature, this book was discovered at a perfect time.

Beautifully written as a conduit to remind us of the simple pleasures to be found working outdoors and how we can create such abundance for ourselves and for our communities on our own homesteads and land.

Traditional Farming Methods

In terms of guidance on how to best work with the land in harmony with Nature, we are in safe hands. John is knowledgable, wise and experienced in this regard, an advocate for the human-handed skills needed to tend and enhance natural environments where Nature is free to thrive without threat or interference.

As we read The Wood through the eyes of a Master Woodsman, so we read The Running Hare through the eyes of a skilled Farmer and Landsman who brings forth a wealth of sacred knowledge that will serve us well as we reclaim our sovereignty and the land we have every right to own.

The Running Hare shares the story of renting an arable field in Hertfordshire in England and explains the process of transforming depleted, barren land into a traditional wheatfield over the course of one year.

It's a private endeavour spurred by childhood memories of golden wheat fields swaying in the wind with Wild Red Poppies, Cornflowers and Corn Marigolds dancing inbetween. It's a memory of corn-stalks left to plenish the land after harvest where 'cowering grey' Corncrakes, as small as Blackbirds, 'rail' in nests nestled vulnerably on the bare Earth that remains.

Modern Farming Methods

Such vulnerability is unable to survive in the modern landscape of mass farming with incessant chemical spraying across the fields. This overworked and abused farmland has long been avoided and abandoned by wildlife and birds who have gradually lessened in number or even disappeared along with the denegration of rich soil and the removal of old farming traditions.

However, this book brings with it much hope; that old traditions never die and can be resurrected amongst our polluted rolling hills. It is confirmation that Nature is a miraculous living being in her own right and that she will flourish when we take the trouble to learn her ways and how best to work with her through the seasons.   

Working with Nature

I love books that share stories of working with the land, taking us closer to the natural world and all that thrive there. This is healthy work that engages us to benefit our physical, mental, spiritual, emotional and whole-being. These stories and insights provide invaluable knowledge and a rich resource of information for anyone with a desire to work in harmony with the land.

The Running Hare provides a wealth of knowledge and is a pleasure to read. Full of poignant moments such as bringing the worms back to the soil, saving the toads, planting 200,000 wildflower seeds, working together in the field and finding the best way to keep out the Foxes without causing them any harm.

The end result speaks for itself where 'this kingdom of flowers buzzes with flies, crickets and grasshoppers, and hums with bees.'

At the beginning of the book, John turns his attention to enticing the birds back to his barren patch of land. Naturally, the Rooks are visiting the bird table in search of easy pickings. One unhooks the seed hopper so it falls down and spills its insides; the other Rook, having watched this exercise in breaking and entering, unhooks the peanut dispenser so it too plunges to cascade its contents like a gaming matching with a winning line.

This level of understanding and appreciation for the lives and tendencies of our fellow wild creatures raises the bar and shows us that it's always a relationship of give and take. With us - the humans - using our minds to comprehend how things are and how we can consciously make the best contribution for the highest good of everyone and everything involved.

The Running Hare contains valuable knowledge about the natural life of an open field environment in contrast to the vast and lifeless wheatfield owned by the affectionately named 'Chemical Brothers' next door whose field spurns 'a white bleach mark from the overuse of pesticides and herbicides with cracks in the earth sizable enough to insert a hand into.'

Wheat and wildflowers

Joyfully, this does not prevent or spoil John's efforts to turn his newly acquired 'Flinders' field into a glorious and abundant wheatfield enjoyed by birds, wild animals, wildlife, wildflowers, wild herbs and all that comes with a worm-filled rich soil and the care of someone who understands the needs of the land and how to nurture it through the seasons.

It is interesting to learn about the search for various types of traditional farming equipment, repaired and used at each stage of the wheat growing process. This includes ploughing the field, sowing the seeds, harvesting, transporting and storing the harvest at the end of the season. It is good to know that quality tools built to last a lifetime can still be found and will find a place in our lives again.

A family of Hares

After a break from visiting the field during the height of the lambing season, John returns to find that someone had tied plastic feed sacks along the bottom of the gate to make a barrier.

Thinking initially that this was some kind of hostile action to somehow keep his wildflower ‘weeds’ contained, John was pleasantly suprised to find a stone on the ground holding down a note which read: ‘HARES!’

It turned out that the mystery Hare-deliverer was an agricultural contractor who had been netting Hares and wanted to relocate them rather than spray them as they laid still in their forms (shallow holes in the ground where Hares rest, nest and lie low on the ground’s surface).

Having 4.26 acres of land including the wheat field and an additional neighbouring paddock of five acres, John had enough space for them as Hares tend to stick to their own territory. Before too long ‘in the magic of twilight, my Hares sit up and multiply, until they are five in number.’

A book of treasures

Learning about the countryside traditions of our ancestors and how to work in harmony with Nature is priceless and increasingly valuable as we regain access to our lands as true sovereigns over the coming years.

This book is full of treasures and guidance on doing just that and I look forward to putting such methods into practice when I have my own piece of land. I hope this book will encourage other landowners to do the same.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

A Hare Leaps by Sue Cartwright

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The Running Hare - The Secret Life of Farmland by John Lewis-Stempel - British Isles

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