tune in to the journal of small work* radio while you’re washing up, tending the garden or settling down for a nap, as elisa rathje reads these companion pieces to the appleturnover films aloud.

whether you’ve visited appleturnover farm on salt spring, follow the social writings and the postcards, or come to the podcast by way of the films, now you can listen to the podcast variation, grounded in the seasons, expanding on ideas in the films, interviews and essays, striking out on a path toward collective regeneration.

become a small works patron to receive these podcasts as a volume of collected essays in the journal of small work* book. you’ll receive new writing as the journal of small work* letters go out weeklyish, and receive each new volume with your name in the acknowledgements. collect the original pieces that lay the groundwork for the growing book and join the conversations with elisa about these diverse, wide-ranging approaches to living regeneratively. find out more about the small works subscription here.

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the generations returning to the land –

this small work looks at our fluencies as we reskill and reconnect with heritage and resilience, while repatterning another future, one based in collaboration. if you like this work you might like to look at, if you aren’t already familiar, ‘braiding sweetgrass’ by robin wall kimmerer, ‘less is more’ by jason hickel, and ‘the work … Read More

the recipe –

the recipe – on relocalising food for a resilient future, a reading from the journal of small work*. or simply listen to the audio version here. i’ve been feeling a cookbook coming on for a while, especially when recipes get too chef-y and ignore the patterns of the seasons. maybe one day i will write … Read More

the suggestion –

this small work looks at the fundamental patterns that need to shift within so that a world in crisis can regenerate. what do you think of this diagnosis? what small work are you tending to just now? listen to the radio version here or via your patron rss. thanks to the appleturnover patrons! i’ve begun … Read More

getting things done –

this small work looks at the flow state as a way to unplug from the productivity-mindset that has us see ourselves and time as something to extract from, and instead move into a way of being based on our inherent worthiness. thank you to the appleturnover patrons for supporting this work. the letter patrons get … Read More

the critical work of our time-

and now for something a little different. this is the first of the journal of small work* ‘readings’ series, a variation that will also be released as as podcast. season three and the living writing of part three of the journal of small work* book have begun. if you’re already a letters patron (which comes … Read More

the most restorative act of the day –

and so we end the first year of the journal of small work* radio as we began it, thinking about writing as a tool for orienting ourselves to the future we are co-creating with our daily actions. clarifying where we have been and preparing for where we may be going, reimagining possible futures, while managing … Read More

within our influence –

how we reduced our electricity use by 70%, and all the many small ways we went about it, here in the appleturnover farmhouse.  this small work* is a close cousin to the journal of small work* films, “wood stove” and “pulley airer“. i hope that some of these ideas are useful to you, in whatever … Read More

shifting a life into harmony –

this small work* agrees that moving into positive futures requires great inner transformation, which in turn demands gentleness and compassion. practicing this on a small scale prepares us, even if it is granular and everyday, even if it’s just finding another approach to doing the washing up.  thank you to the appleturnover patrons for supporting … Read More

the knowledge and skill to make what we need –

on reviving the thrifty, self-reliant skills of home as resistance and reinvention, a reimagining of what our future could be like. this small work* is a friend of the appleturnover film, ‘grain mill’, and in particular, of making fresh pasta by hand. the recipe, more of a basic pattern, is included. what if the practices … Read More

immersed in living systems –

becoming fluent in interdependence, and the multiple, humble acts that revive the commons that connect us, and move us toward positive futures. this small work* is a radio variation on this week’s free letter, which you can find here. this podcast exists thanks to the patrons of the journal of small work* radio and the … Read More

like a gardener creates the conditions –

this tiny piece looks at what works in our culture, to find the patterns that help us to leave behind frameworks of competition and scarcity, for a fundamental shift toward collaboration and sufficiency for all, as a response to converging crises.  this small work, like a gardener creates the conditions – is the little sibling … Read More

when the treetops crash to the earth –

on culturing what is. this small work* is a radio companion piece to a future film about tree pollarding and wood cutting. it looks at the tiny spheres of our influence over time, and how we might engage with the materials of the everyday to create profound, healing change. if this project resonates with you, … Read More

it’s as if we all have culture shock –

 on picturing possible futures. this small work* is a moment spent in seeing where we are now, how we are transfigured by recent years, acknowledging the profound change that is happening and connecting to each other and the greater world to begin to live in a way that is remarkably different. it’s as if we … Read More

the world is procrastinating –

finding our way into good-enough action. this small work* looks at some ways that we can counter, within ourselves, the pattern of perfectionism that shows up in a world stuck in procrastination on the kind of cultural transformation that can move us into ecological, economic balance. the world is procrastinating – is a companion piece … Read More

picture if you will –

habitat as a pattern for possible futures. this small work* is a companion piece to our first film, ‘deep litter‘ which looked at the practices we follow to create a safe, healthy habitat for our food-forest-ranging flocks, which is in every aspect mutually supportive. designing to meet our intrinsic needs, with contentment and flourishing as … Read More

in our experiments with how to live –

on what is necessary, what is sufficient. this small work* is a friend and relation of my short film, *pulley airer*, which looks at appropriate technology and downshifting. in a word, simplicity. what if the future was not deprived, but simply reduced to the essentials? how might community-sufficiency alter our requirements? one of the ways … Read More

picturing climate change as a healing response -

the earth, like the body: a living, healing system. this micro-episode looks at how we see the earth in crisis and how we might culture a way of living that collaborates with the healing-responses of life itself. like season 1 before it, this new season of companion pieces to the journal of small work* film … Read More

living on a smallholding like this one-

in a shuddering economy, the home economy steps up. this small work* is a radio companion to my new film coldframe, which looks at adaptation and relocalisation as frameworks for a future we want to live in. living on a smallholding like this one – paints a picture of some of the old fashioned, even … Read More

in the farmhouse kitchen –

essential tools in the farmhouse kitchen, essential tools in the community for a homebased, needs-based, just economy of good, relocalised food for all, are the concerns of this small work*. this piece is an amiable companion to the appleturnover film grain mill and the journal of small work* episode three, appropriate technology + downshifting. these … Read More

the immediacy of living in attunement with the land –

on embodied connection with what needs to be done. this small work* is a radio companion to the fourth of the journal of small work* films, coldframe. this micro-podcast concerns itself with aspects of living that have not connected me to life, and what an embodied connection could be like. radio and film patrons alike … Read More

becoming fixated on the weather is perhaps inevitable –

a pendulum of extremes, carrying us through to acceptance. this small work*, becoming fixated on the weather is perhaps inevitable – is a radio companion to the journal of small work* films. it looks at the pendulum of extreme weather that is palpably moving us through the stages of grief to a place of radical … Read More

beauty, on the face of it –

on radical acceptance. a radio companion to the second journal of small work* film, oil + wax, pattern language + permeability, the concerns of beauty, on the face of it – are with what lies beneath dominant culture, and how shifting our relationships to ourselves into unconditional acceptance of radical diversity might help us to … Read More

there is pleasure in economy –

on redesigning for pleasing sufficiency, as illustrated by the bicycle. your sunday read-aloud is both a friend of our little film bicycle life as well as a cousin of the third journal of small work*, pulley airer: appropriate technology and downshifting. it turns the story of a future of deprivation on its head, and sees … Read More

patterns repeat –

on recognising and shifting our collective patterns. this sunday radio companion is a cousin of the second film in the journal of small work*, oil + wax, pattern language + permeability. these are uneasy times even without personal sorrows, but i take solace in knowing that our troubles stem from a pattern that collectively, we … Read More

pattern language + permeability –

this sunday read-aloud is a child of the second episode of the journal of small work*, oil + wax: pattern language + permeability. it is concerned particularly with our permeable selves, and our bigger selves, the one that encompasses a whole earth system in perpetual exchange. this tiny piece touches on the exchanging of the … Read More

all-or-nothing ways-of-being-

if what you really have been longing for is an essay on homemade yogurt, hayboxing, and the critical technique of pushing on with imperfect, partial, good-enough action, then this sunday companion is for you. this small work* is another relation of the first episode in the journal of small work*, wood stove: continuous improvement + … Read More

when the world weighs heavily –

on embodied work. this small work* harks back to autumn when, here, we are now in full spring, but we shall soon catch up, and i trust those of you in the global south will appreciate it. this is another radio companion to the first episode in the journal of small work*, wood stove: continuous … Read More

somehow we need a vivid picture –

this small work* is a radio companion to the first episode in the journal of small work* films, wood stove: continuous improvement + stacking functions. do let me know your thoughts on this second very, very small audio work, somehow we need a vivid picture -.  radio and film patrons alike receive the printable transcripts of … Read More

if the chaos of the past two years –

welcome to the first audio companion to the journal of small work*. many of you good patrons followed me here from instagram and know my writing over there well; now you can listen to the audiobook version, grounded in the seasons, expanding on ideas in the films, striking out on a path toward collective regeneration. … Read More