THE FARMACIST
A FARMER PROMOTING HEALING OF THE LAND & THE BODY
SPEAKING
Inspirational~Educational~Insightful and Joyful
~The joy of the Lord is my strength~ Nehemiah 8:10
Stan first took to preaching when he was sixteen, standing behind a pulpit that felt too big for him, trusting a Word that wasn’t his to begin with but he knew to be Holy. The years since have given him a few more miles and a little more sense, but the calling hasn’t changed—he’s just found new places to stand.
These days, the “pulpit” might be a stage, or a farmhouse kitchen with jars cooling on the counter, or a hay bale out by the fence line with pigs rooting nearby. The crowds come in all sizes. The message, though, still leans toward hope—grounded in something deeper than opinion, steadied by a faith that has learned to take its time.
What he implicitly understands is that the Gospel also speaks clearly through good soil as it does surrounded by stained-glass. So he talks about land that is meant to be stewarded as the creator assigned to us instead of used up. When he speaks about pigs—those Iberico and Iberian Grazers—working a pasture the way they were made to do he lights up. About food put up right, jars sealed with care, and meals that truly nourish more than just fill the body he also delights in addressing.
The stories he tells are not meant to impress so much as to invite. They carry a bit of smoke from the smokehouse, a bit of dirt from the field, and a belief that what we practice daily—on the land, at the table, in our communities—can be shaped into something worth handing down through his commitment to Be A Good Ancestor with a BAGA cap atop his head.
If there’s any wisdom in it, it’s this: tend what’s been given to you, speak the truth as plainly as you can, and leave something behind that your grandchildren’s great grandchildren will be glad to inherit.
Specialties
His Healing Story–From Pesticide Induced Terminal Cancer to Regenerative Farming for Health & Healing
A Picklin’ and Cannin’ Story–How and Why the Picklin’ Parson Came to Be
How to Pickle and Can fruit, veggies and meat using longstanding canning methods
Retiring with the “Next” in Mind–A Successor’s Guide to Assisting in Personal and Institutional Health
Enjoying the Cooking of Iberico Pork, Remember (Low, Slow and Rest)
Smokehouse Smoking & The Curing Process–Nearly Lost in Texas and the Deep South
Regenerative Pasture Pig Farming and the Care of the Soil
Positive and Transformative Messages of Faith from the Foundation of the Bible
Be A Good Ancestor~What it Means to Think Long
Writing
Over the years, Stan has put a fair bit of ink to paper—three books of his own, five shared with good companions, and three cookbooks born out of kitchens where the work was as honest as the company. For a long while, his rhythm was a sermon a week, shaped for a sanctuary and a Sunday morning.
These days, that rhythm has found a new home out on the edge of pasture and porch, where he writes each week on Substack. It’s still a kind of preaching, I suppose—just without the stained-glass and with a little more room for the wind to blow through and a few less self-imposed restrictions.
Those who care can pull up a chair and read along for free, or lend their support to keep the words coming and a show of appreciation for the value of them. What he offers there is what he wants to give: reflections that carry a bit of grace and grit, a downhome truth that doesn’t mind being plainspoken, and now and then a word that leans a little prophetic when the moment calls for it.
Stan says, “I try to keep it honest above all else. Something rooted. Something the reader can use. And if I can, I’ll pin a bit of humor to it—because a good laugh, like a good home grown, home cooked meal, has a way of reminding us we’re still in this together and that is the best comfort of all.”
Stan has authored 3 books, co-authored 5 books, and written 3 cookbooks that are inspirational, downhome, appropriately pointed, sometimes sage-like and always authentic with something pinned to make the reader smile or laugh out loud.
Video
Videoing seemed to never feel foreign to Stan. For thirty-five of his forty-plus years in ministry, he stood in sanctuaries where the camera was as much a part of the room as the pulpit—carrying the Word farther than the walls could hold it.
Somewhere along the way, that lens found him again under a different name—the Picklin’ Parson—and the tone grew a little more pointed. There were things that needed saying. Misinformation has a way of drifting like a fog, and he felt called to speak plainly into what was a split in his denomination.
He spoke for the dignity of local communities to discern their way, and for a love that does not draw lines around who belongs—especially for our neighbors on the LGBTQ spectrum, who deserve nothing less than steady, unqualified care. A good many folks pulled up a chair and listened in those days–some thankful for his presence in this way and others not so appreciative. But seasons change, like they always do.
These days, the edge has softened into something more like a smile. You’re just as likely to find him out by the fence line with a bucket of feed, calling pigs by name, or standing still long enough to laugh at a young donkey named Violet kicking up her heels like joy itself. The camera still rolls—but now it catches jars being filled and sealed, smoke rising slowly from the smokehouse, and a kitchen where the work is meant to be shared in his version of a cooking show.
Stan has taken to doing a bit of cooking on camera, too—nothing fancy, just food made right, with a story or two along the way. And there’s a podcast here and there—The Farmacist when it’s just him thinking out loud, and Buck and the Parson when his longtime friend David “Buck” Nichols pulls up a chair. Buck’s spent a lifetime teaching fifth graders and tending a big, flourishing garden like it matters alot, which it does. Together we talk about the things that last—soil and soul, friendship and foolishness, and how a person might go about being a good ancestor.
Truth is, the message hasn’t changed all that much. It’s just found a quieter way of being heard.
Sanctuary for Lent 1998. Lord, He Went 2006 Abingdon. Farewell 2025
Disciplines 2000 Abingdon. Together. Bridging Favorites
Disciplines 2025 Abingdon
When Uncle Sam’s in A Pickle Colinasway Media
When Life is Jarring Colinasway Media
Feeling the Heat in the Alaskan Kitchen Colinasway Media
View his writing
Get his weekly videos on YouTube here.
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