The Southern Collector Road is now completed and just today, Sunday the 21st of July, the first road kill was sighted. (A possum) A car collision actually occurred the very day the road opened, but fortunately, there was no injury (not, lat least, to the persons involved.)
It will take time to get used to the additional noise of the cars and the sounds of voices, both those from people walking up the sidewalk along the road and from those of people across the street. The quiet we have enjoyed for so many years is now punctuated by the sounds of an expanding town.
We want our customers and loyal fans to know that eminent domain is being discussed in more earnest than in previous years, and we believe that with more exposure to the abuses that both municipalities and courts have perpetrated on the citizens, a shift in the lackadaisical attitude of the public will change. The right of private property is a fundamental right. Our forefathers never intended for the seizure of property to be a casual or thoughtless event. To them the right to own property was the basis of all other rights, and the foundation of all virtue. We see how, in communist countries, the denial of the ability to own property and profit from one’s endeavors from it produces envy, indifference and corruption
The road is done, but the trial begins March 21st (unless it is delayed). The county papers (excluding the Blue Ridge Leader) will, of course, report all of the distortions and outright lies about us, as they have done all through this procedure, preferring to take Lazaro’s word over the truth. Never once has either of the other county papers ever spoken to us. Not in six years. Their anodyne and frankly uninformative reporting of all things political in Purcellville is an embarrassment to the citizens here who take the time to know what’s going on. The cowardly emission of criticism of all political figures in the county and towns is breathtakingly obvious. No where will democracy survive with the kind of under reporting done by these papers. The lies from the town itself are constant and numerous and never undergo any scrutiny from any of the town council members.
For example: We never “sued” the town over the annexation.. The county (that is, the former Board of Supervisors) brought an injunction against the town because of its attempt to annex 2.43 acres of our land on the back forty-five which was a clear violation of PUGAMP, the joint land use agreement between the county and the town. To this day, the annexation of that land and two other properties is an illegal act. The town receives 27 cents in tax money for the acreage it annexed of ours, costing the taxpayer fifty or sixty cents just in paper and postage, not to mention what it costs in labor, to mail it.
But we did finally sue them. They offered us a tenth of what we believe the land is worth. And this is where eminent domain has been excessively and outrageously abused by the government, including the housing authorities, VDOT and even the baseball authority, themselves being a huge overreach of the process. I suggest that if any of you are interested in” The Real Story of Eminent Domain in Virginia” you read the Virginia Institute for Public Policy Report by Jeremy P. Hopkins. It is an eye opener, and will leave you shaking your head in disbelief. It might leave some of you shaking in your boots. It is one of the most powerful proofs that we are losing democracy in this country because if the governments do not respect private property they will no longer respect any other of our civil rights. The town’s numerous violations of Virginia’s own state codes and the courts indifference to those violations brought about the constitutional amendment that Virginia voters just passed (by a 70% pro vote). Nothing in the language was new. It was lifted right out of the Virginia Code. This was an attempt to actually force the courts to apply laws already on the books. Despite the fact that it clearly states that the land NOT used for the road (only land sufficient for the road is to be taken) must be returned to the landowner, the town has refused to give us our land back. This is because they intend to use it in the future for more development, which is also a clear violation of Virginia Code, in that land is not to be taken for the purpose of economic expansion, which Mayor Lazaro clearly stated was exactly why they were annexing properties (which need to be annexed before they can be condemned).
But it’s much worse than that. Abuses by VDOT and other government entities demonstrate a tyranny of government over the rights of the citizen in appalling detail. I am not exaggerating when I say you will find this like reading a novel by a Kafkian/Russian novelist.
The “free” press that is supposed to hold back the tyranny of the powerful is not only laying down on the job in Loudoun, it is in lockstep with the increasingly corrupt elected officials who are restricting public access to decisions that will effect all of us. It is becoming more and more apparent that everything touching the public sphere in Loudoun is being bought out by powerful special interests. Only the Blue Ridge Leader is trying to stem the tide of government abuse by keeping a watchful eye on Purcellville’s political antics.
You can’t pack ninety-five acres of productive farmland in a suitcase and lay it down somewhere else, trees and all. We like it here. We like our customers. But the politics have to change and so the people have to change. Despite the fact that we throw HALF of our food away in this country, the loss of over TWO MILLION acres of farmland a year, and the fact that Loudoun County is prime farmland and being paved over at a rapid rate, cannot continue. Crooked Run was a pristine creek when I arrived here twenty-three years ago, full of life, including crayfish, which is a sign of good water quality. Now its covered in scum, thanks to the town’s indifference to the protection of the water quality. Sooner or later we will have to stop the destruction of our land and learn to grow our own food. We can’t continue to depend on other countries to do it, especially in the face of drastic political changes and increased loss of water and soil resources the world over, not to mention considerations over safety.
In the meantime, we will continue to grow food and to welcome the public. We hope to see you in the future, and for many years to come. Until there is a law against growing real trees (or rather, letting the oaks and maples grow into bigness without our intrusions into their well-being) and letting the land express itself in all its ragged complexity, without interference from our meddlesome and mostly unproductive “improvements” upon the land, we will be here, and we hope you will join us, and let the kids roam around and get familiar with an environment we have too much abandoned in recent times for,. . .um, how shall I put this? Ephemeral pursuits? You can’t eat an IPAD.
Crooked Run Orchard 
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