How to Shovel Manure and Other Life Lessons for the Country Woman


Book Description

It’s not a job you want to take on without a sense of humor. Oops--it’s not a job at all. It’s an all-encompassing life, being a country woman on the ranch or farm, and with wit and equanimity like Gwen Petersen’s, it can be survived. In fact, with Petersen’s help, it can be drop-dead hilarious. A much-loved cowgirl scribe in rare form, Petersen eases us through the rigors of country living, from raising chickens to shoveling manure to cooking Rocky Mountain oysters. You’d think midwifing a calf was no laughing matter--until Gwen steps in with her expert advice. She has wise counsel for sharing the yard with a gaggle of ill-tempered geese; step-by-step instructions for harvesting pig manure; and sound advice for staying cool through haying season and coping with the chaos of Christmas on the ranch or farm. For good measure, the book includes poems and recipes that will transport you to a country state of mind--whether you hail from the city’s busiest streets or the ranch’s quietest gravel roads. Equal parts handy how-to advice, rural humor, philosophy, and fond farm nostalgia, How to Shovel Manure and Other Life Lessons for the Country Woman is all good.




The Tractor in the Haystack


Book Description

For the aficionado of farm equipment, or the scion of an old farming family nostalgic for the old days, or the grown-up boy who still loves a classic piece of old-time machinery, the vintage tractor can be a thrilling find like no other. This book tells dozens of stories of such discoveries, of the treasured old tractor parked in a shed since 1927, of the pristine model unearthed at an estate sale, of the broken-down old beauty stashed in a barn where generations of children have made their secret hideaways. These are the classic tractors that are often as hard to find as a needle in a haystack—but far more fun to discover, as all of these delightful stories make abundantly clear.




Seasons on the Farm


Book Description

From the awakening of the land in the spring to the fireside planning on a chilly winter night, life on a farm revolves around the seasons of the year. The rural music of this seasonal rhythm sounds through the pages of this volume. Writers offer memories of farm life and reflections on its seasonal unfolding, from spring planting through hay baling to harvest suppers in a two-room country schoolhouse. Some funny, some poignant, these evocative essays are illustrated with black-and-white historical photographs and crisp color images that conjure the life of a farm for readers who have known that world intimately, or have only dreamed of it.







Everything I Know About Life I Learned From My Horse


Book Description

Presents humorous descriptions about how to buy a horse, learn to ride, and feed and care for it, along with anecdotal stories about horsemanship and horses from the past.




Public Opinion


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Garden Life


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Pennsylvania Farmer


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Portraits of the Gathering


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