The Accidental Farmers


Book Description

"Seeking a middle path between a meatless lifestyle and the barbarism of factory food", Tim & Liz Young leave suburbia for the farm life of rural Georgia, creating Nature's Harmony Farm, "not just farming, but also farming a totally natural way."--Cover.




Heirloom


Book Description

An eloquent book on contemporary farming life from the organic farmer whose fruits and vegetables inspire the top chefs of New York City.




Observations of an Accidental Farmer―and a Mindful Reader


Book Description

In forty short and charming chapters, a former "great books" teacher from New York City adapts to his new role on a small Southern farm by observing the natural world and drawing connections to his reading life. "Erudite and engaging."—Booklist In late middle-age, Harry Kavros and his wife, Peri, pack up all the household belongings that will fit into their car and leave Manhattan, bound for their new home on a twenty-two-acre patch of pine-filled land in Hillsborough, North Carolina. As Mr. Kavros spends long hours clearing the acreage, not for farming but for sightlines, he muses about the land, the exhausting work it requires, and the rewards the effort offers. Every task he undertakes prompts him to recall and meditate over scenes from his reading life. From the great Greek epics to the writings of Frederick Law Olmstead on landscape, to Thoreau, to modern poets, to a veritable treasury of references, for the author life in the country is also life in among his reading. Witty and perceptive, Observations of an Accidental Farmer—and a Mindful Reader is about cultivation, of one’s land and one’s life.




Project Animal Farm


Book Description

Sonia Faruqi had an Ivy League degree and a job on Wall Street. But when the banking industry collapsed, she found herself on a small organic dairy farm that would change her life for the better, although it didn't seem that way in the beginning.First, she had to come to grips with cows shocked into place, cannibal chickens, and "free range" turkeys that went nowhere. But there were bright lights as well: happy, frolicking calves on a veal farm, and farmers who cared as much about the animals as their pocketbooks. What started as a two-week volunteer vacation turned into a journey that reached into the darkest recesses of the animal agriculture industry.Surrounded by a colorful cast of characters, Faruqi's quest to discover the truth about modern agribusiness took her around the world. Lively, edgy, and balanced, Project Animal Farm sheds light on the international agribusiness, with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of farm animals here at home. Using her finance background to forecast the future of agriculture, Faruqi discusses the changes we need to make—using our forks and our votes.




The Accidental Apprentice


Book Description

Eleven-year-old Barclay Thorne yearns for the quiet life of a mushroom farmer, but after unwittingly bonding with a beast in the forbidden Woods, he must seek Lore Keepers to break the bond and return home.




Our Wild Farming Life


Book Description

As seen on the BBC’s This Farming Life The inspirational story of Lynbreck Croft—a regenerative Scottish farm rooted in local food, community, and the dreams of two women. Lynn and Sandra left their friends, family, and jobs in England to travel north to Scotland to find a bit of land that they could call their own. They had in mind keeping a few chickens, a kitchen garden, and renting out some camping space; instead, they fell in love with Lynbreck Croft—150 acres of opportunity and beauty, shrouded by the Cairngorms and deep in the Highlands of Scotland. But they had no money, no plan, and no experience in farming. In Our Wild Farming Life, Lynn and Sandra recount their experiences as they work out what kind of farmers they want to be, learning how to work with Highland cattle, become part of the crofting community, and understand how they can farm with nature to produce food for themselves and the people around them. “Through their journey to becoming farmers,” as The Guardian recently wrote, “it’s clear that nature and the health of the environment plays a central role in everything they do, from planting 17,500 native broadleaf trees for wood pasture to setting aside 22 hectares for rewilding.” And through efforts like these, Lynn and Sandra have been able to combine regenerative farming practices with old crofting traditions to keep their own personal values intact. Our Wild Farming Life is what happens when you follow your dreams of living on the land; a story of how two people became farmers—and how they learned to make a living from it, their way.




Out and about at the Dairy Farm


Book Description

This lively trip to the dairy farm introduces calves, heifers, and milkers.




Gaining Ground


Book Description

With humor and pathos, Forrest Pritchard recounts his ambitious and often hilarious endeavors to save his family’s seventh-generation farm in the Shenandoah Valley. Through many a trial and error, he not only saves Smith Meadows from insolvency but turns it into a leading light in the sustainable, grass-fed, organic farm-to-market community. There is nothing young Farmer Pritchard won’t try. Whether he’s selling firewood and straw, raising free-range chickens and hogs, or acquiring a flock of Barbados Blackbelly sheep, his learning curve is steep and always entertaining. Pritchard’s world crackles with colorful local characters—farm hands, butchers, market managers, customers, fellow vendors, pet goats, policemen—bringing the story to warm, communal life. His most important ally, however, is his renegade father, who initially questions his son's career choice and eschews organic foods for the generic kinds that wreak havoc on his health. Soon after his father’s death, the farm becomes a recognized success and Pritchard must make a vital decision: to continue serving the local community or answer the exploding demand for his wares with lucrative Internet sales and shipping deals. More than a charming story of honest food cultivation and farmers’ markets, Gaining Ground tugs on the heartstrings, reconnecting us to the land and the many lives that feed us.




Bet the Farm


Book Description

"Eloquent and detailed...It's hard to have hope, but the organized observations and plans of Hoffman and people like her give me some. Read her book -- and listen." -- Jane Smiley, The Washington Post In her late 40s, Beth Hoffman decided to upend her comfortable life as a professor and journalist to move to her husband's family ranch in Iowa--all for the dream of becoming a farmer. There was just one problem: money. Half of America's two million farms made less than $300 in 2019, and many struggle just to stay afloat. Bet the Farm chronicles this struggle through Beth's eyes. She must contend with her father-in-law, who is reluctant to hand over control of the land. Growing oats is good for the environment but ends up being very bad for the wallet. And finding somewhere, in the midst of COVID-19, to slaughter grass finished beef is a nightmare. If Beth can't make it, how can farmers who confront racism, lack access to land, or don't have other jobs to fall back on hack it? Bet the Farm is a first-hand account of the perils of farming today and a personal exploration of more just and sustainable ways of producing food.




Holy Crap! I Married a Farmer!


Book Description

Holy Crap! I Married a Farmer! delivers eye-opening moments, treasured memories, and just plain laughter. In these entertaining chapters, you'll discover that juggling farm life with a smile can save your sanity--and your marriage. Who better than Sisters in Agriculture to share experiences about breakdowns and parts runs, family in-laws and farm priorities, money and communication. Their caring hearts, enduring spirits, and witty wisdom will get you through the toughest days on the farm. Inside this book you'll find answers to questions we women on the farm always wondered about but had no one to ask. The stories are filled with insights and real-life reasons to laugh. As one reader shared, "Being married to a farmer is like riding a roller coaster in an amusement park. There will be peaks of joy and celebration...and valleys of stress and frustration. But in Holy Crap! I Married a Farmer! Jolene reminds me that I can enjoy the ride!"