Product Description
This photo-essay documents an important but fast-disappearing American institution.
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

lovely
I knew I would love this book after the first page.And I was so sad to see it draw to a close.You will willingly follow Jim anywhere and everywhere he wants to take you.It is worth it.I am thankful for getting to walk beside him on this journey of his.It is so much like the journey we are all taking, only on another page.There are images from this book that will be with me forever.

A Wonderful Book!
This books was just a great pleasure to read.Jim Minick weaves together a terrific story of the trials and tribulations of a teacher who turns small farmer going back to the land to create a simpler quieterlife.He writes of the the wonderful the fellowship with most of his neighbors, friends and customers, trying to make a go of growing blueberries on a hilltop in Virginia.He and his wife overcome many challenges and largely succeed in fulfilling some their dreams, though not all of them.How they get there makes a very satisfying story.Highly recommended.

Beautifully written
In a wonderfully poetic style, Jim Minick doesn't just tell a story of his decade with blueberries. The reader sees, hears, tastes and feels their experiences on this beautiful blueberry farm.Like Barbara Kingsolver and her book "Animal, Vegetables and Miracles", Jim Minick takes a subject that could be very dry (how much can one person say about blueberries?), and with his beautiful prose keeps his readers turning the pages, wanting more. I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description

"Thoughtfully documenting the voice and emotions of many who might otherwise remain unheard, Hemalata Dandekar provides in-depth accounts and insights, underpinned by quietly rigorous analysis, about family interactions and the perceptions, understandings, and memories of family members . . . a tribute to the indomitability of the human spirit as an enduring force in sustaining farm life on the Michigan farms."
---Anatole Senkevitch, Jr., Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan

Michigan's family farms form the backbone of the state. One need only see the Centennial Farm signs that dot the sides of the state's country roads to understand that. Hemalata Dandekar shows in her new book just how connected those family farm buildings are to the families that inhabit them.

Fifteen family-farm case studies display farm buildings' relationship to the land they sit on, their function on the farm, the materials they're made with, the farm enterprises themselves, and the families who own them. Photographs, plans, elevations, and sections of exemplary traditional farm buildings show the aesthetic and architectural qualities of those types of buildings across the state.

The ways in which the buildings serve the productive activities of the farm, shelter and nourish the people and livestock, yield a living, and enable the aspirations of farm people are shown in the words and photographs of the farmers themselves. The buildings form a window into the lives of Michigan's family farms and into the hearts and minds of the people who have lived and worked on them their entire lives.

Hemalata C. Dandekar is Department Head of City and Regional Planning at California Polytechnic State University. She specializes in urbanization, urban-rural linkages, rural development, and gender and housing. She developed her love of Michigan farmers and farm architecture during her years as a student and professor at the Urban Planning program of the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. She was Director of the Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies and Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan.

Product Description
Exploring the saga of six generations on a Vermont family farm, the author evokes a way of life in vivid detail and documents the evolution of the farmer from the center of society to his uncertain position today. ... Read more

Product Description
Beautifully warm full-color paintings highlight a tale about Mike and Sarah, who try to help their family farm survive some lean times by raising pumpkins and flowers, but still they need more money. Reprint. SLJ. AB. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another Exquisite book by Thomas Locker
My daughter and I can't get enough of Thomas Locker's incredible artwork. His gorgeous paintings in Mare on the Hill, Gray Wolf Country, and Family Farm are museum-quality. Family Farm is a wonderful, poignant story about afamily trying to keep their farm going for another season. Locker writesabout what he knows, and each page is infused with emotion. Any child overthe age of 6 who dreams of living in the country will love this story. ... Read more

Product Description
This definitive guide on collecting authenic rural items covers every aspect of farm life from the turn of the century onward, including needlework, cooking and canning utensils. It offers descriptions and prices for thousands of items with over 175 photos. Each chapter describes an aspect of farming in detail, including the tools and activities involved and how the task has evolved. ... Read more

Product Description
"100 Years of Vintage Farm Tractors" is devoted to die-hard tractor fans who "get it"-those who get excited restoring, reading about and reveling in images of beloved farm tractors-from gas-powered tractors to Poppin' Johnnies and Minne-Mos, from Farmalls to Fordsons.

Stories are by authors such as Justin Isherwood (horse versus tractor farming), Bill Holm (our faith in machinery), Hamlin Garland (threshing days), Patricia Penton Leimbach (a farmwife's view of tractors), Loren Paine (tractors as "man things"), Jerry Apps (homemade tractors), Orlan Skare (the agony and ecstasy of tractor seats), as well as the famous first story of super salesman Alexander Botts and the Earthworm Tractor by William Upson Hazlett.

The fabulous artwork perfectly complements the text, creating the ideal tractor mood; it includes many newly discovered paintings by Walter Haskell Hinton, cartoons by Bob Artley, and photographs by Andrew Morland, Ralph Sanders, and others.

". . . an anthology of truly engaging and nostalgic stories . . . . Enthusiastically recommended for tractor fans, farm equipment enthusiasts, and students of American agricultural history. . . ." "The Bookwatch" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An anthology of truly engaging and nostalgic stories
100 Years Of Vintage Farm Tractors is an anthology of truly engaging and nostalgic stories dedicated to the tractor farming of yesteryear. Included are pieces by Justin Isherwood (horse vs. tractor farming), Bill Holm (our faith in machinery); Hamlin Garland (threshing days), Patricia Penton Leimbach (a farmwife's view of tractors), Loren Paine (tractors as "man things"), Jerry Apps (homemade tractors), and Orlan Skare (the agony and the ecstasy of tractor seats), William Upson Hazlett ("Super Salesman Alexander Botts and the Earthworm Tractor). Enthusiastically recommended for tractor fans, farm equipment enthusiasts, and students of American agricultural history, 100 Years Of Vintage Farm Tractors is illustrated throughout its 160 pages by one hundred color photographs of vintage tractors, plus black and white period photos. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

Farm days in Northern Illinois in the eary 1900s
The author wrote an interesting and well documented family history of a farm family in Rockford, Illinois, during the early 1900s. This book was used as a text for a family history class. The author provided many subjects of interest to stimulate converations. My family was also in Illinois on a farm at this time. Talking with family members, their life is not the same. So, take each family history as that, a history of a particular family and not a sterotype of all farm families in the area. This book is well written, easy to read, and great for general history topics of discussion.

Three reasons I liked this book.
I enjoyed this book for many reasons, but here are the top three:
1) I am fascinated with how energy has transformed societies, and these stories show how farming during the period adapts to increasingly cheap energy.
2) The book shows how real people dealt with the financial changes over the 4 decades period.That was particularly interesting since I read this book in Nov 2008 when everyone is making references to the Great Depression.
3) The book is a joy to read.Carrie Meyer weaves together the simple threads provided in the diaries into a concise and completely satisfying life story.

The best insight into living on a farm
I was fortunate to hear Carrie Meyer give a presentation on this book and immediately bought it.I am now buying extra copies for family members who live on farms in Illinois and Iowa.I grew up on a farm in Central Illinois (roughly 100 miles of the family farm Carrie describes) in the late 1930s.This book has the daily diary from 1900 to 1944.It also has income and expense ledgers for everything they bought and sold.It tells about living on the farm in good and difficult times.Carrie's family is still living on the farm.This is the best book I have seen about life on a farm and how technology changed how farming was done.It is a must read.

An engaging and articulate read and a highly recommended addition
"Days On The Family Farm: From The Golden Age Through The Great Depression" by Carrie A. Meyer (who grew up on an Illinois farm and went on to teach economics at George Mason University) is a memoir based history of life on a Midwestern farm from the beginning of the twentieth century to World War II as recorded in a daily chronicle kept by farm wife May Lyford Davis. The result is an entertaining and informative 'window into time' through which is revealed an American yesteryear when May and her husband Elmo experienced life on a farm through two decades of prosperity, the bleak years of the Great Depression, and the impact of two World Wars upon their Midwestern farming community of friends and neighbors. Articulate, detailed, personable, "Days On The Family Farm" is the story of a farmer's life marked by description of what was bought and sold, the evolution of farming practices and technologies from horse drawn plows to tractors, what was planted and harvested, temperatures and rainfall, births an deaths, even the impact of wind on the work of farming. Simply stated, "Days On The Family Farm" is an engaging and articulate read and a highly recommended addition to any personal or community library collection. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

More than cucumbers are in a pickle
Though operation of a cucumber buying station in Central Wisconsin is the focus, this entertaining story is about profound changes facing farmers in the 1950's. In effect this simple story is really about fundamental social and cultural change in a rural county in Wisconsin.

Well written, entertaining and dead-on target.

Endearing and a not-so-light read
Should I ever have the time, I could - and have - read a book a day.And truly only one out-of-twenty-five are a great read.In A Pickle is one.You will feel richly rewarded for your time when it is spent reading this book.Anyone who is a lover of family-based, coming-of-age fiction will enjoy your first, second, ... reads of this terrific book.It is also the perfect vehicle for an enjoyable movie, so I hope someone buys the option on this in that it would almost be difficult to muck it up for the big screen.IT IS THAT GOOD.Happy reading!

Interesting Food for Thought
Like an earlier reviewer, I'll look for more books from Jerry Apps. My mother's dad was a farmer in Iowa. They moved to "The Valley" in Texas (near Brownsville) when she was 14 and then to NW Arkansas before she graduated from high school. In all three areas, my grandad farmed. When I was a child, he milked a few cows and put his 10-gallon milk cans out at the rural train station for pick-up each day. He worked at the local BUSH canning plant part-time to supplement his farming income. My grandmother was a grade school teacher until she retired. This novel helped me to understand more about my family history and some of the challenges that must have been faced by my grandparents. This story is good food for thought.

Support your local farmer
Jerry Apps zeroes in on the importance of the small family farm in the community and the challenges that are facing the farmers and their families.I enjoyed getting drawn into the story of the pickle factory and its importance as a source of income and gathering place. You will look at pickles differently after reading this book. I live in Wisconsin but never knew about the role small cucumber patches played in the life of the farm areas. Buy local, support the family farmers and help them creatively survive the challenge of agribusiness.

A nice break!
No need to repeat Jim Pope's comments. I like books like these as a nice "break" from the "murder & mayhem" novels I usually read. Very nice and informative book, indeed. I'll be looking for more of Jerry Apps' works. ... Read more

Product Description
Thrilling, heartbreaking, and, at times, absurdly funny, The Last Resort is a remarkable true story about one family in a country under siege and a testament to the love, perseverance, and resilience of the human spirit.

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Douglas Rogers is the son of white farmers living through that country’s long and tense transition from postcolonial rule. He escaped the dull future mapped out for him by his parents for one of adventure and excitement in Europe and the United States. But when Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe launched his violent program to reclaim white-owned land and Rogers’s parents were caught in the cross fire, everything changed. Lyn and Ros, the owners of Drifters–a famous game farm and backpacker lodge in the eastern mountains that was one of the most popular budget resorts in the country–found their home and resort under siege, their friends and neighbors expelled, and their lives in danger. But instead of leaving, as their son pleads with them to do, they haul out a shotgun and decide to stay.

On returning to the country of his birth, Rogers finds his once orderly and progressive home transformed into something resembling a Marx Brothers romp crossed with Heart of Darkness: pot has supplanted maize in the fields; hookers have replaced college kids as guests; and soldiers, spies, and teenage diamond dealers guzzle beer at the bar.

And yet, in spite of it all, Rogers’s parents–with the help of friends, farmworkers, lodge guests, and residents–among them black political dissidents and white refugee farmers–continue to hold on. But can they survive to the end?

In the midst of a nation stuck between its stubborn past and an impatient future, Rogers soon begins to see his parents in a new light: unbowed, with passions and purpose renewed, even heroic. And, in the process, he learns that the "big story" he had relentlessly pursued his entire adult life as a roving journalist and travel writer was actually happening in his own backyard.

Evoking elements of The Tender Bar and Absurdistan, The Last Resort is an inspiring, coming-of-age tale about home, love, hope, responsibility, and redemption. An edgy, roller-coaster adventure, it is also a deeply moving story about how to survive a corrupt Third World dictatorship with a little innovation, humor, bribery, and brothel management.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (51)

Unexpected delight
I'll confess this isn't a book or subject matter that I would normally be attracted to - I found the book left in a hotel room in D.C. but Douglas Rogers created a seamless delight.

He creates a story that requires no prior knowledge of the politics or Zambabwe and spins personal family experience and national politics into a wonderful brew.The absurdity of some of the situations is right out of Douglas Adams and yet it is all too real and true.

Thank you for a wonderful read

If I could, a 6-star rating!
I bought this book back in December 2009, and loved reading it. I wrote an email fan letter to the author.Imagine: he responded in five days -- with his thanks!(Only William Styron -- who sent me a postcard from the Vineyard -- ever answered a note of mine.)Now I am trying to get my book club to pick The Last Resort for this fall.A wonderful story on many levels, written just beautifully."Not since Out of Egypt and The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit," I wrote, "have I enjoyed a book so much, and been so moved.Thank you for allowing me to visit Drifters, and get to know you and your amazing parents..."No one who reads The Last Resort will not be moved and inspired by their bravery.

The Last Resort
It was my pleasure to be able to review the book The Last Resort, by Douglas Rogers.Simply put the book is about the struggles and perseverance of the white farmers and people of Zimbabwe in a time period that should have continued to lead them back into the best times of their lives, but before continuing one must have a little more background about the story.The time period this memoir takes place in starts in the year 2000, just before the elections that included the first viable opposition party, the MDC, and continues on to present day.The place is Mutare, and to be even more specific, the Drifter's, a backpacker's lodge that advertised famous game walks and affordable stays, and with a pioneer's will and determination.As a side note the Drifter's is still there today.In his early twenties and thirties the author, Douglas Rogers, has left his parents and Zimbabwe for what he feels is a more exciting life in Europe and the Americas as a travel writer with a residence in London.It was only when he heard of the murder of the first white farmer that he returned to check on his parents.It was this trip into and then through the new and ever changing world of what was now Zimbabwe that sparked the book.
From the very first chapter the writing grabbed me as being very human, very real, and well worth continuing.It was both refreshing and disheartening to read something that was written about the trials of today's Zimbabwe as seen by someone who has lived in both worlds.This has given Douglas Rogers a unique view of what happens from both sides of the political debate and even from a more personal angle.He approaches this story with humor, sadness, and even humor in this absurd reality.He relates the history of the people and times in a way that draws one in and makes them a part of this uniquely strange time period in Zimbabwe's history.This book is definitely worth the read even though there are a few parts where the language and the topics may offend some, but are easily overlooked because it is what has happened.The last sentence on the inside jacket cover sums it up best, "An edgy, rollercoaster adventure, it is also a deeply moving story about how to survive a corrupt Third World dictatorship with a little innovation, humor, bribery, and brothel management."

Excellent Book
I found this an excellent book. The writer describes the adventures and struggles of his parents as they survive in Zimbabwe. He also gives a good overview of the situation in general. This book (and other similar ones) is a reminder to me that we in the west played a part in pushing Rhodesia into a rigged election, which brought Robert Mugabe to power. Many of us here bought the rhetoric that Mugabe and his comrades were freedom fighters. We ignored warnings that they violently coerced support from black natives. No, the previous white government was not ideal and changes undoubtedly were needed. But Mugabe has nearly destroyed that nation, while driving out many of its business leaders that made it a successful economy in the past. Blacks can be tyrants just as well as whites; the world needs to understand this.

David

The Last Resort
I first heard this book on BBC Radio 4's book of the week, and immediately ordered a copy. It brings to life in ways that are touching, heart-rending, absurd, terrifying and deeply insightful the story of Zimbabwe from the time of the first farm invasions until the present, as experienced principally through the author and his parents.

The story is far from being an elegiac or even polemical nostalgia trip on behalf of a privileged white minority, however. We are introduced to a richly diverse array of characters, who give us deep insights into the mind-set and world-view of the white 'bittereinders', and those whose voice is little heard or understood - the black Zimbabweans who fought for independence. At the same time we meet political opponents and supporters of the opposition movement, the MDC.

In the midst of this chaotic melting pot which is contemporary Zimbabwe, we are introduced to the backpackers resort Drifters, which becomes in itself a gathering point for those affected by or involved in the political upheaval which is swirling around it, and the extraordinary characters who make up the story in this particular part of the country.

The book is a page-turner from start to finish, and may be appreciated by readers of all kinds. It will particularly be appreciated by anyone who has an interest in that part of the world, or has visited Zimbabwe, like myself. It may also prompt some who read it to visit the country for the first time. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children
A family with another baby on the way needs a new house, but their real estate agent just cannot seem to find the right house.A lodge on the breezy shore, a ranch house in the dessert, a mountain-top home, none of them can provide the space and setting that the family members know they want.A raccoon realtor, on the other hand, has no trouble finding a succession of animal families the perfect home on the grounds of Old Mill Farm, an old barn nestled in the woods and hills with a stream running from a nearby pond.Could Old Mill Farm be the dream home for the people family as well?With its warm illustrations and parallel story lines, this unique children's book makes a useful resource for discussing wants and needs, as well as supply and demand, in the context of real estate.

Perfect!
This is a beautifully written, delightful, and heartwarming book with a captivating rhythm that is both fun to read, and to hear.I enjoyed it so much, I'm keeping it at my home to read to my grandchildren when they visit!Thank you to both author and illustrator!
Most sincerely,Bonnie Garrison

Babies like this, too
This is the favorite book of my 15-month-old grandson.He chooses it from his shelf-full of books for reading each day...and sometimes multiple times a day.His father reports that his son seems to love the rhythm of the words read aloud, as well as the pictures of the animals, even though he's too young to understand the meaning of the story, which is delightful for older children. ... Read more

Product Description
A lyrical, sensuous and thoroughly engrossing memoir of one critical year in the life of an organic peach farmer, Epitaph for a Peach is "a delightful narrative . . . with poetic flair and a sense of humor" (Library Journal). Line drawings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Peaches
Because I grew up with peach juice dribbling down my chin, I've been longing for that sensation for years! With mouth-watering anticipation, I read this book hungrily as I prepared for our Book Club discussion next week.

A slight book
This book doesn't quite live up to its promise.I found the concept of his quest to save his heirloom peaches inspiring, but the book lacks the focus and drama I expected.Instead it meanders through the agricultural seasons, without much explanation of, say, the marketing and distribution process, which is apparently the challenge with the kind of peaches he's growing.The book has a nice mood, but after a while I began to feel that he was saying the same things over and over again.I didn't finish the book, which is rare for me.

A year in the life of a peach farmer
Epitaph for a Peach chronicles a year on Mas Masumoto's farm in the great Central Valley of California.If you are not familar with his work, Mas is a third generation Japanese American (Sansei) farmer, a disappearing breed. If you were raised on a family farm, Mas nails the experience right on the head.His writing is accessible; doesn't require that you have a degree in Literature to understand.He weaves a tale that keeps one engaged.

The book opens with a prologue written by Mas that was published in the Los Angeles Times.Mas laments having to bulldoze his Sun Crest peach orchard in order to plant a more "popular" and profitable variety.(The article was syndicated nationally - I don't know how I missed it.)This sets the stage for Mas' effort to find a market for his peaches as well as tell his story of life on the farm.Each season brings work and change.He disputes the notion that a farmer's life is unchanging.It is also filled with symbolism - egrets, owls, ghosts - and optimism. The end leaves you with an unanswered question - does the peach orchard survive beyond the year chronicled in the book?

If you are a refugee from a family farm, have spent time on a family farm or want a vignette into the life of a Sansei farmer, I highly recommend Epitaph for a Peach.

An excellent view into the life of a small-scale family farm
Author David Masumoto has written an excellent vignette into the year in a life of a small-scale, family farmer. His passion for his life's work, his connection to the land, and his strong family values are so clearly evident in his writing. I think a lot of readers will be envious of the life he describes. I share many of his views on the value of small family farms and the need to focus on how food should taste. Masumoto's book will reonsate deeply with those of us who know what it means to be curious about how something grows, who look forward to the first ripe peach or melon of the year, who prefer to make things from scratch and sit down with all our kids at dinner.

Not so much an epitaph, but a love letter to the land
I feel a connection with David Masumoto. Not that I've met him or anything - in fact, there's a good chance I never will (although I keep hoping that one summer day I can make it over to his farm to pick peaches). No, this feeling is based on an impression that we have both fought the same fight over different things, for the same reasons. It is also because he writes so poignantly about a landscape I grew up in.Mr. Masumoto is an organic farmer in the valley of California, and his story is becoming more and more familiar to me as I see this way of life disappearing across the country.

A third generation Japanese American peach and grape farmer, David Masumoto inherited the family orchard from his father. He also had the heritage of his childhood memories of how that particular peach variety, Sun Crest, tasted and ran with juice unlike the pretty red baseballs that have passed for today's supermarket peach varieties.Mr. M wanted to show the world how delightful an old-fashioned peach could be.

When he took over his father's farm, he resolved to not only continue growing his Sun Crests, but to do it organically. This would prove challenging in our day and age of cheap, quick fixes; moreover, it would test his strongly felt ideals.The land needed to heal and replenish itself after years of chemical fertilizers and toxic pest control methods. Masumoto had to take his example from research on other organic farming practices, planting wildflowers to encourage beneficial insect life and sowing "green manure" crops to act as natural mulch and compost. All this took time, patience, and faith that his hard work would eventually pay off.

Epitaph for a Peach is rich in sensory descriptions, philosophy, and nostalgic flashbacks. It is a picture of the way a farmer's life is connected to the seasons, capricious weather patterns, and changing market conditions. Not incidentally, Masumoto also teaches about the obscure history of Japanese farmers in the Valley - something that even I, native to Fresno, had little idea of. Reading this book was a slow, thoughtful experience much in the same manner that one slows down to savor a rich fruit. Recommended to anybody interested in history, growing food, or the vanishing California landscape.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle
... Read more

Product Description
This is a concise, yet complete handbook for starting a successful organic farm based on the community-supported agriculture concept. Written for farmers and non-farmers alike, the books illustrates how “two middle-aged novices” are making a decent living on less than two acres of land. Bob and Bonnie found few resources applicable to their situation when they began researching making their farm dream a reality and the book originally stemmed from their own desire to help others by sharing universal guidelines on small farm start-ups. The model explained in the book is an updated version of the diverse market gardens/farms found throughout recorded history. Not just a theory book, it details specific tools, techniques and how-to information. The Gregsons share sound advice, along with specific tools, marketing techniques, and planning guidelines, such as start up requirements, business plan basics, the importance of value-added products, choosing the best equipment and supplies, and more. The core of their operation, the subscription system, is examined in detail, with sound recommendations and guidelines for implementation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Location dependent
Aside from its wonderful inspirational value, the book is valuable mostly if you live in the right location to start such a project.This should be noted up front because if you live in a poor economic area where people can't afford subscriptions, you will not be able to make a go of it as it is described.Living in the Seattle area as the writers did, where many people appreciate organic foods and have the means to afford them, will of course make a better place for such a farm then let's say the backwoods somewhere where people have a hard time making ends meet.My point being that your location weighs heavily on the success of your organic farm. The potential buyer needs to know this before purchasing this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Making hay has always been hard work, just about the hardest work on a farm. Spanning 150 years this book tells the story of the labour and heartbreak suffered by five families struggling to make the hay that fed their livestock, a story not just about grass, alfalfa, and clover but also about sweat and fears, toil and loss. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The Fragrance of Hay
"The Haymakers" is beautifully written.Hoffbeck begins with the story of his own family and engages the emotions of his readers from the start. The experiences of the five families are intricately woven together and create an accurate picture of haymaking in Minnesota. "The Haymakers" explores the technical aspects of making hay and also the sweat and tears that went into the process.It provides a look into the lives of several haymaking families in different regions and different time periods. The stories of the five families are gripping and Hoffbeck's personal story is tragic."The Haymakers" is captivating and tells a historical story well worth reading.

Great Book,
I have read this book twice. The first time was for Dr. Hoffbecks American History class and the 2nd time was for my American Studies class on the Midwest. Dr. Hoffbeck is a wonderful professor and the way he writes is as if you are in the classroom with him. I've done the very laberous job of making hay. When I read this book only someone who has done it like Dr. Hoffbeck while growing up can capture what it is like to have done this work. If anyone out there is enrolled at MSU Moorhead I urge you to take a history class with Dr, Hoffbeck.

A Little Known Gem of a Book

Dr. Steven Hoffbeck's fast-moving book is about haying, or the process of putting up of hay, to feed farm animals through the long winter months. This is an unusual topic and if the book were only about haying techniques, it would have little interest except to farming historians, but the book is more than haying, much more. "The Haymakers" is about the struggles and triumphs of real people dealing with the joys and many heartrendering difficulties of farm life. Dr. Hoffbeck takes the reader through 100 years of haymaking by describing and telling us the personal chronicles of 5 farm families.

Haymaking methods are described, from the simple yet laborious scythe-harvest method through the making of large round and small square bales by machine. I found the evolution of haymaking facinating in itself, and it gave me an appreciaton of what farm familes have to go through to "get in the hay". For without hay, there is no winter feed for the many farm animals; and without farm animals, there is no farm.

As any farmer will tell you, close calls and accidents are unfortunately all too frequent on the farm. Dr. Hoffbeck shares his experiences of losing his own father, and then tragically his brother, all due to accidents on the home farm. I was touched by the way Dr. Hoffbeck writes about these tremendous losses, and one can feel his pain, anguish, and loss through his words.

Dr. Hoffbeck also clearly explains the farm crisis American farmers face today, that of debt, the trend to larger and larger farms, and the slow but steady passing of the small American homestead farm. Not having been raised, or even associated with the travails of farming life, I found his explanation quite enlightening. When he describes the crushing debt load that farmers take on to survive and modernize their farms, I can almost feel the weight of that debt on my shoulders as well. It is easy to understand the economic problems farmers face after reading this book.

If you are looking for fast adventure, high suspense, or international intrigue, this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for a book that delves into the farming lives of our pioneers, our grandfathers and grandmothers, and our uncles and aunts, then this book will touch your mind and your heart. It will give you an everlasting appreciation of the hard toil that our independent and strong-willed ancestors faced on a daily basis. I highly recommend it.

The Haymakers:A Chronicle of Five Farm Families
This is a wonderful and well written book that will capitivateand hold your attention to the very last page.Readers of all generations would enjoy this book.The book is about haymaking, but also so much more.The illustrations and pictures help you to envision life on the farm.I will anxiously await his next book.

A lyrical testament
The previous readers already praised this book so beautifully in their reviews that I don't know if I can improve on what has already been said, other than to say that I found this to be a very moving and lyrical testament to a vanishing way of life--the family farm. I loved Hoffbeck's detailed descriptions of the five farm families, ranging from early settlers to his own experience, and I thought he very masterfully combined factual details with personal revelations and insight. Extremely illuminating. ... Read more

Product Description

The foods Kentuckians love to eat today -- biscuits and gravy, country ham and eggs, soup beans and cornbread, fried chicken and shucky beans, and fried apple pie and boiled custard -- all were staples on the Kentucky family farms in the early twentieth century. Each of these dishes has evolved as part of the farming lifestyle of a particular time and place, utilizing available ingredients and complementing busy daily schedules. Though the way of life associated with these farms in the first half of the twentieth century has mostly disappeared, the foodways have become a key part of Kentucky's cultural identity. In Food and Everyday Life on Kentucky Family Farms, 1920--1950, John van Willigen and Anne van Willigen examine the foodways -- the practices, knowledge, and traditions found in a community regarding the planting, preparation, consumption, and preservation -- of Kentucky family farms in the first half of the last century. This was an era marked by significant changes in the farming industry and un rural communities, including the introduction of the New Deal market quota system, the creation of the University of Kentucky Agricultural Extension Service, the expansion of basic infrastructures into rural areas, the increased availability of new technologies, and the massive migration from rural to urban areas. The result was a revolutionary change from family-based subsistence farming to market-based agricultural production, which altered not only farmers' relationships to food in Kentucky but the social relations within the state's rural communities. Based on interviews conducted by the University of Kentucky's Family Farm Project and supplemented by archival research, photographs, and recipes, Food and Everyday Life on Kentucky Family Farms, 1920--1950 recalls a vanishing way of life in rural Kentucky. By documenting the lives and experiences of Kentucky farmers, the book ensures that traditional folk and foodways in Kentucky's most important industry will be remembered.

Customer Reviews (2)

A look at a Kentucky culture.
This is a well researched narrative of life in KY in the late 30's and 40's.It had a personal connection for me since my children's father was born and raised there.

Great book for the 1920-1950 era.
I appreciate the writing style of this book published by The University
of Kentucky Press.It can be used in classrooms, I would think, and it
is also an enjoyable read for the casual reader who is interested in
Appalchian hill life in the first half of the 1900s.Van Willigen's
great narrative is well-complimented by some equally great black and
white photos.The author avoids using unnecessary, scholarly wording
and gets down to telling very interesting stories.Much use is made
of real wording from people he has interviewed.

For me, a Mid-westerner, this book is a must-have.I have an interest
in Appalachia and the Ozarks during the time period covered by this
book.It is a real "find" for me It will always have a place in my library.
Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a new hardcover copy with a very nice dust jacket...you'll want to keep this book, too. ... Read more

Product Description
Farm to Family, written by Crofton, Nebraska farmer, veteran free lance farm journalist, and award winning rural author Curt Arens, hit the pages of the Cedar County News in 2005. This book is a compilation of 52 - a year's worth - of Arens' favorite columns, which now appear in newspapers in northeast Nebraska and Illinois. Some of his entries, which, like farm life, follow the seasons, are touching, others, like "Free Range Swine" and "Will You Be Mine?" are quite humorous. Overall, this book provides a real glimpse into the lives, the faith, and the hopes and dreams of rural folks everywhere. It is, in short, a tribute to rural Americans. ... Read more

Product Description
Our Farm is a real-life look at a family and the farm they work together, season by season. Told through the voices of the children, this inside view of life on their farm is authentic and sometimes surprising. Readers will learn about baling hay, tending cattle, work dogs, hunting, manure, and other activities on the Bennett farm, as well as some insights into the culture of living in a rural area. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Not just for kids
Wife read it after daughter got it from library.Really liked it & thought it was interesting to see what the family grew/killed on their farm to eat as well as discussion of all the equipment they use to do their farming job(s).

Chapters are narrated in quotes of various family members, and illustrated with beautiful color photography
Our Farm: Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Family's Farm is a densely packed, 144-page nonfiction book portraying the many aspects of day-to-day life on an Ohio family farm. From raising chickens and cows, to delivering calves, disposing of manure, showing pigs at a fair, hunting, cleaning and cooking animals for their meat, putting together square bales of hay and much more, Our Farm gives a living, breathing, look at the hard work, good food, fun, and challenges that flows by in the yearly turn of a farm's seasons. Chapters are narrated in quotes of various family members, and illustrated with beautiful color photography on virtually every page. Highly recommended, especially for public and school library collections, Our Farm is a vital educational resource particularly given how today's American society is increasingly estranged from its agricultural roots.

Wonderful book for any age!
I really loved reading this book! The book is written for children but I enjoyed reading it and I am 41 years old! The book made me think about the dreams that I had as a child of living on a farm when I grew up.That dream never came to fruition but reading this book helped to give me a more realistic idea of what living on a livestock farm would be like.I immediately got into the story and I read in amazement all the kinds of experiences the children have lived through. As a parent, I enjoyed seeing this family working together - everyone has a job and they all seem to enjoy helping to make their farm a sucess.What a wonderful childhood these children are having! Thanks to their family and Michael J. Rosen for letting us share a bit of it.

a book for rural kids and city kids alike
With hundreds of photographs and the narration of five kids between the ages of 4 and 18, OUR FARM packs a world of reality into 144 pages. It's a funny, accessible, truly heartfelt visit with a small-farm family that should be a mirror for any farm kid or rural family, or a window for kids who can't quite imagine a life outside a city...a life where chicks grow up in your living room, your backyard is filled with calves and your own swimming hole/fishing pond, your barn is filled with every sort of farm machine (all of which your border collie tries to herd!). Divided into four seasons, the book is a thoughtful chronicle of what it means to grow upliving on the land, living with animals (wild and domestic), living without close neighbors or shopping malls, living in a community of generous people, many of whom, have spent their whole lives in the area.
And for middle-grader readers, there's plenty of intriguing and somewhat startling details about the challenges of farm life: animal losses, hauling tons of manure, providing meats for the table--all in the farm kids' voices.
A fascinating book for kids from...third grade through high school, I'd say. A perfect gift for anyone who's connected with 4-H, FFA, or any sort of farm. It's a great addition to classroom curricula on ecology and conservation, communities, Ohio or Appalachian culture and history.
... Read more

Product Description
The story of a 100-year-old family farm in Wisconsin is told in photographs and in anecdotes about the three generations of Petersons who have owned and farmed the land. ... Read more

Product Description