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The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love

10/9/2019

1 Comment

 
Most books about farming paint a pretty picture of tidy fields and homes with perfectly coifed wives while the man tips back in his chair to chew some hay and admire all he owns. This is not farming. As a small eco farm, I should know. Want to find out what it's really like? Explore my review of The Dirty Life & get yourself a copy of the real dirt on farming.
It Is My Wish That Everyone Read This Book At Least Once
The Dirty Life: A Memoir Of Food, Farming, And Love by Kristin Kimball

When I first came across this book, I thought it might be interesting. I was looking for books about small farms whose owners choose to do it the old fashioned way. I didn't need to read another farm porn book with pretty pictures that set up the armchair farmer to believe that farming is really as simple as poking a seed in the ground & then you eat. In a way, it is this simple if you pretend the labor involved in between doesn't exist.

As with anything that catches my interest, I look for reviews. At that time, the negative reviews painted a picture of exactly what I didn't want. A rich couple who know nothing try to start a farm, the language is obscene & the book is too whiny. After seeing several reviews along those lines I decided to give The Dirty Life a pass. What a mistake.

Several years later I came across a book titled Good Husbandry. It hadn't been reviewed yet. I noticed it was by the same author who's previous book, I'd given a firm pass. This time was different for me. Good Husbandry appeared to be years down the road after the rose colored glasses came off - or so I imagined having never read the first book. Now this had my interest. How did this woman & her husband fare after all these years? I immediately put in a request for the book & also immediately contacted my wonderful local library to see if they carried The Dirty Life. I picked it up that day. I wanted to read it first so I would have a better understanding of the story behind Good Husbandry.

In my humble opinion, The Dirty Life is the best non fiction book ever! I have never read another person's accounting on farming that I have connected with so deeply. This book is raw & dirty. Kristin was a New York City thirty something writer. She dated but not seriously & didn't feel connected, but loved her apartment & her life. Or did she?

The beginning of the book she introduces the reader to how she ended up where she is now & we can blame it all on a man. In this story, that man is Mark. Kristen wanted to explore the budding local food movement & found a farm she wanted to interview. Her brief time at this farm & with Mark left her craving more. She wasn't sure exactly what she wanted, just that something was missing. Kristen & Mark start to date. Eventually Mark convinces her that they should marry & have a local environmentally responsible farm that provides a full diet. A full diet meant not just your typical vegetables, but also grains, milk, butter, cheese, meats, eggs & sugar (in this case, maple syrup). To their knowledge, this had never been done before.

There relationship was very rocky but something must have clicked with them because through it all, they stuck it out. Eventually they found Essex Farm. This was a huge bit of land that hadn't been farmed in ages. It had many outbuildings in disrepair & a variety of fields & pastures as well as a very old farmhouse that needed some serious TLC.

They put everything they had in their dream of a full diet farm. Everyone thought they would fail. After all, who makes money farming? For them, it wasn't just about making money though. It was about creating something local that would be of benefit to the locals. They wanted to produce real wholesome food that didn't come neatly wrapped & placed on shelves in florescent lighted stores from... well who really knows? They wanted real.

The purchased draft horses to plow the fields, Jersey dairy cows for the best milk you could ever hope to drink, pigs, chickens, sugaring supplies (to make maple syrup), & Scottish Highland cattle for meat, & plenty of seeds.

The picture Kristen paints of their adventure into farming is both beautiful & disturbing. For myself, I find it incredibly easy to relate to both. While my farm is nothing like Essex Farm, it is also exactly the same. I'm not providing a full diet CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), raising pigs, tapping maples, beef cattle or working with my husband. Nor do I have hundreds of acres. But it doesn't matter. It's the heart of it that matters. It's the land. It gets into you & it doesn't let go. Going out into "civilization" is jarring. Everything is so clean, people are dressed so nicely. It's like an entirely different world. Farming is dirty, sweaty, labor intensive & sometimes heartbreaking. Farming is also rewarding, addictive, & beautiful. Plus, you eat the healthiest freshest foods. Farmers get to eat like kings.

I was (am) so smitten with this book, that after reading the borrowed library edition, I found a signed copy on Amazon & purchased it. I also got the audio book version. I begged my husband to listen to it on audio & he did. He liked the book, but it didn't resonate with him like it does with me. Perhaps this is because he's a part time farmer. Perhaps because it's from a woman's point of view. Maybe a little of both?

The world needs more authors like Kristen to show what farming really is like in all it's beauty & struggles.
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Book Corner Quick Links
Links to the books I've read & reviewed for your convenience!

  • Good Husbandry: Growing Food, Love, and Family on Essex Farm
  • The Dirty Life: A Memoir Of Food, Farming, and Love
  • You Are What Your Grandparents Ate
  • Good Mornings: Morning Rituals For Wellness, Peace,and Purpose
  • Healthy Eating For Life
  • Troubled Water What's Wrong With What We Drink
  • Beekeeping For Beginners How To Raise Your First Bee Colonies
  • Dreamland (YA edition): The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic
  • Yoga For Better Sleep
  • Everyday Healing with Essential Oils
  • Buzz Sting Bite Why We Need Insects
  • National Geographic Complete Guide to Pet Health, Behavior, and Happiness
  • Coffee House Knits
  • Feeding You Lies
  • Why Social Media is Ruining Your Life
  • Breakfast The Most Important Book About The Best Meal Of The Day
  • Complete Wellness Enjoy Long-Lasting Health and Well-Being
  • The Sh!t No One Tells You About Pregnancy: A Guide to Surviving Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Beyond
  • The Complete Guide To Adaptogens From Ashwagandaha to Rhodiola, Medicinal Herbs That Transform and Heal
  • Beginning Beekeeping
  • Before The Evolution and Future of Processed Food
  • The Psychobiotic Revolution
  • Simple & Natural Soapmaking: Create 100% Pure and Beautiful Soaps with The Nerdy Farm Wife’s Easy Recipes and Techniques
  • The Flower Book
  • The Essential Oils Complete Reference Guide: Over 250 Recipes for Natural Wholesome Aromatherapy
  • The Gut Makeover: 4 Weeks to Nourish Your Gut, Revolutionize Your Health, and Lose Weight
  • The Field Guide To Pregnancy
  • 101 Easy Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health & Home: A Nerdy Farm Wife's All-Natural DIY Projects Using Commonly Found Herbs, Flowers & Other Plants
  • The Chicken Health Handbook
  • Chickens In Your Backyard:  A Beginners Guide
  • The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health: More Than 200 New Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes for Delicious and Nutrient-Rich Dishes
  • The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves: 200 Classic and Contemporary Recipes Showcasing the Fabulous Flavors of Fresh Fruits
  • The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle over Food Rights
  • The Joy of Pickling: 250 Flavor-Packed Recipes for Vegetables and More from Garden or Market
  • Style, Naturally: The Savvy Shopping Guide to Sustainable Fashion and Beauty
  • The Gort Cloud: The Invisible Force Powering Today's Most Visible Green Brands
  • Feed Your Skin, Starve Your Wrinkles
  • Sleeping Naked Is Green
  • Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting
  • Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything
  • Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World
  • Fortify Your Life: Your Guide to Vitamins, Minerals, and More
  • Healing Herbs:  A Beginner's Guide To Identifying, Foraging, and Using Medicinal Plants
  • The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook
  • The Virgin Diet Cookbook: 150 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Lose Weight and Feel Better Fast
  • Flip Dolls & Other Toys That Zip, Stack, Hide, Grab & Go
  • Healthy at Home: Get Well and Stay Well Without Prescriptions
  • Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth
  • Integrative Wellness Rules: A Simple Guide to Healthy Living
  • Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
  • How Stella Saved the Farm: A Tale About Making Innovation Happen
  • The Virgin Diet: Drop 7 Foods, Lose 7 Pounds, Just 7 Days
  • The Easy Organizer: 365 Tips for Conquering Clutter
  • The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food
  • Probiotics For Dummies
  • Beyond Sugar Shock: The 6-Week Plan to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction & Get Slimmer, Sexier & Sweeter
  • Small Business For Dummies
  • Starting An Etsy Business For Dummies
  • Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred: Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids
  • The Beauty Detox Solution: Eat Your Way to Radiant Skin, Renewed Energy and the Body You've Always Wanted
  • A Woman's Guide to a Healthy Stomach: Taking Control of Your Digestive Health
  • Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind
  • Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It
  • Terra Madre: Forging a New Global Network of Sustainable Food Communities
  • The Hundred Year Diet: America's Voracious Appetite For Losing Weight
  • Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream
  • Felties: How to Make 18 Cute and Fuzzy Friends from Felt
  • Bread Matters: The State of Modern Bread and a Definitive Guide to Baking Your Own
  • Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Small Indulgences
  • Success With Baby Chicks
1 Comment
Arnold link
10/28/2021 02:30:59 am

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    Do you dream about living the simple life?  Your own idyllic farm where the cows moo and the veggies are the best you've ever eaten? I've got a surprise for you, homesteading isn't easy! Join me at my small eco family farm where we stumble often, and learn as we go. This is indeed the good life, but it is also a very hard life that only rewards for that hard work... or not!  Back to the land, it's tough and I love it.Hi there! My name is Jen. I'm a "tree hugging dirt worshiper" who has been organically farming for nearly two decades. It never ceases to amaze me at how much I've learned & how much I am still learning. I have studied natural health, nutrition, & herbs for nearly three decades. Our health & the natural world around us are connected in ways we don't often realize. How we treat the land & animals directly affects us in both body & mind. My goal is to provide others with truly natural humane goods from my own little piece of paradise, & to freely pass along whatever knowledge I pick up along the way. I am grateful every day to be able to have such a worthwhile & fulfilling job surrounded by the beauty & unpredictability of Mother Nature.

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