Memoirs
Highly recommended for any farmer, young or new. Melissa Coleman details the life of a farmer from a child’s perspective. As the daughter of Eliot Coleman, Melissa was in the “limelight” of organic farming. Yet the life of even the super-star organic farmer is not as pristine and romantic and we would all like to believe. Melissa digs into the deep strains that farming took on her childhood (and her mother’s and sister’s). Any aspiring, current or former farmer will leave this book with a deep appreciation for the importance of a balanced lifestyle between farm and farmily.
One of the best written “farming” memoirs we’ve read. Brad Kessler weaves together an impressive balance of comedy, history and sentimentality. This memoir details Kessler's adventure to maintain a small herd of milk goats on a rural Vermont farm. Guaranteed to make you laugh out loud more than once.
Just the Greatest Life
If you ever need an uplifting and hilarious book about farming, this is it. David Schafer is one of the most accomplished farmer/entrepreneurs having started a small, highly successful farm and then moving on to create Featherman, one of the go-to small farm equipment companies.
If you ever need an uplifting and hilarious book about farming, this is it. David Schafer is one of the most accomplished farmer/entrepreneurs having started a small, highly successful farm and then moving on to create Featherman, one of the go-to small farm equipment companies.
The story of a city couple moving to rural Georgia to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle and their eventual transition into full-time farming. The Accidental Farmers details the bright and dark sides of farming, including the struggles Nature's Harmony Farm has faced in "reconnecting animals with the land and people with their food". Tim and Liz Young have been wonderful influences in our farming journey and their willingness to share on their blog and podcasts is something we think more farmers should do!
From a journalist in Manhattan to one of the most inspiring farming operations in the country, Kristin Kimball tells the story of her move from the city to Essex Farm on Lake Champlain. Using the power of draft horses, Essex strives to provide a full and interesting diet yearround(!) to its CSA members, including meats, dairy, fats, vegetables, grains and flours, etc. All animals are pasture-raised, slaughtered and butchered on-farm. Quite an amazing story and an even more amazing farming operation!