I have always half seriously said I wanted to be a farmer.  I have maintained a meager garden.  I know the thrill of seeing two small starts produce 40 green cucumbers. I know the frustration of weeds and disappointment of a small or failed yield. However, I never knew the intensity of the time, labor, and grind on one’s body to run a working farm.  After reading this book I knew, and you will too.  Farming is more than kitchy decorations and fresh eggs.

To order this book on amazon click here:  The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love

I adored this book from the first page to the last.   The author and her boyfriend, Mark pursue their dream to become farmers on a run-down plot of land.  She follows us through their first seasons of restoration, reviving, planting, harvesting, and an unrelentless amount of work.   I fell in love with their first milking cow, Delia, and their first draft horses Sam and Silver. I was amazed at the attatchment I felt for cows and horses.  The science of making cheese, whey, maple syrup, and butchering animals, are all described with the best blend of science and heart.  I learned how to cook liver, strain fresh milk, and kill a pigeon for dinner from reading this book. (Could I do it? No, but I admire Kimball for doing it.)  The farm to table movement has become such a hip and happening trend, but these two people live farm to table from sun up to sun down, and sometimes straight through the night.  Read this book, it is fantastic.

You can see pictures and read more about what they do on her blog and their website.  Here are the links:

http://www.kristinkimball.com/

http://www.essexfarmcsa.com/