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Customer Reviews (8)

Great book for farmers anywhere.
You do not have to live in Vermont to love this book.The rhythms of the seasons, working with the animals, and making do with what you can, will ring true for small farmers anywhere. Thank you for a beautiful book.Anyone who has lived or worked on a small farm would love it.

Terrific - to read, and re-read
As a photographer, I anxiously awaited this book for the pictures.David's an outstanding nature photographer, so I wondered what he'd do with a farm.Well, not only are the photos a treat, but the writing is not to be missed.I could not put it down, and when I finished, I yearned for more. It truly conveys rural, small farm life in a heartwarming, personal way - a blessed relief from our daily electronic bombardment.I laughed out loud, shook my head incredulously at some of the tales, and shed some tears.

Whether you're a fan of good, old fashioned humor or outstanding photography, this book is for you. (My Christmas shopping will be a breeze this year!)And, as I head up to bed shortly, I think I'll read, yet again, one of my favorites chapters: "Cow Smarts," and fall asleep with a grin.....or maybe "A Hoe for Roger"....

Quite a Wonderful Book
I have anticipated the release of this book for a long time.The photography and text exceed ones greatest expectations.An individual must have lived the life of a dairy farmer to recognize the nuances that have been documented.The text is intriguing and obviously gained from first hand experience.I have been asked several times what I am laughing out loud about.The book depicts real life America; you can not ask for anything more enjoyable.

Lovely lovely book
I stayed up most of the night reading this.Thoroughly engaging.David conveyslife on a farm perfectly.The hard work every day of the week, but also the pleasure of being your own person.Trish and Roger are the quintessential farm family.Wonderful, warm, caring people.

His best yet!
I've been waiting and waiting for David Middleton's latest book to be finally out. Now the day has come and I have my own copy and the wait has been well worth it. From the laugh-out-loud first chapter to the rhythm of the farm stories, punctuated by David's best photography, the book's a winner and I loved every page. If you want to be swept away from all the mundane and difficult issues in your life, pick up this book and be transported to rural Vermont where farm life with Roger, Trish, Hugh and walk-on David will entrance you. Hope Amazon can keep up with all the gift copies I'll order. ... Read more

Product Description
In telling the story of five generations of her family and its farm in the Arkansas Delta, Margaret Jones Bolsterli brings together her own research, historical perspective, and family lore as it reaches her from the days of her great-grandfather down to her nephew. The result is a family saga that is at once universal and personal, historical and timeless.During Wind and Rain moves from the land's acquisition in 1848 through the Civil War and Reconstruction, the 1927 Flood, the Great Depression, and the drought of 1930 to the modern considerations of mechanization, fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation. The transformation of dense swamp and forest to today's commercial agriculture is the story of two hundred acres worked by people sowing their fate with sweat, ingenuity, and luck.From the hoes of Bolsterli's great-grandfather Uriah's time to her nephew Casey's machinery capable of cultivating an acre in five minutes, During Wind and Rain poignantly portrays five generations of farmers motivated by dreams of "a crop so good that the memory of it can warm the drafty floors of adversity for the rest of one's life." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Story
During Wind and Rain is by a local author.I have several of her books and have visited with her and heard her speak.Although this is not the most gripping story, it is very interesting and informative. ... Read more

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The Little House books tell the story of a little pioneer girl and her family as they traveled by covered wagon across the Midwest.Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic books, illustrated with Garth Williams' timeless artwork, have been cherished by millions of readers ever since they were first published over sixty years ago.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

about Almanzo
This book is a great companion to "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder.It shows Almanzo doing chores, it shows the inside of the barn and the inside of the house, and it shows Almanzo's family.Giant illustrations bring the action to your children.This is a great book.We read the "big" books - the Little House series - as a family, and then we read these well-illustrated "First" books for more impact.Another book, "Pioneer Sampler" by Barbara Greenwood, also tracks nicely with the Little House books and has amazingly good illustrations.

Love these books
We love these Little House Books. My daughters are 4 and 2, we have the whole set and read them every night.

A Classic for Young Boys and Girls
Winter on the Farm, an adaptation from the Little House on the Prarie classic series, will delight children and peak their interest in Pioneering life. The illustrations capture the attention and imagination of young children, whetting their appetite for more.

Winter on the Farm introduces your children to Almanzo and his family.This classic tale shows how families share household responsibility and remind us how to respect our siblings and our parents.Almanzo works hard along-side his older brother and is happy to be praised by his father for a job well-done.

Great way to introduce your kids to the LittleHouse series!
These books are a great way to get your younger child interested in the Little House books. The pictures are beautiful. My 3 year old became interested in them when she was 2 and carries them all over the house. We read them so much she has them memorized!

Wonderful Book for Boys
This is a strong, family/work ethic "history" book for boys, which is rare.This is on my list for gifts right along side, "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel". ... Read more

Product Description
Potlucks are the friendliest of gatherings. As guests take part in the festivities, sharing their contributions—a dish of pasta, a bottle of wine, a bunch of wildflowers—they share a bit of themselves. Author Tamara Weiss knows this well. A self-described “organizer, assembler, and table setter,” she has all the qualities of the consummate host, as well as years of experience attending and planning potlucks. In Potluck at Midnight Farm, Tamara has captured a year of potlucks on Martha’s Vineyard, from brunches in a backyard garden to grill fests at twilight beside the sea. Each season brings together new faces, old friends, beautiful settings, and great food.

Collected here are more than a hundred recipes from Tamara and her guests, plus gorgeous photographs of the parties, so you too can share in the celebrations and garner ideas to create your own inspired gatherings. These dishes, at once lovely and hearty, are offered by people from all walks of life, from the island teacher to the world-famous celebrity. Each recipe is personalized with a brief anecdote of how the dish came about or why it has become such a party staple. All are wonderfully delicious. There are foods for every season and occasion: Mary Steenburgen’s Corn Spoon Pudding, Daphne’s Fried Chicken (which Bill Styron has served to Bill Clinton), and Grilled Corn Guacamole. Plus superb salads, like Tamara’s Summer Salad, with greens, sugar snap peas, mangoes, and sunflower seeds, and desserts to rave about: Lambert’s Cove Lemon Tea Cake, Judy Belushi Pisano’s Georgia Peaches with Raspberry Sauce, and the ultimate Butterscotch Brownies.

Potluck at Midnight Farm celebrates with charm and class the perfect companionship of food and entertaining, and welcomes readers just as if they were guests. And Tamara gives you all the advice and inspiration you need to send you running to organize your own spectacular potlucks. Amazon.com Review
Everyone loves potluck parties. Recognizing this, Tamara Weiss offers Potluck at Midnight Farm, a collection of 130 potluck recipes contributed by her friends and neighbors in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The island is home not only to Midnight Farm, the gift shop Weiss owns with Carly Simon, but also to cooks whose recipes strike just the right relaxed yet sophisticated note. Their dishes, from Lighthouse Lasagna and Grilled Striped Bass with Wasabi and Ginger to Roasted Pecan Coffee Cake and Diane Sawyer's Cherry Pie, are easy-to-do crowd pleasers. Cooks interested in recipes for a wide range of informal gatherings--from backyard dinners to bring-your-own picnics--will find the book a valuable culinary resource.

"I am an organizer," says Weiss, and to prove it she offers useful tips for successful potluck events. (Pick a main course to give to food-bringing guests; direction is an obvious but often overlooked example.) The recipes are arranged by season and include menus like the one featuring Coriander Chicken, Beetroot Salad, Grilled Striped Bass with Papaya-Lime Sauce, and Fresh Fruit Tart, among other dishes. Other menus are equally appealing. With 190 color photos of the gatherings in various island locales, tips, and a foreword by Carly Simon, the book is a can't-miss guide to informal entertaining. --Arthur Boehm ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Why buy a martha's vineyard book if you don't get martha's vineyard??!!
I read the reviews and had to grin. Martha's vineyard has a groove,..a flow all it's own,..and it is what it is. If you don't get Martha's Vineyard,..then I can understand why alot of people don't get the book. I was bothered by the celebrity comments,..because on the island everyone mixes with everyone,...leather faced fisherman,..the town bar fixtures, quirky characters and yes even the celebrities. Good book for those who love the island and get the mind set.

Simply a beautiful book!
This book was given to me as a hostess gift during our first cocktail party (Ina Garten and Barefoot Contessa inspired) from a friend who knows that I love all things New England, especially Cape Cod and the Islands.

The photographs are delicious in and of themselves, even inspiring a few unusual bouquets of flowers and eclectic ideas for table settings.There are a few recipes that seem unappealing to me, but that is true of any book. An author simply cannot please everyone!For the most part I have found these recipes to have different and creative twists on many favorite flavors.

I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the "magical" element of the Vineyard as well as its' celebrity life.This is certainly not a book for those who want to throw hot dogs on the grill behind a split -evel home - not that there is anything wrong with that!It is for those who want to add an element of style to their backyard picnic behind that same split-level home.Potluck at Midnight Farm is about doing things with grace, that is, a Vineyard-style grace.

Simply a beautiful book!
This book was given to me as a hostess gift during our first cocktail party (Ina Garten and Barefoot Contessa inspired) from a friend who knows that I love all things New England, especially Cape Cod and the Islands.

The photographs are delicious in and of themselves, even inspiring a few unusual bouquets of flowers and eclectic ideas for table settings.There are a few recipes that seem unappealing to me, but that is true of any book. An author simply cannot please everyone!For the most part I have found these recipes to have different and creative twists on many favorite flavors.

I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the "magical" element of the Vineyard as well as its' celebrity life.This is certainly not a book for those who want to throw hot dogs on the grill behind a split -evel home - not that there is anything wrong with that!It is for those who want to add an element of style to their backyard picnic behind that same split-level home.Potluck at Midnight Farm is about doing things with grace, that is, a Vineyard-style grace.

This is not the Vineyard
The New York Times was right: This book makes the Vineyard look like "a minimal-security prison for the criminally self-absorbed". There are so many better Vineyard-based cookbooks (like The Martha's Vineyard Cookbook--out now in its 3rd edition!)

The recipes are so-so but the text you have to wade through to get to them will ruin your appetite.

fun to own but you dont need to have
i bought the book because i have spent 25 years going to martha's vineyard--the book is inspiring because it makes you want to have a potluck party at your own home--but dont buy it simply for the recipes--they are fine--buy it because its a fun addition to your collection and inspires you to celebrate family and friends-- and martha's vineyard--
the author's friends (whom she touts as a very eclectic group) happen to include all of the island's celebs---which does make it fun to look at the pics and read their recipes-- ... Read more

Product Description

Grandfather Stories chronicles the transition from family farming with a team of horses to the mechanized farm through the eyes of a growing boy. He recalls, “Dogs called Shep or Billy came and went. Cats followed Granddad from the barn with his two pails of milk. Chickens fussed and squawked and produced eggs, which had to be collected every evening. Night hardly cooled from the heat of the day. Rotating fans served as the only air conditioning after electricity came. Heat lightening walked across the slate sky. The kitchen smelled of wood-fire, fresh peach or cherry cobbler, and churned butter. On the back porch where the work boots and the straw hats resided, the slop bucket full of old milk gave off its sourer odor to mix with the odors of kerosene and mud. There were chamber pots under the bed for nighttime use rather than trekking to the outhouse. Long-legged calves with runny behinds bawled for the moms during the day.”

These farmers in Gentry County, Missouri traced their ancestry back to the British Isles. Some fought in the American Revolution before they began pushing westward. These were self-sustaining farms able to produce most of the meat and vegetables and animal feed necessary for their survival. The reader will join Perry in feeding and doctoring pigs, harnessing a team of horses, visiting a blacksmith, and making hay. Come attend a Saturday night band concert and Sunday church followed by a church picnic. Sit on the lap of a former slave. Take the long train ride back home after a summer testing your growth. Sample a life now absent from most of the United States.

Product Description
These titles teach young children about the world of work by introducing them to a variety of jobs their family members may have. Each book is told from the perspective of a child helping his or her family at such jobs as beekeeping, and dairy farming, among many other interesting occupations. ... Read more

Product Description
Fork handle—$.65Mash for chickens—$7.15One milk pail—$1.15Horse collar and pad—$8.15Gloves for Herm—$.52

"Chores started on the home farm when you were around four years old, depending on, as Pa would say, ‘how much meat you have on your bones.’. . . "

So begins Jerry Apps’s "Every Farm Tells a Story," a collection of true tales inspired by entries in his mother’s farm account books. The values recorded in the account books prompt recollections of Jerry’s childhood and the traditional family farm values and ethics instilled in him by Ma and Pa.

Running a Wisconsin dairy farm in the days before electricity or indoor plumbing, Jerry’s family used kerosene lanterns, gasoline engines, a team of draft horses, and a homemade tractor converted from a truck. During Jerry’s growing-up years, he witnessed the second great revolution in farming—the arrival of electric lines to rural areas, running water in barns, and new farm machines like tractors, balers, and combines.

Illustrated with 50 vintage advertisements from catalogs and farm journals, "Every Farm Tells a Story" traces that revolution by way of costs for everything from the family’s first Sears, Roebuck and Co. milking machine to the used telephone pole that supported their first electric yard light. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Every Farm Tells A Story
This is an excellent book if you grew up on a farm in the 50's and 60's.I read it cover to cover.It's an "easy read"; hard to put down...like a good novel.It brought me back to the good old days!

Lots of nostalgia
I was lucky enough to be brought up on a small family dairy farm in WI. My folks, older siblings, and relatives talked wistfully about the threshing crews, haymaking, and dealing with the cows. The author did a good job documenting the way a WI dairy farm ran in the 1950's and how it impacted and shaped a family.

a wonderful read
This book is worth every penny!It makes great bedtime reading as the chapters are short, and Jerry Apps is brilliant with a pen.The real tales of his hard-working family and their farm are immensely enjoyable.I would highly recommend this one.

Every Farm Tells A Story
I loved this book on American farm life! It is well-written, interesting and one of the best on this subject, in my opinion. I have just ordered several other of Jerry Apps books.

The heart and soul of family farm life half-a-century ago.
Jerry Apps magnificently captures the heart and soul of growing up on a small family farm in EVERY FARM TELLS A STORY.His youth was spent in rural central Wisconsin half-a-century ago, but the character of the culture he writes about was not unlike that of much of rural Middle America in those times.The book is based on his Ma's journal accounting of all the family's expenses and revenues through the years, but the anecdotes take you back to all the stories behind those numbers.Apps shares with us how all the entries were, indeed, more than just numbers - they had meaning and context in the bigger picture of what farm life was all about.In a comfortable and enjoyable style, he tells stories of family values, the hard times and good times, the honest dealings and fair play that caused most farm kids back then to grow up with integrity and a solid work ethic.EVERY FARM TELLS A STORY is a great read, but it's much more than just nostalgia.In a personal and sometimes almost poetic way, it documents a significant part of our country's historical heritage.

... Read more

Product Description
Agriculture in the United States today increasingly operates in two separate spheres: large, corporate-connected commodity production and distribution systems and small-scale farms that market directly to consumers. As a result, midsize family-operated farms find it increasingly difficult to find and reach markets for their products. They are too big to use the direct marketing techniques of small farms but too small to take advantage of corporate marketing and distribution systems. This crisis of the midsize farm results in a rural America with weakened municipal tax bases, job loss, and population flight. Food and the Mid-Level Farm discusses strategies for reviving an "agriculture of the middle" and creating a food system that works for midsize farms and ranches. Activists, practitioners, and scholars from a variety of disciplines, including sociology, political science, and economics, consider ways midsize farms can regain vitality by scaling up aspects of small farms' operations to connect with consumers, organizing together to develop markets for their products, developing food supply chains that preserve farmer identity and are based on fair business agreements, and promoting public policies (at international, federal, state, and community levels) that address agriculture-of-the-middle issues.

Food and the Mid-Level Farm makes it clear that the demise of midsize farms and ranches is not a foregone conclusion and that the renewal of an agriculture of the middle will benefit all participants in the food system—from growers to consumers.

Contributors:
Elizabeth Barham, Sandra S. Batie, Eileen Brady, Fred Buttel, Peter Carstensen, Ken Dahlberg, Mike Duffy, Thomas Gray, Shelly Grow, Amy Guptill, William Heffernan, Mary Hendrickson, Elizabeth Higgins, Fred Kirschenmann, David Lind, Thomas Lyson, Caitlin O’Brady, Rich Pirog, Daryll Ray, Harwood D. Schaffer, G. W. Stevenson, Rick Welsh. ... Read more

Product Description
Featuring fabulous photographs from the famous J. C. Allen & Son, Inc. archives, "Pictures from the Farm" is an unabashedly nostalgic memory book tribute to the farm and to rural life from the early 1900s to the late 1960s.

Organized by theme, "Pictures from the Farm" shows the breadth and variety of farm living, from farm animals and equipment to buildings; from working the land to domestic living and farm folk. It's sure to evoke your own memories of days gone by.

Town Square Books from Voyageur Press provide entertaining, in-depth coverage of popular cultural icons, collectibles, nostalgia, and Americana. Town Square Books have an appealing balance of lively text, crisp full-color photography, and careful reproduction of rare archival material.

Also Recommended: "This Old Farm," "A Farm Country Christmas." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fair, nothing to brag about.
I thought the book was only fair quality. A few interesting pictures and stories. Could have been better. ... Read more

Product Description
One woman's journey to uncover her family's history and understand the ties that bind us to a particular place.. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Recommended reading for anyone who wants to see the evolution of the American family first hand
Everyone has a long family line behind them. "A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One Family" tells the story of a home that housed one family over the better part of three hundred years. Author Leila Philip presents a tribute to her family's long and illustrious history, revealing a piece of Americana that is hard to replicate. "A Family Place" is of recommended reading for anyone who wants to see the evolution of the American family first hand.

Read it once, then read it again.
Philip will not let us have what we are expecting - a rose-tinted reminiscence of home and place, with the occaisional failure thrown in for good measure.Instead, we get a "widening gyre" of tales, passing spirally through history, through the process of discovering history, the way in which Philip records this history, and ultimately, the way in which we read it.The book is about her home, and yet it is not.It is about personal loss, and yet it is not.It is about the balance between artifacts and memories, and yet -

Read the book, but know that its success lies in that it does not simply end with the last page, but recycles back to its own beginning, and to the readers'.

Warm and Delightful!!Very enjoyable read.....
Having my own family roots in a neighboring county, I found "A Family Place" a most enjoyable and delightful read.In her love for family as well as curisoity for her roots, Ms. Philip takes us with her as she searches through boxes and closets for pieces of her past. I have known those boxes and closets too!And I know the feel of barefeet on lawns and skipping around cow patties....I highly reccomend this book to anyone who has or wishes they had a special family.It may even inspire you to do some personal sleuthing yourself.Enjoy! ... Read more

Product Description
Kathleeen Fixsen Hupalo's short stories chronicle what it was like growing up female on the Family Farm in the late 1940's, 1950's, and early 1960's. In a well-crafted autobiography, Hupalo invites us to share a time which has vanished in history, as she reaches back to explore social and human issues still with us today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Recommended reading for anyone who ever grew up on one
Family Farm: A Compilation Of Short Stories About Growing Up In Rural Minnesota In The 40's, 50's, And 60's is the personal and engaging memoir of Kathleen Fixsen Hupalo, a woman who spent her childhood and young adulthood amid the ups and downs, the constant work, and the character defining, life-giving rewards of the family farm. A candid, sometimes nostalgic, always inspiring and heartfelt story of a young woman living and coming of age in a rural American midwest community, Family Farm is highly recommended reading for anyone who ever grew up on one -- or wishes that had! ... Read more

Product Description
The Fate of Family Farming employs a hands-on approach, with much local New England detail, in its exploration of the history and future of American family farming as an idea and as an ongoing way of life. Early chapters situate family farming within American history, beginning with Jamestown and Plymouth, continuing with Jefferson and Emerson and others, and including the technological transformations during the twentieth century. An extended chapter deals with the idea of "agrarianism," and considers in detail the work of Louis Bromfield, Victor Hanson, and Wendell Berry.

The middle section of the book opens a window on present-day farming with detailed portraits of four farms devoted, respectively, to the production of maple syrup, eggs and corn, milk, and apples. The author takes the reader to the barns and fields of these farms, introduces the farm families, helps the reader taste the syrup and corn and smell the silage and--ultimately enables others to see the economic and ecological challenges that farmers today face, and to consider their strategies for survival.

In the last portion of the book the author provides a very accessible examination of the role of farm technology and global economics, including the many ironies of farming "success," followed by a chapter that balances the threat and promise of biotechnology, and a concluding analysis of the current struggle for "the soul of agriculture." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Farming in a global community
Ronald Jager cares deeply about the "The Fate of Family Farming", which is the title of his latest book.His interest has very personal roots.Jager grew up on a farm near McBain, Michigan (not far from Reed City, where I grew up), and wrote movingly (and often quite humorously) of those formative years in his 1990 memoir, "Eighty Acres: Elegy for a Family Farm", which I re-read recently and found it to be one of those rare books which improves with age and yields new pleasures and insights with each reading, the mark of a true classic.
Jager left the farm over fifty years ago when he went off to Calvin College, then Harvard, and finally landed at Yale where he taught philosophy for a number of years.He has lived in rural New Hampshire for over thirty years now and has obviously immersed himself in the community, the culture and the history of his adopted state, and has written extensively of all these things.
In "FoFF" Jager first sketches a brief history of four hundred years of farming in America, starting with the first pilgrims who landed on our shores pitifully ill-equipped.Many of these first settlers died, and those who did not owed their survival to the generosity of Native Americans who shared their corn and knowledge of primitive farming methods.Jager then cites two early presidents, Adams and Jefferson, as champions and practitioners of farming.Jefferson described farmers as "the most valuable citizens [and also] the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous ..."Emerson, Thoreau and other nineteenth century writers also weigh in on farming before Jager focuses in on three contemporary agrarian writers from the second half of the twentieth century.Louis Bromfield was an enormously successful writer turned farmer whose experimental Malabar Farm in Ohio became a showcase in the forties and fifties.Victor Davis Hanson, a classics professor and also a California fruit farmer is also heard from, and, in his "Field without Dreams" (1996), writes: "we are now in the penultimate stage of the death of agrarianism, the idea that farmland of roughly like size and nature should be worked by individual families."Finally,the writings of writer-farmer Wendell Berry of Kentucky are examined, particularly his scathing indictment of modern corporate agribusiness in "The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture" (1977).Twenty-five years later Berry pointed out: "In 2002 we have less than half the number of farms in the United States that we had in 1977."
At the heart of "FoFF" however are in-depth profiles of four farms and the families who are currently operating them in New Hampshire.One is a modern "sugarbush", or maple syrup operation, which bears very little resemblance to the small-time sugarbushes that flourished throughout the west Michigan of my childhood.The metal spiles, buckets and boiling tubs of those days have been replaced by miles of plastic tubing, vacuum systems, and reverse osmosis machines, all needed to efficiently process the sap from the more than 40,000 maples on the Bascom farm. Similar esoteric and modern methods are examined at a family-run dairy farm of nearly 200 cows, and still other innovations are explained at an egg and sweet corn farm and, finally, an apple orchard.
The common thread that unites these four family farms, in addition to their specializations, is the odd dance of these fiercely proud and independent people's resistance to and yet cooperation with the giant agribusiness corporations which now control the food industry of the world.
Yes, the "world", because globalization has invaded the world of farming too.U.S. farmers are now in competition with the food growers of China, Chile, New Zealand and other far-flung points of the globe. The greatest irony of this globalization is that less and less of the money spent on food today (which is cheaper than ever) ends up in the farmer's pocket.Modernization equals increased efficiency, which results in higher production creating surpluses which drive down prices, and the farmer is the one who pays.
This vicious cycle is a dilemma which Jager emphasizes throughout his book.While this is a tragic situation, what is even more frightening is Jager's depiction of the rapid and widespread use of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.No long-term studies are available on the ultimate effects of these gene-spliced super seeds on world ecology and the continued safety of our food supply. Corporations like Monsanto, Novartis, DuPont and Dow, which produce, patent and sell these seeds and also certain herbicides, stand to profit enormously, and these companies have lobbied successfully for their products' quick approval by the FDA, the EPA and the Department of Agriculture.Other countries have been much more cautious about GMOs; indeed the European Parliament has even passed legislation requiring GMO labeling.
Jager finally offers some hope for the future of family-run farms in America as he looks at several current agrarian movements such as organic farming, community supported agriculture, farmers' markets and niche farming.
The greatest strength of "FoFF" is the obvious passion of the author's commitment to responsible stewardship of the land.Here finally is an eloquent and knowledgeable voice for family farming who draws not only from extensive research and careful scholarship, but also from personal experience and a deep and unquenchable love of the land.Jager's book should be required reading not just for the agricultural community but for the world community.If America chooses to ignore intelligent agrarian voices like Jager's, it is entirely possible that we will one day become as dependent on foreign sources for our food suppy as we are now for our oil (if we haven't already).Not exactly a happy thought. - Tim Bazzett, author of the REED CITY BOY trilogy

Perfect side-dish to your organic diet
I love food, especially of the locally-grown, organic type. This love comes from childhood memories of going to the farmers market, the excitement of being able to eat creamy spinach again after a nine month lull when it was out of season... But I've been shopping in a supermarket for the last 30 years, and feel as if I've fully lost contact with how the food actually to my fridge. This book comes to the rescue. The author talks about history of family farms in US, and then does 4 case studies of today's working farms. Maple syrup, Milk, Chickens, they are all in there. Great stuff, he writes well, and kept me turning page after page. Highly recommended to those who enjoy intelligent writing and good food.

A candid assessment of ever-changing farm technology
Former philosophy professor Ronald Jager presents The Fate Of Family Farming: Variations On An American Idea, a thoughtful examination of the history and future of the American family farm as a concept and as a way of life. Exploring both the ideals of "agrarianism" and the practical realities of agribusiness, as well as anecdotal portraits of present-day maple syrup, eggs and corn, milk, and apple farms, and a candid assessment of ever-changing farm technology, The Fate Of Family Farming lives up to its title by offering not only an in-depth portrait of the American farm today but also well-reasoned projections for the American farm of the future, for good or for ill. Very highly recommended reading for anyone concerned with the seeming demise of the family farm in the face of the global phenomena of agribusiness. ... Read more

Product Description
"This Old Farm" is full of wonderful, heartwarming stories, essays, and great photography and artwork, all recounting life on the farm.

This collection includes insightful, entertaining stories from such well-known writers as Garrison Keillor, E.B. White, Patricia Penton Leimbach, Bill Holm, Ben Logan, Jim Heynen, and Sara De Luca that are based on themes familiar to both present and past farm folk: "The Farmstead", "Working the Land", "Farm Animals", and "Farm Living". This engaging text and glorious photography from Randy Leffingwell and Ralph Sanders, along with artwork from greats such as Bob Artley and Grant Wood, are sure to evoke memories of days on the farm.

"The illustrations and the text . . . work splendidly in tandem to evoke a lifestyle that, in the face of today's economic realities, is changing its appearance and dynamics. . . . even the most die-hard city slicker will find this 'down on the farm' visit difficult to sneer at." "Booklist"

"Their recollections are vivid enough to draw in the most citified of city slickers." "People Magazine" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

WONDERFUL WONDERFUL I JUST LOVE IT
IT WAS VERY WELLWRITTEN AND THE PICTURES ARE FANTASTIC. IT BROUGHT BACK GREAT MEMORIES AS I TOO OWNED A FARM, IN INDIANA.I AM ON MY WAY TO OWNING A RANCH, SOON, I HOPE AND READING THIS BOOK I LAUGHED AT THE ANTICS OF KIDS AND ANIMALS.I DON'T THINK FARMERS, OTHER THEN THE AMISH WOULD KNOW HOW TO DO ANYTHING IN THOSE PICTURES TODAY HAHAHAH.EVERYTHING WAS DONE BY ANIMAL OR BY HAND. THE PICTURES AND WORDING ARE JUST GREAT. I THINK IT IS A WONDERFUL READ ESPECIALLY SOMEONE WHO LIVED AND WORKED BACK THEN ON THEIR FARM

"This Old Farm" brings back memories
I loved the book, "This Old Farm". The memories it brought back to me are some that I had forgotten for many years.The writers of"This Old Farm" knew exactly what they were talking about. Icould smell the odors, see the colors, feel the grass, hear the sputter ofthe tractors and machines.It brought tears to my eyes as it brought backmemories of my life on a farm while I was growing up.

Excellent book of farm memories
The pictures alone make this book a "must have" for anyone who grew up on a farm.It brings back warm fuzzy memories. ... Read more

Product Description
To some, the fields and farms of the Upper Midwest all look the same, but to the people who have struggled to raise families and make a living from the soil, each farm is a 'small kingdom' with a rich and often troubled history. This book focuses on the O'Neills, the family of his wife Sharon, and their 240 acres near Rochester, Minnesota. When William O'Neill began raising dairy cows in Minnesota in 1880, America was a nation of farmers. A little over a hundred years later, William's grandson Ed is too old and ill to continue farming. The farm is being chopped into subdivisions, an interstate has cut off access to the river, and changing technology and the tightening market have made small farms a thing of the past. Ed's children and grandchildren gather to try to find a way to keep the farm in the family. In this absorbing and hauntingly beautiful book, Hildebrand tells the story of four generations of farming O'Neills and, in doing so, tells a quintessentially American story of land and labour, memory and loss -- and one family's struggle to keep their dream alive.From boom times to bust, the bloody farm strikes of the Great Depression to the bittersweet optimism of a county fair, Hildebrand weaves a narrative that is at once an elegy for a vanishing way of life and a celebration of the tenacious and deeply held American values that have made today's way of life possible. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Design High quality as is the writing
The subject matter in this book is handled well, engaging and is well written.I was put off by a lack of an index as I was using the book for research but was glad for the endnotes and reference material mentioned.Great book on midwest farm culture.
One interesting point to note as a graphic designer I was impressed creative dust jacket on this book which featured a half fold on the front cover and folded out to reveal a map. The quality of design should be noted, usually history books of this type have appalling design.

Excellent Portrayal of Rural Life
Hildebrand's book is some of the best literary nonfiction I've read.His characters are well-developed.Because of that, the reader is drawn into the farm and, ultimately, its plight.This book does an excellent job of depicting rural life.It's very true to life (which is good, since it's nonfiction).EXCELLENT BOOK, highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Flora has been expensively educated to do everything but earn her own living. When she is orphaned at 20, she decides her only option is to go and live with her relatives, the Starkadders, at Cold Comfort Farm. What relatives though. Flora feels it incumbent upon her to bring order into the chaos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (55)

Awesome!!!
The book is in great condition and I received it quicker than i expected.Thanks!!

not as funny as the movie
I saw the movie some years ago and thought it was hilarious.The book is just so-so; I only laughed two or three times, the plot takes 3/4 of the book to develop, and the lucky coincidences and favorable plot developments are piled on so thick at the end as to be a little absurd.Having said that, there is a part of the book that I couldn't put down- near the end where Flora's plots start to have good effects, but before the last few pages where the author seems to go a bit overboard.

One of my all time favorite reads.......
Cold Comfort Farm is an amazingly great read, surprisingly entertaining, and the way the author handles accents and local dialect, you can actually hear the words in your head as you're reading them. By the way, I highly recommend the movie, too. It's one of the best screen adaptations of a novel I've ever come across. A real tribute to the book.

QUIRKY AND BRILLIANT...A HILARIOUS PARODY...
Published in 1932, this novel is a hysterically funny, tongue in cheek parody of the heavy handed, gloomy novels of some early twentieth century English writers who had previously been so popular. Tremendously successful when first published, "Cold Comfort Farm" caused quite a stir in its time.

The novel starts out innocuosly enough, when well educated Flora Poste finds herself orphaned at the age of twenty. Discovering that her father was not the wealthy man she believed him to be, she is resigned to the fate of having to live on a hundred pounds a year. Opting to live with relatives, rather than earn her bread, she seeks out a most unlikely set of relations, the odd Starkadder family who live in Howling, Sussex.

Therein begins what is certainly one of the funniest novels ever written. When Flora arrives in Howling, she meets her odd relatives, who live in neglected, ramshackle "Cold Comfort Farm", where they still wash the dishes with twigs, and have cows named Graceless, Pointless, Feckless, and Aimless. Headed by a seventy nine year old matriarch, Flora's aunt, Ada Doom Starkadder, who has not been right in the head since she "saw something nasty happen in the woodshed" nearly seventy years ago, they are a motley and strange crew indeed. Confronted with their dismal and gloomy existence, Flora sets about trying to put things to right.

Peppered with eccentric, memorable characters, this book will take the reader on a journey not easily forgotten. It is one that is sure to make the reader revisit this novel yet again, like an old friend who is missed too soon.

Cold Comfort Farm
If you liked the movie you'll love the book.

And if you love this book, you'll also love Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer.Flora has a great deal in common with Sophy. ... Read more

Product Description
Historians have long asserted that during and after the Hannibalic War, the Roman Republic's need to conscript men for long-term military service helped bring about the demise of Italy's small farms and that the misery of impoverished citizens then became fuel for the social and political conflagrations of the late republic. Nathan Rosenstein challenges this claim, showing how Rome reconciled the needs of war and agriculture throughout the middle republic.

The key, Rosenstein argues, lies in recognizing the critical role of family formation. By analyzing models of families' needs for agricultural labor over their life cycles, he shows that families often had a surplus of manpower to meet the demands of military conscription. Did, then, Roman imperialism play any role in the social crisis of the later second century B.C.? Rosenstein argues that Roman warfare had critical demographic consequences that have gone unrecognized by previous historians: heavy military mortality paradoxically helped sustain a dramatic increase in the birthrate, ultimately leading to overpopulation and landlessness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

History Lessons Reconsidered
Nathan Rosenstein offers up a well researched view of how ancient Rome mustered and operated its army.The basic starting point is what we have been taught about this time period: Rome would muster armies from its farms and wage war coincident with agrarian cycles.Through various pieces of evidence, Rosenstein argues that this long-held view was not likely the case and that a standing army would have been the more likely.His arguments consider a wide array of data points, and he states his case convincingly.

Though written as an academic work, the book is well written and reasonably easy to follow. Anyone who has a sincere interest in ancient history, and particularly that of Rome, will likely find this book interesting, but the reader who likes good research will enjoy it more.More interestingly for me was the fact that the book takes apart long-held points of view and dissects them methodically -- a good model for anyone who wants to read how research is done well and presented.

No concessions to the readers
If you're an expert on the Roman empire you will probably appreciate the fact that Rosenstein gets right to the heart of his subject with no unnecessary explanations.If you're not an expert, he doesn't make it easy to read this book.For example, he doesn't give us many dates, assuming we know when the Punic Wars ended and Sulla and Tiberius ruled Rome.(My level of expertise is that I can guess within about 20 years when these events occured.)Background and context in this book are minimized.

The subject is interesting.What impact did the frequent Roman wars between about 200 and 50 BC have on Roman agriculture?Was there an increase in the number of slaves and large landowners? Were small farms impoverished during this period as a result of Roman wars. How many Roman soldiers died in war?In 190 pages of related essays and 150 pages of appendices, notes, and a vast bibliography the author takes on these subjects.Whew!It was all a bit much.I need a little more background, more of a concession to my ignorance. Suffice it to say that this is not a book for the casual reader.

If you are an expert, however, you will probably find Rosenstein's exhaustive arguments and questioning of the conventional wisdom to be stimulating. Essentially, the author finds that the growth of slavery and the the destruction of the small landowners of Rome was less important during this period than believed by previous scholars.Along the way are some interesting facts such as (Table 2) a list of Roman battles and battle deaths between 200 and 168 BC.If that sounds like your cup of tea read this book.

Smallchief

The internal dynamics of an empire
The home front is always one of the less popular subjects of war histories.Not as heroic, bloody or grand, but just as important, the way families handle the pressures of war economically, politically and socially is often as important in determining the outcome of a war as does battlefield bravery and brinksmanship.This book goes one step deeper and examines how birth rates and death rates in the Italian countryside affected the ability of the nation to war with its neighbors.

Previous accounts of the Roman Empire have viewed Rome's territorial growth in the following lens.Roman armies took men of their farms for service in foreign quarters.This led to untended farms that needed labor.Subsequently, Rome was more willing than many of its neighbors to take men of their farms for military service.This gave Rome a manpower advantage on the battlefield, and Rome's military conquests were used to supply slaves and refugee labor to work its own farms.

This book turns this argument on its head by introducing another factor; high birthrates.The conscription of some portion of Roman men into the armies was compensated by high birthrates which proved enough people on the farms to keep them fully functional.Therefore, Roman farms had enough labor to feed its armies year-round, and its armies were fully manned to fight year round.But this process survived as long as Roman soldiers were constantly marching outwards to conquer new lands, and lose some of its men in the process.Eventually, enough kingdoms bowed willingly to Roman rule without minimal bloodshed that overpopulation became the problem.Specifically, there were too many Romans without land, and these would crowd into the cities and fall prey to the wiles of rival politicians who began fielding these landless souls as their own armies to settle contests outside of the legislative arena.Hence the transformation from Republic to Empire was fueled at its base by overpopulation.

All in all a very important book in the study of a very important subject.The work is well referenced and thorough; but alas it is quite boring and academic in writing style.I do not recommend it for the armchair historian.

Outstanding book.Absolutely essential to understanding the Roman Republic
This book has taken the majority of preconceived notions about the time of the Hannibalic War in Rome and it's affects on the Italian peasantry and turned them on their head.The agrarian crisis which was addressed during the Tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus was always explained as a by product of the turbulent Hannibalic War and the adverse effects the citizenry of the Italian peninsula suffered during these times.However, Nathan Rosenstein, using every single piece of evidence available to him, from the ancient sources to archaeology, genetic testing to demographic studies, shows that not only would the Italian people have been able to generally deal with their current conditions but that their population as a whole was skyrocketing.This, he argues, was the reason for the agrarian crisis, not a large rise in slave staffed estates(which he shows, by ancient evidence that the number of slaves was much lower than generally thought, and the near total lack of archaeological remains of large estates from that time period, never reached the number historians have traditionally believed.).This book has made me look at this time period in a completely different light. I hope Mr. Rosenstein continues to put out books if their quality and research is even half as high as this work. ... Read more

Product Description
PRESERVING FAMILY LANDS (now retitled PRESERVING FAMILY LANDS:BOOK I) -- ESSENTIAL TAX STRATEGIES FOR THE LANDOWNER (THIRD EDITION, REVISED IN 1998)

PRESERVING FAMILY LANDS is the original landowner's introduction to basic tax issues and other considerations.Themessage of PRESERVING FAMILY LANDS is simple:if you have land you love, you may have an estate tax problem.The land may have become so valuable it may have to be sold to pay the estate tax.

This is the updated third edition of this important book, now retitled PRESERVING FAMILY LANDS:BOOK I and revised in 1998 to include the new estate tax provisions and land protection incentives included in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.

In addition to this new material, PRESERVING FAMILY LANDS still includes:

-an introduction to conservation easements
- an introduction to the income and estate tax benefits available for donations of conservation easements and the estate and gift tax rules
- gifts by will and gifts of remainder interests
- appraisal issues and information about potential donee organizations
- what you need to know to get started

If you haven't read PRESERVING FAMILY LANDS you should.It's the first book in the series. ... Read more