Amazon.com Review
An enduring dream for many people, regardless of where they live in modern times, is that of living in the country, raising food and livestock, being partially or fully self-sustaining, and working directly with the land. In Country Life, Heiney shows the reader what's involved in turning that dream into some kind of reality, working on the basic premise that anyone with the will to do it can bring at least a small portion of home farming into his life, even if it means starting with a small window box in the middle of the city. He presents the basics of home farming, care of livestock, gardening for food, raising field crops, and preparing food from the crops and animals one has raised by hand. Charmingly illustrated with colorful drawings and hundreds of photographs, this book is meant to inspire and motivate the would-be farmer, and it will. --Mark A. Hetts
From Booklist
In this lavishly illustrated book, Heiney tells readers how to turn the dream of being a home farmer into a reality. Most of the sample farms he suggests are several acres in size. In the first section, he explains the meaning of home farming and the basic differences between a garden farm and a small, medium, and large home farm. He discusses the various chores season by season, as well as the work involved in hedging, fencing, blacksmithing, and blade sharpening. Other sections of the book deal with animal husbandry and with growing vegetables, herbs, and fruit. He offers information on such topics as barns, stables, and sheds, tractors, horses, restoring ponds, assessing the soil, rotating crops, and plowing. In a section on home comforts, Heiney discusses such delightful subjects as making bread, pastas, cheese, and jams, and curing bacon and ham. Home farming on such a large scale is beyond the scope of most gardeners, but the book is definitely an armchair adventure. George Cohen
