Customer Reviews

Every Farm Tells a Story: A tale of Family Farm Values

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Farm values and management can offer many lessons, especially when told through humor, as Jerry Apps demonstrates in Every Farm Tells A Story; A Tale Of Family Farm Values. Tucked into an inviting chronicle of changes in farming over the decades and resulting changes in values and methods, readers receive a fine blend of business savvy, history, and humor lending to light, easy reading.

I have just come across a book you all should read: it is called EVERY FARM TELLS A STORY, A TALE OF FAMILY FARM VALUES, by JERRY APPS. it is published by Voyageur Press and is a wonderful story about growing up on a farm near Wild Rose Wisconsin in Washara County in the north central part of the state. As most of you know, Cousin Tom Larson and I spent a number of summers on the Bergum farm north of Wheeler in Dunn County; and almost everything that Jerry Apps describes in the book is something we did with Uncle Nelmer (who Tom and I still consider the greatest man in the world) and Aunt Selma (our second mother) and Kon and Stanley on that farm: threshing, making wood, cultivating, feeding chickens, stripping cows; old fashioned crank telephones, freeshows, feed mills--everything. The book is illustrated with period advertisments. This is a brilliant nostalgic journey. It's a neat
companion to my own The Reunion. But all of you should take a trip in EVERY FARM. this is a story that speaks to those of us who have had anything to do with farm life. it's a wonderful book for all my cousins and for all of us.

Steven Fortney
Author of The Reunion.

I really injoyed this book, laughed out loud several times. I really enjoyed all the old farm ads also. Great picture of how farming used to be.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.