Customer Reviews

The Farming Ladder

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is amazing. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to farm, on whatever scale. Especially if you plan on making a living from it. Not only that, but it is the favorite farming book of none other than Joel Salatin himself. Need I say more?

I found this book regularly listed among books extolled by people like Joel Salatin, Gene Logsdon, Eliot Coleman and so decided that I needed to read it too. Difficult to find. Finally stumbled upon one that didn't cost as much as the farm I hope to have and am glad I did. Basically it is the story of a young man's journey into farming in England, WW1 - WW2 era. Interesting to see the different attitudes - English/USA and also a generation or two ago to now. This man worked his way up, work being the operative word. He gained his knowledge at the hands of the experienced farmers he worked for, absorbed their teachings, sifted the wheat from the chaff (literallly & figuratively) and then started his own farm implementing what he took away from his varied work experiences. Considering the differences in the times and cultures, this isn't a treatise that will give you a step-by-step how to start up your farm here and now. But the philosophical underpinnings are worth the price of admission. There are two follow up books - Farmer's Progress and The Farming Manual, neither of which I have (yet) read. But I recently scored a used Farmer's Progress is England and am looking forward to it.