Gold in the Grass: Rags to Riches Through Soil Reclamation and Sustainable Farming. A Back-to-the-Land Adventure from 1954 [Paperback]

Margaret L Leatherbarrow (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0972177051 | ISBN-13: 978-0972177054 | Publication Date: September 21, 2008

As World War II was ending, Alfred Leatherbarrow, a wounded Canadian veteran, and his nurse, Margaret, fell in love, married, bought their dream farm—and discovered that their crops would not grow. The farm’s soil had been exhausted through years of destructive tillage practices. Faced with certain defeat, they used innovative farming techniques—including a prototype forage harvester to gather grass for silage—to restore the fertility of their farm. This early experiment in sustainable agriculture not only saved the farm in a rags-to-riches turnaround, but showed other farmers in their region how to pull out of the death spiral of decreasing fertility, yields, and income. Gold in the Grass is a love story, a back-to-the-land adventure, and an inspirational example of how conservation tillage can restore the fertility of a used-up farm. This is a great book, and has spent far too many of its fifty years out of print. Gold in the Grass is an example of the Norton Creek Press motto: “Most of the best books are out of print and forgotten, but we can fix that!” Check out our offerings on http://www.nortoncreekpress.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Norton Creek Press (September 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972177051
• ISBN-13: 978-0972177054
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,107,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Authors

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless ideas, January 19, 2009

By 

Lynn (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gold in the Grass: Rags to Riches Through Soil Reclamation and Sustainable Farming. A Back-to-the-Land Adventure from 1954 (Paperback)

I throughly enjoyed this book. It shows that grass based farming is not a new fad and that soil fertility issues have been around for many, many years. It was interesting to see how someone improved their soil without much outside help and for minimal costs. The ideas are just as good today as they were 50 years ago.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to rebuild poor soil, September 17, 2009

By 

Ronald Clobes (Alexandria, MN USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gold in the Grass: Rags to Riches Through Soil Reclamation and Sustainable Farming. A Back-to-the-Land Adventure from 1954 (Paperback)

This book is written from the point of view of the farm wife who is telling how she and Alfred were able to take a worn out farm and turn it into a very productive farm by grass land farming. The farm under consideration was 100 acres. The lessons in the book could be applied to a backyard garden just as easily. A lot of the book is biographical in nature, but there are a few nuggets of information sprinkled throughout. The last chapter is by far the best as it summarizes the yearly planting and harvesting practices that Alfred and Margaret developed. The fourth chapter also has a description of what worn out land looks like and the weeds that take it over, and a little understanding of why. Well worth reading if you are dreaming of escaping the city for land in the country.

All-in-all, a very heart warming story and and timeless information.