Customer Reviews

Harvest: A Year in the Life of an Organic Farm

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The pictures in this book are beautiful but this should have been an educational experience and it just wasn't. I agree with the other reviewer that so much of the book was about logistics that it would have been wonderful to have a map or clear pictures of the property so we would be able to tell what the author was talking about. The other issue I had was how oddly these farmers seemed to deal with animal deaths. For example she slits a sheep's throat during a difficult labor and says she regrets not doing it earlier that day because of the "look" the sheep gave her but didn't because she was in her work clothes. I cannot imagine being pyschic enough to know an animal should be put down based on a look. In addition, they lose approximately half their calves because of the simple fact that they aren't cleaning the enclosed barn stalls during the winter. First of all, why are the cattle in the barn? Secondly, any farmer knows you must muck out stalls for health reasons *especially* if you have calves and you've enclosed them in the barn. It's NOT common practice to do this, at least where I come from and we get temps below zero with serious wind chill factors. The chicken predator was unsettling for me as well. If something's getting my chickens and I really need that income to survive for the year, you can bet all holes will be blocked, the chicks will be moved, anything and everything will be done to stop the killing.

They just seemed to cause themselves so much of their own misery and work. Another examply, they seem to always be chasing down the sheep from where they're not supposed to be and then being frustrated or late. Well.... put up fences. Good fences make for good neighbors and also lazy farming where your animals stay in the pasture you want them - with an occasional excape artist. They seem to take on more than they bargain for at every turn. Like, they want to do tasks that require a tractor but don't have one. So they work out a borrow arrangement with the neighbor but then complain about the neighbor's attitude. If you don't have a tractor, either don't do it, or understand you're at the mercy of others. The old saying "beggers can't be choosers" comes to mind. The entire fiasco with the syrup harvest was baffling. You cannot integrate people into your business like that and not expect some difficulties. If you don't want to deal with them, DON'T include them! It's very simple. These types of issues seemed to bog them down in negativity and made me, frankly, not like them much. Their marriage is in SERIOUS trouble and I cannot believe how often divorce is mentioned. Not that any marriage is always happy, but these people are definitely overworked, struggling, miserable, and stressed. *Something* should give.

After reading the book, I was just... sad. Sad for them. Sad for their animals. Sad for their child. Just sad.

This is supposed to be a feely book and not a textbook. That said, the brushstrokes are far too broad to even provide that feel for the farm. Too anecdotal, and difficult to piece together. Flashbacks are one thing, but only if they provide literary value. Here, straying from chronological order subtracts from an already shaky narrative. And the writing style itself is poor. Did the publisher even assign an editor?

It would not have hurt to include a map of the place, a small chart of how much of each vegetable or animal was grown, and a rough idea of how the finances added up. The authors instead sprinkle the numbers throughout the book: $79 in beets, $4000 for interns or whatever. I kept turning to the only useful photograph in the whole book: the bird-eye view of the 20-acre farm.

I was lucky enough to borrow this from the library. It is well-printed in a nice binding, but the text pages are padded generously with white space. I got the impression that the hoo-hah binding and glossy paper were there only to distract from the low-quality text, and to justify charging coffee-table price for the book. I believe one should buy books only if you're going to look at them more than once. I have no desire to read this book again, and the content of the pictures isn't worth it either. This book would have been worth it if it were a mass-market paperback, but as it is, IT IS NOT WORTH BUYING.

I am giving this three stars only because I must give credit to the authors for at least addressing the issue. Although poorly organized, I did learn enough to think about the situation of these people. Even with no debt, Jennifer and Kyle are on the edge of going completely under. If their car dies for good, or if somebody breaks a leg, they are in trouble. It made me think twice about finances of the vendors at the farmer's market.

Harvest describes the struggle of so many small family farms these days -- how to survive while hanging on to your ideals and the way of life you treasure. In gorgeous prose and stunning photographs, Nicola Smith and Geoff Hansen tell the story of a year in the life of a very special farm family. There is a wonderful sense of suspense to the story -- Smith makes excellent use of the life and death struggles that come with raising animals and food. Most highly recommended!

While this is the story of one year in the life of one farm, it is really more than that. It is the story of how food gets grown and delivered to the table. Their Fat Rooster Farm is small, only twenty acres is operated organically and produces enough food to feed the family and to have a surplus to sell for admittedly subsistance income.

The story begins with searching for a farm, buying it and learning to be a farmer. It was not an easy task, farming never is. And when you have regular off farm jobs, have never farmed before, and are starting out organically you learn from mistakes. Mistakes cost time, effort and money. But they made it. And when the year was past, the next year began and it continues.

A cordial narrative about a year in the life. Not meant to be overly academic, but intended to provide a peek into the day-to-day happenings on a small, family farm. A pleasant read - great for the nightstand.

Then read this book. Not only does it provide a window into farming life and its relevance to all our lives but it is also a great read. It is well-conceived, artistically rendered and extremely well-written. Organic farming is the antidote to our toxic, super-sized culture and this book presents a realistic picture of what it means to be a modern-day farmer. If you are part of the food chain, this is a book you need to read.

Rarely do you find a combination like husband and wife team Geoff Hansen and Nicola Smith who can put out a book that is both beautiful and delightfully written. A boring account of farming this is not. This is a heartfelt story about a family's adventure. The pictures alone are worth buying the book, but the dramatic text makes this a superb package. How many of us have dreamed of chucking it all and going back to the farm? In this book you find out what that's like, how hard it is and what the various rewards are. It would make a great gift since the pictures and paper are such high quality that it could easily serve as a coffee table book.

I was expecting a book with more details on how organic farming is actually done. Instead, I found the book to be more a drama of a marriage in danger of falling apart. I found that the author seems to portray characters very negatively. I came away from the book saying, "I certainly wouldn't want this author to do a book about ME!" I also found the book to be clumsy to hold, and a funny shape for good reading. It seems like it is meant to be a coffee table book rather than a real read. My biggest disappointment, however, is the simple fact that I was looking for a book with ideas on how to actually make an organic farm work, but instead found a book that portrays organic farming in such a negative light that who would want to try after reading this?

This book was fantastic! I really enjoyed this documentary-type book about a year in the life of an organic farm. It really put everything in perspective by way of the effort and time that is required to successfully, or unsuccessfully, operate a traditional farm.

To me there are few things more riveting than someone who gives up a lucrative urban life in order to farm in the country. These are the adventures of one couple as they try to live The Dream. Not romanticized, and very gritty. This couple fights. I wish there had been more pictures, but aside from that I found it deeply engaging.