Customer Reviews

Hit by a Farm: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As an aspiring hobby farmer, I wanted to read this book to get an idea of the transition one makes when starting a life in agriculture. While I was expecting this memoir to cover the fish-out-of-water aspect of an author not raised in farming delving into cultivation and animal husbandry, I was surprised to find that it became in the second half a saga of loss and repair.

Starting a country homestead was Catherine's partner's dream and not her own. She was supportive of Melissa through the years, but when the reality of farming duties hit her she found her ambitions as a writer sinking to the bottom of the heap. Friend is more candid than most memoirists about the anxieties and temptations to give up that she felt through the early years in the country. Many people would throw in the towel, but Catherine hung on until finding a balance between her partner's career choice and her own.

I recommend this book not only to those wishing to farm, but to anyone in a relationship where one person's ambitions take up more space than what's comfortable (for example, a career in medicine or international diplomacy). Additionally, for farmers, this is unlike any other book about agriculture out there. Friend has been able to fill a void both in literature on relationships and books on farming. I hope she publishes more of her humorous and enlightening insight.

No one was more surprised than Catherine Friend when her long-time partner informed her that she'd always dreamed of being a farmer. Early on in this hilarious memoir, the author writes, "Farming had never been my dream. My dream was to grow my writing career into something I could call 'successful,' whatever that was. I'd already sold two children's books and a handful of magazine stories. I was hungry for more" (p. 6).

But Melissa's dream had merit, and Catherine believed she could help the dream come true. And so, "The classic face of farming in Grant Wood's American Gothic was about to get a facelift: two thirty-something women in bib overalls holding pitchforks" (p. 6).

Devoting a great deal of time, energy, and work to their project, the two women researched farming, bought land in southern Minnesota, built a house, and settled in to raise sheep, chickens, and grapes for wine. Apparently that was the easy part. From auspicious beginnings, the road they embark upon is filled with a learning curve so steep that shoveling manure and mucking horse stalls might have been easier. While Melissa's dream ascended, the livestock, crops, and natural disasters seem to conspire to make Catherine's life miserable. Living off the land wasn't at all the romantic idyll so often put forth.

By turns hilarious and sobering, touching and surprising, Catherine Friend's memoir tells the tale of two thirty-somethings who not only have to learn to love the barn, but also to find their way back to one another after such a huge life-change nearly sideswipes them for good. It's a terrific story, very well-told, and is cram-packed full of humor, insight, and a zest for life that can't be vanquished. If you only read one memoir this year, make this be the one. I give it my highest recommendation.

Two women, partners in life, start a farm--one somewhat ignorant--going along with the other's dream.

Together, these 30-something city women raise sheep, chickens, goats, grapes, etc. etc.,--whatever Melissa bought next. But before they buy the first animal, they read everything they can and even attend workshops on shepherding.

Catherine Friend, published children's author, writes this memoir about her life with Melissa-and their successful juggling of the farm, their relationship and Catherine's writing.

Funny, poignant, sad--and educational. Much of the story took me back to my days as a child on a farm that raised dairy cattle, pigs, chickens and sheep. I remember the joy of spring lambs, especially the bottle lambs where human kids got to take over when the sheep mom refused to acknowledge that lamb. My sister and I named them April, May and even March (for the earliest births). When these lambs were hungry, they sought us out--such fun and responsibility for a young farm girls.

Of course, as children we didn't have to do the very hard, demanding and never-ending work Friends details as a farmer's life. But I remember the births deaths by both natural causes and by nature.

If you live on a farm, or are interested in farming, or if you love good, descriptive writing that takes you to that place, Hit by a Farm is the book. I laughed out loud numerous times, and shook my head in disbelief at some of what they experienced.

Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion fame wrote that it's, "A sweet and funny book in the classic 'Hardy Girls Go Farming' genre....

You'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about sheep/goat chicken sex; birthing of lambs and goat kids; darling baby chicks that grow up become someone's meat. If I had been Catherine, I would have given up weeks, months, years before she was ready to walk-but didn't,

Armchair Interviews says: Hit by a Farm is about caring, commitment, finding the right help, sticking to it and the life and death of a farm's every-day life. Well written, fun read--but keep the tissues handy, just in case.

I gave this memoir a full complement of stars because it is such a pleasure to read. It also deserves a handful of stars for its serious side. This author is an excellent writer. Her timing with a punch line will cause any entertainer some envy; and there are plenty of punch lines. I have read the chapter titled "Even my Bra was More Supportive," and also "Chicken Sex," aloud to a number of people and it always causes much laughter. On the other hand, the book is the very real story of someone without any farming background taking on the challenge of helping start a farm from scratch. I was born on a Montana ranch and know that this is a supreme challenge that a person can't even visualize before the fact. This book is also a touching story of a woman struggling to balance two sincere loves; her love of a person and her love for her writing career. It is obvious that the success of both the relationship and the farm hung in the balance at various times. The reader cheers each time a chapter of struggle is followed by a chapter of success and fun. I fully understand why Garrison Keillor said in the New York Times that he never wanted this book to end.

After talking to a couple of people who belong to book clubs that read "Hit by a Farm," I re-read it. It was better than ever. There is a rumor that there will be a sequel. That would be great.

It's been a long time since a book has made me laugh out loud and mist up with tears - all in the same chapter. While Catherine Friend's humor hooked me into her story, her clear-eyed and honest descriptions taught me much about the realities of raising sheep, and goats, and chickens and ... She may have intended to write and capture what it really means to farm, but what I learned is what it really means to love.

I have not enjoyed reading a book this much in a long time! The content is so real that I find myself drawn right in, and Catherine has such a gift with writing that sometimes it takes me back. I can't tell you how many times I have called a friend, just to read a page or two...or a chapter, and each quickly responds, "I have to buy that book!" Thank you for such an enjoyable experience.

I read this book to my partner this summer as we took three day trips from the Twin Cities to small towns in Minnesota - first to Buffalo and St. Cloud; second to Mankato; third to Rochester. It was a fitting book to read as we rode through Minnesota farm country - the setting of this story. Every time we saw sheep or llamas, we laughed and contemplated whether the farmers had experienced any of the trials and tribulations in the book.

This is a great memoir from a skillful author. Not only is she committed to her partner, she also has a great sense of humor and knows how to laugh at herself. The book description, itself, is comical. However, nothing prepares the reader for the emotional highs and lows between the front and back covers. Each chapter is a story in itself. From sheep to chickens, goats, llamas, geese, grapes and writer's block, this is certainly a don't-miss book. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention - the book is full of tragedy (i.e., all living things eventually die), childlike elation (i.e., the sheep actually did have sex and we have lambs!), and very elaborate descriptions of some pretty gross stuff (i.e., sheep placenta and things stuck to the bottoms of shoes). If you're soft of heart or stomach, get prepared for a roller-coaster ride.

Extremely well written by a very likable author, I highly recommend this wonderful book to everyone. It's a book that can be enjoyed by all - gay or straight, farmer or not - and should be on every bookshelf.

Writer/bookworm Catherine Friend takes us along as she transforms into a REAL farmer (and still keeps writing and reading). Her writing style is engaging and easy to read, pulling you along for the ride from start to finish. I couldn't put it down.

Real humor, real struggles, real "back to the land" mentality without the moral pontificating of some authors. The dream of farming wasn't hers to begin with (it was her partner's), but she has made peace with it and maintained her sense of self while maintaining a long term relationship. Farming is a stressful business, and she addresses this aspect of it very well while sharing how she managed to work through her concerns and evolve into a better person.

The author's sense of humor was my favorite part. I will never look at soft serve the same way again after reading about the peacocks leaving "grayish swirls of poop the size of a Dairy Queen ice cream cone" which, well, you'll have to read the book to find out what happened, but the result had me rolling with laughter. Definitely a five star read.

Great book! Every person thinking of starting a flock should really read this book. My husband and I went through the same antics with our sheep, chickens and goats. Very truthful and easy reading. It gave me a better understanding of what I put my family through starting a farm. I really hope there will be a sequel.

This is abook you will read until you are finished!
It is a true story, an ongoing look at starting a farm, raising sheep,
putting up fence, and all of the fun that goes with it.
My family thought I was nuts, because I would start laughing out loud!
Very good humor, very entertaining!
I have given many copies for gifts!