Product Description
For many farmers their farm tractor is almost a part of the family. "This Old Tractor" is the ultimate oral and visual tribute to the classic farm tractor. The text is made up of humorous and sentimental tractor stories, essays, and memories about such momentous events as a farmer's first tractor, learning to drive a tractor, and the "art" of collecting and restoring tractors.

Part family farm nostalgia, part reminiscences about faithful old tractors, . "This Old Tractor" is chock-full of endearing pieces written by all the well-known tractor book authors and historians: Randy Leffingwell, Ralph W. Sanders, Robert Pripps, C. H. Wendel, Bill Vossler, Don Macmillan, and CBS "Sunday Morning"'s Roger Welsch. Other writers and farmers, such as John Hildebrand (author of "Mapping the Family Farm"), Sara De Luca (author of "Dancing the Cows Home"), and Patricia Penton Leimbach (author of several farm life books and considered the Erma Bombeck of the farm), also contribute. We've even tracked down historical tractor poetry!

The text of "This Old Tractor" is enhanced throughout by a variety of artwork, including farming paintings by Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton, cartoons by Bob Artley (author of the syndicated cartoon series "Memories of a Former Kid"), historical photos, and full-color photos by Ralph W. Sanders, Randy Leffingwell, Andrew Morland, and others. Colorful old ads, tractor catalogs and magazine covers, and tractor toys are sure to bring back warm memories of cherished days spent on the family farm. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Generations of farmers celebrate the tractor
If you're a fan of vintage tractors, a farmer, or a collector, THIS OLD TRACTOR: A TREASURY OF VINTAGE TRACTORS AND FAMILY FARM MEMORIES is for you. Plenty of black and white and color photos throughout keep the vintage and modern tractor shots captivating for browsing or study, while recollections by farmers and tractor workers bring back memories of activities and concerns surrounding them. Celebrations of generations of farmers provide essays ranging from a husband's efforts to get more tractors on his farm under his wife's very nose to the experience of threshing day.

... Read more

Product Description
Farm life tells the story of Chippewa Valley dairying and ties it to larger national and historical issues, bringing this history into the new millenium.Highly illustrated with compelling photos, Farm Life lets the voices of farm families come through in hundreds of direct quotations. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

No to Virtual Nature
This was an enjoyable read about the multi-generational life of a farm and community in Wisconsin.Within the story, Jerry Apps includes both sides of the debate about the need for kids to spend time outside living with and observing nature vs learning about it virtually.As previous readers of his books would expect, Apps comes down on the side of nothing can replace the real experience and the wonder of unexpected sightings and interactions out in the woods and meadows.

This book is also a celebration of the value of small town "community" and what is being lost as the small farms disappear.

A great story told with great writing...
Many books have good stories, but they too often end up with the reader feeling that the story was better than what the writer did with it.Likewise, many really good writers unfortunately just don't have very good stories to tell.But Jerry Apps scores big time on both counts with Blue Shadows Farm.It's an exceptionally well-crafted tale, spread over three generations of the Starkweathers.

From Silas Starkweather, a wounded Civil War soldier who homesteads the farm in rural central Wisconsin, through Emma, his grand-daughter who ushers in the 21st century, the book chronicles their trials and triumphs through their relationships with their neighbors and the land.But Blue Shadows Farm is not a straight linear account of their lives.Successive chapters go back and forth among all three generations, creating interconnected timelines.

Apps' smooth narrative, vivid descriptions, and natural dialogue effectively weave the stories together into a large, coherent tapestry, covering a century-and-a-half of change on their farm and in the surrounding community.Each compact chapter is filled with a wealth of details about the era in which that chapter's specific events occur, providing you with a fine taste of the vintage realities of rural life during each period.

It all comes together seamlessly and very effectively, including the mystery of an underlying theme that is an intriguing and satisfying part of the story.As you read and enjoy the literary pleasures of Blue Shadows Farm, it will inevitably expand your perspectives on how things were and how they are.You can't help but learn some significant things in this historical novel that's as much or more history as it is novel.

With Blue Shadows Farm, Jerry Apps has penned another gem in his long line of superb books.This one gives irrefutable proof that his craftsmanship as a writer is outstanding and the tales he tells are truly good stories.Nowadays, that is a hard-to-find and much-to-be-treasured combination.

Simple but historically-fun book with a good story
My grandfather has a farm in the same area of Wisconsin where this book takes place.I really enjoyed the historical references to farming in Wisconsin in this book but was hoping for bit more depth.

I'm actually in the process of trying to convince my grandfather to protect his 240 acres so I read this book vigorously hoping to come upon a lesson that would transfer easily to my 85 year-old grandfather if he read this book.Although it didn't have the profound answer I was hoping for, I was not dissapointed in the book.

The book bounces back and forth between a story line taking place today and one taking place at the turn of the twentieth century.The historical storyline is great, the modern storyline is a little too cliche' for me, but it works o.k. and the author's point is made.The story is interesting enough for adults, and simple enough for young novle readers (in fact I think this would make a great school book) I recommend this book if you're interested in the history of farming in central Wisconsin.

An intriguing and entertaining tale
When a family stays in one place for a century, that place becomes a member of the family. "Blue Shadows Farm" is a novel taking place over a century as three generations of Starkweathers care for a farm and face their own challenges. A small area in Wisconsin, Silas comes to found the farm in the mid nineteenth century. His son Abe finds himself bootlegging to keep the bills paid during prohibition, and Abe's daughter is challenged with its sale. Bouncing between the perspectives of the three protagonists, "Blue Shadows Farm" paints a vivid picture of the history of rural America, making for one intriguing and entertaining tale. ... Read more

Product Description
Since the earliest settlers, farming has been an integral part of American culture and society. Far from a vestige of the past, the family farm remains both a cherished and a vital staple of life in nearly every corner of the country. This stroll down memory lane presents the sights, sounds, and experiences of life on the American farm from the early 19th century to today.It takes you through the seasons and all phases of farm life, from plowing and planting to surviving the brutal winters. Recollections of farmers of today and yesterday are presented alongside stunning black-and-white and color photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A wonderful book
If you're interested in learning about the American farming, look no further. This is a wonderful and informative book. Highly recommend!

The lost art of farming
I think the book was wonderful and its so sad, that, probably in a hundred more years the only place you will see a farm will be in the Smithsonian.

I have farmed a small farm of 3oo acres and the pictures brought back wonderful memories of hard work and dedication to the soil. The layout of the book is great and just so real you could touch it. A very good read for anyone who loves the outdoors and good honest labor

The Farm Book that sure brings back great memories
I must admit, The American Family Farm is one great book on farm memoriesand agricultural science. I only bought it because I have a big inteerestin farming, and if you do, this a book that you won't be able to put down! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Oral histories of the Central Valley
This is the sixth Mas Masumoto book that I've reviewed.Mainly I read Mas to remember what I left behind when I left the farm.The people interviewed are all familiar and their stories are similar to that of my relatives, acquaintances and me.Having come from that part of the Valley, I'm certain that I've known some of the people interviewed.

It's a story of hardship, tragedy and then revival after the War.As parents age, most children grow up and leave for a "better" life.A few stay on the farm out of a sense of duty or because they actually like farming.For some, Mas included, it is a little of both.

If you have read Mas' more recent works, you can see the genesis of some of those stories in Country Voices.His writing is not as refined and there are a few grammatical errors and typos.This is a self-published book under his own label, Inaka Countryside, with two friends doing the illustrations and composition.

I recommend this book for anyone, Japanese American, especially, that started life on a Central Valley farm and left.It's filled with warm memories of the time.

One last comment - the book is out of print.My copy came from wmboothsbookssf and arrived in great condition just a couple of days after I ordered it.I'd order from them again without hesitation. ... Read more

Product Description
Winner, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Best Local Cuisine cookbook in the United States.

Everyone on the the Island of Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts eventually ends up at Morning Glory Farm -- celebrities, Islanders, summer visitors, foodies.

Buying fresh, locally grown and prepared foods from Morning Glory is a rite of passage. Here, rich in detail and lush with the photographs of Alison Shaw, is the story of how the farm came to exist, the family that makes it happen, and the food that excites us all. The 70 recipes include favorites from both the farm stand and some well-known Island chefs.

The Morning Glory Farm story is a romantic one: A young husband and wife hailing from different ends of Martha s Vineyard, with different backgrounds and different expectations in life, carve a few acres out of woodlands and plant what turns out to be a crop of wormy corn.

Thirty years later, the worms are gone, and the couple plant, cultivate, harvest, and sell dozens of fruits and vegetables, prepared dishes and baked goods from a rustic farm stand that is the epicenter of fine, locally grown foods on the Vineyard. They supply restaurants with their produce restaurants that then brag about using Morning Glory products and they literally have people waiting in lines to buy just-picked corn and just-baked pies.

And they do this with the help of a large and loyal crew and two sons who work alongside them planting and harvesting by hand on this most traditional of farms. It is a lesson in sustainable farming that is not to be missed.

This book tells the story of those thirty years, and gives you recipes of the food they offer for sale, along with Jim and Debbie Athearn s own family recipes and recipes from some of the Island s favorite chefs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Excellent
This cookbook is great.I love that it is split up into seasons, which helps you buy fresh and buy local!Furthermore the recipes are delicious.The fall/winter minestrone is a great twist on a classic and it tastes great.

regional cokbook.
I bought this for my wife,and promptly ordered one for each of my daughters.The photos added much to the book, and the recipes are great and easy to follow.This product deserves multiple stars.

Gorgeous photographs and fabulous recipes
I've visited Martha's Vineyard for years, and always loved stopping by Morning Glory Farm to stock up on fruit, vegetables and other fresh provisions. The farm always appears as a peaceful oasis, and a celebration of life itself. But in some ways reading the book is even better. As usual, Alison Shaw's photographs are remarkable. They capture and expand on the unique island light, a rich shining that bathes the beaches in summer, and glitters like Baccarat in winter. She is to the Vineyard what Edward Steichen was to New York. She alone is worth the book's price. But my wife and I now have tried many of the recipes, and happily served them to friends. The stuffed peppers are to die for. The crunchy granola beats the barking Brand X version hands down. Try the clam chowder, the fish stew, the striped bass, anything and everything in fact. I recommend them all - and the book most of all.

The Real Vineyard, a Real Find!
This is what the Vineyard is all about--community and personal passion. Morning Glory is a mainstay on the Island, beloved by all, year-round. It's where we go for our Thanksgiving turkeys and our Halloween pumpkins and for the herbs and veggies and cheese and all other good things that sustain us. Any book on this subject would be welcome--but this is so elegantly written and beautifully photographed. A real treasure.

Fantastic Find!
In a world where processed foods have become the norm, it's nice to read the story of sustainable farming at Morning Glory. I can't recommend this book enough - the recipes are healthy and delicious, and the story of the Athearn family heartwarming. It's lovely to read a story of a family that shares such a unique passion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Down-to-Earth Guide for 'Subscription Farming'
The Gregson's passion for both organic farming and community supported agriculture is evident throughout the book. Best of all, they don't try to gloss over the less pleasant aspects of growing organically for a living.Anyone even dreaming about small scale farming will benefit from theirexperiences and examples.

Lots of information for the 1st-time, small acreage farmer
The Gregsons came from an urban life out to make a small farm. Through many trials and errors (which they humbly share) they have found a successful formula for earning a sustainable income from a few acres. Thisis a must read for anyone considering a CSA farm. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

Visceral / Poetic you will feel this novel more than read it
Marty's voice as a farmer's daughter of the 20th century shouts in whispers.Disenfranchised by gender, where one might assume bitterness one finds only abundance, joy, blessings emanating from life on a productive Minnesota farm.Perhaps more accurately - the farm breathes life into and through the characters, the soil, the buildings and the trees.Almost as if from a dream I emerged from each chapter thinking i had found an arrowhead, an agate or indeed stepped on the sharp spruce needles.I am deeply hopeful of more from this author - thank you for letting us look through the curtains.

A Beautiful Story of Attachment and Separation
Memory of Trees is, as the subtitle tells us, a daughter's story of a family farm, and what a beautiful, heartfelt, finely written story it is. It's a story of family ties and religious faith and the work involved on a farm that began when Gayla Marty's great-grandfather first hewed some acreage out the woods outside Rush City, Minnesota, in the 1880s, grew into a 460-acre dairy operation run in partnership by Gayla's father and his brother (who married sisters, a not uncommon practice in rural America), and ended with the reluctant sale of all but a small portion of the land in 1992. Born in 1958, Gayla Marty spent her childhood and girlhood on the farm, left it for college and exotic travel in North Africa, finally for marriage and life in the city of Minneapolis. Her book is tellingly divided into two parts: Attachment and Separation. That speaks of the author's deep feelings for the land and the life on it that made her, and that compelled her to write of them in this book. Hers is a story that has been told before, about a way of life that has mostly disappeared, by other sons and daughters raised on the land, but rarely has it been told this well. Embedded in this lovely memoir -- in the chapter that gives the book its title -- is the germ of perhaps another book having to do with a full account of Gayla Marty's experience in Tunisia as a scholarship student. One looks forward to reading it.

Recommended reading for anyone who has a connection to a farm or is curious about farm life
This memoir is beautifully written and evokes a feeling of deep connection with the land.It's a must-read for anyone who has a connection with a farm or wants to understand (non-corporate) farming.

Spirit of the Land
Gayla Marty obviously has a deep connection with the land of her grandparents and is able to convey this feeling in a uniquely descriptive way.There are intimations of the difficulties in the family dynamics of an extended family living in close proximity;but the real story is of the land itself.

Gayla describes the tragic loss of the land to the family due tochanging economics and to the policy changes which forced the loss of many small farms atthat time.

The book does not judge the reasons for these changes, but rather describes how the changes evolve.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has loved a piece of land; and I especially recommend it to those who have lost that land due to development or to economic change.

This truly is a memoir of a family farm

Couldn't put it down
I wept, I laughed, I empathized, as I read it and re-read it.With deep roots in rural America, I felt the pain, the love for the land and a way of life that, sadly, has disappeared.The best I've read in this genre.A beautiful gift for friends and family. ... Read more

Product Description
Between 1900 and 1940 American family farming gave way to what came to be called agribusiness. Government policies, consumer goods aimed at rural markets, and the increasing consolidation of agricultural industries all combined to bring about changes in farming strategies that had been in use since the frontier era. Because the Midwestern farm economy played an important part in the relations of family and community, new approaches to farm production meant new patterns in interpersonal relations as well. In Preserving the Family Farm Mary Neth focuses on these relations -- of gender and community -- to shed new light on the events of this crucial period. ... Read more

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For generations, scholars have focused on the rise of the Greek city-state and its brilliant cosmopolitan culture as the ultimate source of the Western tradition in literature, philosophy, and politics. This passionate book leads us outside the city walls to the countryside, where the vast majority of the Greek citizenry lived, to find the true source of the cultural wealth of Greek civilization. Victor Hanson shows that the real "Greek revolution" was not merely the rise of a free and democratic urban culture, but rather the historic innovation of the independent family farm.The farmers, vinegrowers, and herdsmen of ancient Greece are "the other Greeks," who formed the backbone of Hellenic civilization. It was these tough-minded, practical, and fiercely independent agrarians, Hanson contends, who gave Greek culture its distinctive emphasis on private property, constitutional government, contractual agreements, infantry warfare, and individual rights. Hanson's reconstruction of ancient Greek farm life, informed by hands-on knowledge of the subject (he is a fifth-generation California vine- and fruit-grower) is fresh, comprehensive, and absorbing. His detailed chronicle of the rise and tragic fall of the Greek city-state also helps us to grasp the implications of what may be the single most significant trend in American life todaythe imminent extinction of the family farm. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Enlightened Pages into Greek World
At first glance, this book looks overwhelming. But, is in fact an excellent and quite smooth read. Currently, I am using this book as my main research tool for fleshing out the real life of ancient Greece for a fiction novel: The Olive Tree. Thank you VDH for once again providing the inspiration and information necessary to envision life thousands of years ago.

The book is well organized and thoughtfully presented. If you are looking for a peek into what Greek culture was--apart from the literary and infamous or famous components--how they lived, then this is for you. Just think that if two thousand years from now the West was evaluated on our military campaigns and what remnants they found of George Lucus, Spielberg, and Andy Warhol and Vogue magazine. How would they see our world? VDH allows a deeper more thorough look--a view passed the open window for us to gaze upon. Thank you!

significant
The author of the book claims that the city-states of southern Greece were agrarian democracies the agricultural surplus
of which together with the democratic spirit made possible the birth and growth of philosophy-science, history and art.

Victor Hanson has written a number of wonderful books I have enjoyed in the past; unfortunately this is not one of them
because:

(1) the text is not well worked; he repeats himself in many places
making the text too long for the ideas and analysis it contains;
even a book of half size could make very clearly the points of this book

(2) despite the long text, the author fails to make his case transparent;

for example he does claim that the Persian wars acted like an excitation to the Greek polis that initiated growing resonances that eventually destroyed the fabric of the city state; In his view this made the poleis (Athens in particular)
more capitalistic and urbanised destroying in this way their reliance in terms of economy and military on the agrarian population; once the latter diminished the Greek polis was virtually over;

I do find all these plausible but the author never really answers
successfully the following: when the Atheneans and Thebans
fought the Macedonians at Cheronia they fought an old style hoplite battle; their infantry proved as powerful as during the Persian wars; at the time of their defeat their agrarian population was intact and especially the Theban polis was a typical city state (while Athens admittedly not);

that is the major question of why in the all-Greek struggle for the domination of Greece the Macedonian Kingdom conquered the
Theban-Athenean polis? this question is never answered sufficiently in the text; how could it? the author tried to
do something improbable: to explain the conquest of the city-state (thebans-atheneans) by the kingdmom-state (macedonians) WITHOUT any analysis of the state of Macedon;

He fails gravely because of this: he knows about the Athenean polis much more than about the Macedonian kingdom; as a result he is never convincing in explaining why in the all greek struggle of the 4th century Macedon emerged as a winner.

(3) in order to make his case he exaggerates (non persuasively) at points:

for example his treatment of the Persian wars; reading his text it appears as a miracle that the Greeks prevailed; but miracles
do not happen in real life; especially if they repeat themselves;
Marathon could be a miracle, but Salamis too? and Platae and Mycale and Xenofon's anabasis? The truth is that the Greek phalanx was unstoppable if used efficiently; the Persians lost because wars are decided by infantry and the greek infantry was far superior in open ground;

Overall, i found the text useful but with many important things missing; let us hope that future scholarship will explain
in better terms why the city-state lost to the macedonian kingdom
and (equally important) why the macedonian kingdom (and Greece as a whole) gave in to Rome; understanding these will help us understand better why the city-state collapsed.

Revolutionary and Pursuasive
This book seems to threaten certain scholars who have difficulty crediting his thesis- that western civilization gained more from the rural than the urban.It threatens long-established anti-rural prejudices.However the scholarship is excellent and ultimatelypursuasive.

Vital in Importance, Disappointing in Quality.
Hanson's thesis is that the hoplite class of landowning small family farmers originally created the autonomous city-state, in their own image and to serve their own interests, and thus more than anyone else shaped Greek culture from the time of Homer to that of Alexander. It is a pioneering treatment of an immensely important and hitherto scandalously neglected subject, so that this is a "must read" for any student of ancient Greece. I only wish it were a better read.

Hanson's own oft-cited membership in the family-farmer class can be an asset, since he illustrates in his own voice the characteristic mindset that he also aims to describe: opinionated, pessimistic, and contemptuous of seemingly all non-agrarianinstitutions, customs, persons, and ways of thinking. But these mental characteristics are also very limiting. Hanson himself admitsas much, applying such terms as "narrow" and "chauvinism" to his ancient predecessors; but to see and acknowledge such limitations in them is not necessarily to transcend them himself.

There are several other problems with the book as well. Hanson's passion for his subject all too often overwhelms his organizational planning for the book, as he reiterates favorite points in any and all contexts. He is also excessively given to braving out any inconvenient gap in the available evidence with an imperious "must have" or "could only have". And finally, the dots remain unconnected between the agrarian foundations and the enduring contributions of ancient Greek civilization. At one point, Hanson admits that the artistic and intellectual achievements that we call the "Greek miracle" only arose when and because Athens turned away from the agrarian ideal in various ways. At another, he lists twelve core values that western culture inherited from these ancient agrarians; and though the attribution is plausible enough in this case, the twelve listed values are not what we most treasure in the Greek heritage--except perhaps those among us who regard the Second Amendment as the crown jewel of the Bill of Rights.

The Real Foundation of Ancient Greek Culture
Over the years I have read many books on the ancient world, but always came away dissatisfied, feeling as if I could not quite grasp what these ancient Greeks were all about.Sure, these books all covered the variousbattles and the struggle with Persia.They all dealt with Atheniandemocracy, Spartan militarism, and the various philosophical schools.Weall know how the Macedonians eventually put an end to "Greekfreedom."But just what was it that made these Greeks so different? How and why did they emerge with a polis culture that gave us so much ofour Western heritage?Why were these Greeks so different than theorientals and the Romans?Finally, we have a book that goes a long way inexplaining what it was that made the ancient Greeks so unique.At last wehave a work that provides some answers as to "what these Greeks wereall about."

I would agree with Donald Kagan who wrote, "TheOther Greeks, is the most original and important contribution to anunderstanding of the ancient Greeks I have ever read."Here VictorHanson explains how the rise of intensive agriculture and the independentfarmer put an end to the Greek Dark Ages and he explains why this was anentirely new phenomenon in history.The rise of the polis, thisegalitarian community of farmers now producing its own food, fighting itsown wars, and making its own laws was something entirely novel in history. This Greek agrarianism became an ideology that infused Greek life with newenergy and creativity.

Hanson details how the shift to private ownershipand intensive cultivation by individual farmers gave birth to Westernvalues and created the hoplite army.Relying heavily on ancient sources,as well as his personal knowledge of agriculture, he explains how and whythe Greek yeoman created the hoplite army and how it functioned. During thepolis period there was almost no miltary parasitism in most Greekcity-states.

But Hanson does not view the polis through rose- coloredlenses.He understands that the polis developed during a period whenGreece was left alone by other powers around the Mediterranean world.Heis aware of its innate conservatism and the fact that it was not"truly" democratic.The rise of Greek agrarianism, after all,did lead to an increase in slavery in the countryside.And lastly, Hansondeals with the decline of the polis in a world where the Greeks were forcedto more and more deal with an opened society and international involvement. The Athenians made the most dramatic and remarkable attempt to adapt thepolis culture to the needs of the new age, but, ultimately, the agrarianbased polis culture was unfit to the requirements of the new world. Theproblems of new and wider citizenship and international economics found thepolis system wanting.The Hellenistic Age and the conquests of Rome werebased on the foundations of Greek culture, but in no way did they recreatethe city-state life of ancient Greece.Power, wealth and excess were thehallmarks of the succeeding ages.

If there is any criticism of the book,and I almost hate to offer it considering the great achievement of Hanson,it is that the writing is often repetitious.The reader should be preparedfor this.But, I cannot see how anyone can consider themselves well readin the history and culture of ancient Greek without reading this book andconsidering the points that Victor Hanson has made.A proper understandingof ancient Greece is impossible without a comprehension of what Hanson hasgiven us.We all owe him much for these insights.This book belongs onthe shelf of everyone with an interest in the ancient world and itsinsights will give you a yardstick by which to evaluate other times andcultures.After all, how people make their living is critical tounderstanding their time and culture. ... Read more

Product Description
Original documents are used in this compelling volume to portray life in the 1800s as it was lived by three extraordinary generations of hardy pioneering people in rural Central New York.

Terrance Keenan employs a unique and fresh approach to historical narrative. His prudent use of a rich collection of family documents elevates the genre to new levels of interest, reflection, and scholarship. The result is a remarkably palpable, highly accessible, and intellectually provocative reconstruction of lives lived in epochs past. Spanning a period of eighty years, the book depicts a nineteenth-century central New York family grappling with shifting mores, civil war, and vast changes in technology, transportation, culture, education, and even regional landscape.

In firsthand, sometimes intimate accounts these frontier people, business entrepreneurs--men, women and children--tell who they were, where their travels took them, what went on in their hearts and minds, and how they were affected by historical forces greater than themselves. Carefully edited diaries, letters, and journals show how greed and betrayal, trial and triumph, and star-crossed romance informed the emotional and material fortunes of the Collin / Knapp families. Here are true stories of generational conflict, human relations, and accomplishment shaped by time, place, custom, and kinship. This revealing work will be an abundant and entertaining experience for the general reader as well as an invaluable asset to students of American cultural history, frontier life and culture, American diaries and letters as literature, modernization, and historiography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Beautifully written
This is a beautifully written account of 19th century family life. A fact-filled account, it clearly and enjoyably reviews individual family members' triumphs and tribulations. It will appeal to anyone desiring an understanding of upper middle class life during this period. ... Read more

Product Description
* excellent practical primer

* ideal book for those going into the field for the first time

* clearly written, well illustrated, interdisciplinary, vital


"The Resilient Family Farm" is an interdisciplinary primer written for those who are involved in or who support rural development. Part I highlights the economic and ecological realities of the small family farm, while Part II examines the role of the development organization in supporting farm families who cope with these economic and environmental realities.

In simple, straightforward language with photographs and illustrations, "The Resilient Family Farm" includes examples of development successes and failures, shares observations and lessons from the field, clarifies the challenges and realities of rural development work and provides guidance for donors and practitioners who understand that the rich inter-connectedness and complexities of smallholder farm life demand complete, rather than partial, responses and support. ... Read more

Product Description
For more than 40 years, Willie Nelson has been a national treasure, contributing many memorable songs to our musical canon.His impact, however, extends far beyond the scope of his music.A champion of family farms, Nelson has helped mobilize support for the American farmer, both as a founder of Farm Aid and more recently as one of the nation's most knowledgeable and recognized advocates of the use of biodiesel - a clean-burning, renewable fuel made from vegetable oils or animal fats.In this funny and inspirational book, Nelson confronts our dependency on foreign oil as a source of energy.Through facts, stories, and interviews with everyday Americans, he explains the benefits of biodiesel as an alternative fuel that not only drastically reduces carbon dioxide emissions, but also may help save our family farms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

hero in any field
Can be texas music, caring for the people, honoring the cowboy image or taking good care of our beloved mother earth, no matter what he's doing, he always acts as an hero.
My deepest compliments, Willie
The book is fun, entertaining, but mostly deep... as the man ... Read more

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Product Description
An analysis of the crisis confronting American agriculture today looks back at the history of agriculture to find the origins of the problem, the impact of technological innovations, and the limitations of policies on the subject. ... Read more

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Dori was taught to cook homegrown foods in her mother's kitchen: dishes like Smothered Chicken, Fried Green Tomato Parmigiana, Warm Honey Gingerbread, and Pecan Pie with Black Walnut Crust. And every recipe had a story to go with it.

Along with classic Southern dishes, Dori's own fresh-picked favorites, traditional hearty fare, and cooking for Northerners, Dori includes innovative ways to substitute sugar and fat using fresh fruits and vegetables to add sweetness and flavor. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Great cookbook

This cookbook is great for people who like stories with their recipes.
It is well written without being too wordy,entertaining while giving tasty recipes.

Dori Sanders' Country Cooking Recipes & Stories From the Family Stand
This book is a treasure! We are using it for home school as a combination cooking and cooking history book. The stories are beautifully written and provide an intimate look into food, family, farm, and cooking from another time, not so long ago. I would highly recommend this book for the stories alone, but wait until you see the recipes!

A wonderful find
I stumbled upon this book in a small restaurant in Southern California. I'm not much of a cook. I bought this book because of the wonderful stories included with the recipes. It made me want to move to the country!

A Treasure.Not just a cookbook.
I stumbled upon Dori Sanders one day, picking up a copy of Clover on a whim.What I discovered was an authentic southern voice.Dori Sanders Country Cooking is yet another treat.The receipes are all simple and useplain and simple everyday items.While they may require a bit more time, the effort is well worth the extra time. Tipsy Chicken, a peacan pie to die for, a pick of biscuit receipes, gravy and biscuits...many of these receipes bring back summer dinners at my grandmother's home in Buda, Texas(dinner was at the noon hour for farm folk).Intertwinned amongst all these culinary treasures, is a running narrative of everyday life on a farm.I may never indulge in pig lips, but I well remember the nonstop activity on the days my grandfather slaughtered a cow and we all pitched in to help, and ate foods from that cow, things I might have never tasted living in a suburb of Dallas.Dori Sanders is a treasure, a cleareyed look back, seldom sentimental and full of grace.Like a wonderful dinner, she makes you wish she had written more.

Dori Sanders and Her Books
Not only can I give Dori Sanders' books a positive review, but a review on Dori herself.I recently met her at her peach farmstand in Filbert, South Carolina.She greets you as if you are an old friend in her warm and friendly manner.She speaks eloquently, her words flowing like a butterfly floating on a breeze.I'm sure she has never met a stranger.One word describes her best: Genuine.She is proud of her past, her life and her accomplishments in a humble sort of way.She is a real treasure and it was an honor to meet her.Nancy ... Read more

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A must read for understanding the food system
A lot has happened to the American agriculture and food supply since 1988 when the first edition of this book was published. Organic farming has been transformed from something practiced in back-yard gardens into a federally-standardized industry. Post 9/11 bioterrorism concerns have led to a close examination of the industrial food supply's vulnerability - with the discouraging conclusion that any contamination can result in illness on a massive scale. Helped in part by the fear of contaminated food, local agriculture has shed its sandal-and-pony-tail stereotype to become the new urban trend.
And yet organic and local producers account only for a hair-thin slice of the food market pie and the idea of a family making a living off the land, cows grazing on lush hills in the background and children carrying eggs from the henhouse across the front yard, seems more than ever shrouded in the mist of nostalgia mixed with the toxic fumes of financial impracticality.
"Family Farming" takes on both the mists and the fumes. In its own words, "This is not about the invasion of `corporate farming' but the evolution of family farms into industrial agribusinesses that ultimately will be transformed or transferred into investor-owned operations." Chapter by chapter, Strange dissects economic and cultural factors that continue to power the industrialization of American agriculture. Financing schemes, land values, property rights, and contractual arrangements that create the complex scaffolding (hidden from the eye of a casual observer) of farm expansion are explained in clear prose, with many examples. Even more remarkably, Strange gives the same clear-sighted treatment to the role played by the cultural values of expansion and efficiency, our love for technology and material surplus. Scientific research and innovation, which are often financed by the large agroindustrial agents, are also considered as part of the system that is becoming increasingly fragile, volatile, and ultimately unsustainable.
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