Green Mountain Farm

by Elliott Merrick

A story about the thrills and perils of renovating an old farm on a shoestring, a warm and wise book about living simply in the country while pursuing the writer's craft. In 1934, in the depths of the Great Depression, Elliott Merrick and his wife bought a ramshackle farm on a Vermont hillside for $1,000. Merrick, a young writer with a healthy dose of idealism and a determination to live in the country, had just sold his first book to Maxwell Perkins at Scribner's. "I had an idea that I would be rich and famous henceforth," Merrick wrote, but added, "nothing could be farther from the truth . . . As I look back, I'm amazed that we could so blithely have crossed our great Rubicon on a spiderweb. But it turned out to be one of those fortunate mistakes―one of those fraught-with-peril enterprises that you might never have embarked on if you had known the consequences―like being born, for instance." Green Mountain Farm describes Merrick's and his family's often haphazard attempts to make a go of it on these stony, wintry acres, in a house that was falling down around them. As Merrick puts it, "We did everything wrong, but it came out right." They were dirt poor, but through it all, believed wholeheartedly in going directly after the things they wanted to write and to farm, however they could. A lyrical, funny, richly fulfilling book about old houses, farming, writing, and the joys of country life, this book is as fresh today as when it was originally published more than fifty years ago.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Janisse Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know the real town where Merrick's farm lay, so this book was very appealing to me. Plus I love agrarian fiction. I very much enjoyed it.

[CP · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a recommendation from Mike. It’s about Elliot Merrick and his wife buying a farm in rural Vermont for $1,000 during the depression. They both had a sense of adventure so all the hard work was worth it to them. The book was full of good humor for their venture and full of gossip about their neighbors.

I had to order this book twice from MelCat. The first book fell apart. The second book was old and looked out of circulation. It was from the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to Vermont!

[Lanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this was more about the farm itself, but it was a quaint read about a simpler time in a very small town, VT.

[Wesley Kempton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poetic and practical snapshot (sometimes charmingly rambling), of Vermont life as it used to be, and may always be. Entirely beautiful.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Merrick himself says, "Even when it all goes wrong, it turns out alright." That seems to sum up this collection of linked essays centered on life in rural "Horseshoe", VT. This is one of the first in a long line of "back to the land' tombs written by city folks coming to the country to discover a more simple way of life. Helen and Scott Nearing and Noel Perrin all wrote about Vermont from the same place at nearly the same time and there have been a slew of similar books since that span the literary spectrum. Merrick's work falls between awful and awesome. Though he starts out the primarily first person narratives as story driven works linked to a deeper, universal lesson about nature, culture or humanity he devolves as the book goes on. The essays become fantastic scenic descriptions that go on without giving me a story to bite into, slowing the pace of the book to a snail crawl or he wanders off the page preaching about how things should be done and forgetting to sprinkle in the anecdotes that allow a reader to learn along with him as he does so masterfully in the first part. But even in the first part there is a distance set up between Merrick and the reader, he will only let you in so far and tell you so much. Every disaster in his learning curve of farm work, ever mishap or frustration is explained away with a flippant, "it all worked out." or an even more aggravating, "But i liked work so it was ok." Just once I wanted to see Mr. Merrick crack under the strain and beat a chair to kindling wood with a iron fire poker as he vividly recounts his neighbor doing. In fact by the end of the books his cheery attitude feels false, grating. It serves to remind us that he is not one of the farmers he tells stories about, in fact he can and does leave to go on family vacations or trips to the city for a reprieve of farm work, a luxury his neighbors do not have. This privileged attitude slips out on more than one occasional but in very subtle ways, the most obvious was when he said, "(the neighbors) laugh at me plenty.... Luckily for them, they don't publish their little jokes, so there is no rancor." Indicating that if someone else had the skills to write stories like Mr. Merrick and could tell honest stories about him, he would not appreciate it with the same good humor his neighbors extend. So though stylistically Merrick does as much wrong as right, and even though I'd send anyone looking for a Vermont book of essays to Noel Perrin before i send them to read Merrick, at the end of the book his mistakes can be forgotten, the stories remembered, and enjoyed.

[Lisa Kearns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book a few weeks ago and still I find myself thinking of his stories every day. Elliot Merrick is a great storyteller and brings vividly to the mind's eye a life that has largely died off. He and his wife bought a run-down farm in rural Vermont in the '30s and lived in a way our family is trying to live today. His book is written as a collection of essays about their years on the farm. They have a large garden and make maple syrup, and have milk cows and grow pork. He talks of mending fences and digging out an old well, and of the changing seasons and small town culture. They weren't farmers when they bought the farm, and had to learn how to be successful by trial and error and with the help of eccentric neighbors. He writes with a combination of humor, reverence for nature and respect for the way things had been done for several hundred years. I really respect his and his wife's desire to live close to nature and to avoid city life.

A lot of his book is also based on his love of rivers, lakes and the sea. Their farm was located on the edge of Lake Champlain, so a lot of his essays talk of trips they took in their boat and of the history of the settlers and steamboats on the lake.

He also writes of his desire to make a living by writing, and of the need to take outside jobs to support his family while trying to make his dream come true.

I really loved the way he wrote about his wife and children - you immediately know that he was a good family man and a hard worker. After reading this book I've ordered the rest of his books - True North, Northern Nurse and Cruising at Last - I want to know more about his life and adventures. The introduction by Lawrence Millman gives an addition glimpse into the personality and life of Elliot Merrick.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the old ways of farming or a love of New England and life in the 30s and 40s.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed experiencing the daily life, hardships, weather, and seasons on the farm with Elliott Merrick and his wife. Their experiences with full time locals, the summer tourists, and the never ending stream of city folks driving 400 miles out of their way to stop by and say "hi" - the book was rich and reflected a simpler time. A quick and easy read, perfect for a hot summer weekend after harvesting all day in the garden.

[Joel]

this book took me a while to get to but was worth the wait. old timey people talking about old timey things.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite books. I've read it probably 5 or 6 times already.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little folksy, but interesting and easy to read.