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Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live Off the Land
"Charming . . . . [Kurt Timmermeister] narrates his personal journey with an open, straightforward spirit." ― Wall Street Journal When he purchased four acres of land on Vashon Island, Kurt Timmermeister was only looking for an affordable home near the restaurants he ran in Seattle. But as he slowly settled into his new property, he became awakened to the connection between what he ate and where it came from: a hive of bees provided honey, a young cow could give fresh milk, an apple orchard allowed him to make vinegar. With refreshing honesty, Timmermeister details the initial stumbles and subsequent realities he faced as he established a profitable farm for himself. Personal yet practical, Growing a Farmer will entirely recast the way we think about our relationship to the food we consume.
336 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2010
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1106 people want to read
About the author
Kurt Timmermeister
5 books13 followersKurt Timmermeister grew up in Seattle and was a successful restaurateur before moving to Vashon Island. There he transformed a rough patch of earth into Kurtwood Farms, presently a vibrant farm where he raises Jersey cows, produces farmstead cheese, and hosts weekly farm dinners composed entirely of ingredients from his tidy Vashon farm.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 152 reviews
July 29, 2011
I am so conflicted on how many stars to give this. Do I add stars for what I liked - good writing, awesome descriptive passages of living off the land, and just the sort of detail I like? Or do I take off ALL the stars for the parts of his book I hate? Which, basically comes down to me disliking *him*. He comes across as so arrogant (anyone who doesn't share his political views is a dumb hick), and his 'care' for his animals is deeply troubling.
His is supposed to be a life where he is distancing himself from the horrible conditions of factory farming, yet his farm, despite being small, seems uncomfortably close to what he is trying to avoid. He throws his chickens in together in conditions clearly too cramped, because they have bloody fights to the death on a regular basis (he won't, however clip their beaks to avoid this, because that would be cruel and unnatural). When he butchers his chickens, their chests are 'caked with manure', leading him to dislike chickens as 'filthy'. I own chickens. My chickens do not fight to the death, nor are they EVER caked with manure. In fact, my chickens are among the most clean animals I've ever owned. They are obsessed with keeping themselves clean. I can only imagine what conditions he must be keeping his hens in to produce what he describes as normal.
And he spends a whole chapter describing how he loves bees, and how it isn't honey-stealing, but a symbiotic relationship between bee-keeper and bees...and then says he can't manage to keep his bees alive all winter, but can't be bothered to investigate WHY. He just buys more bees every Spring. That definitely puts him under the label of 'honey thief'.
Two stars, I guess, for the lovely description, but I wish the reality lived up to it.
His is supposed to be a life where he is distancing himself from the horrible conditions of factory farming, yet his farm, despite being small, seems uncomfortably close to what he is trying to avoid. He throws his chickens in together in conditions clearly too cramped, because they have bloody fights to the death on a regular basis (he won't, however clip their beaks to avoid this, because that would be cruel and unnatural). When he butchers his chickens, their chests are 'caked with manure', leading him to dislike chickens as 'filthy'. I own chickens. My chickens do not fight to the death, nor are they EVER caked with manure. In fact, my chickens are among the most clean animals I've ever owned. They are obsessed with keeping themselves clean. I can only imagine what conditions he must be keeping his hens in to produce what he describes as normal.
And he spends a whole chapter describing how he loves bees, and how it isn't honey-stealing, but a symbiotic relationship between bee-keeper and bees...and then says he can't manage to keep his bees alive all winter, but can't be bothered to investigate WHY. He just buys more bees every Spring. That definitely puts him under the label of 'honey thief'.
Two stars, I guess, for the lovely description, but I wish the reality lived up to it.
November 4, 2012
This is more of a "how not to" than a "how to." The author apparently manages his entire farming career by making impulse decisions without enough research, and then throwing money at the problem until it more-or-less goes away. He orders 130 apple trees for his would-be cider orchard; deer eat most of them because he didn't bother to take any measures to deter them. He orders a bunch more! Deer eat most of the new ones, too. Eventually a few of the overlooked ones get big enough to no longer look like deer snacks. The cider-making plan is forgotten, but he's going to do other things with the apples.
Or the bees -- dear god, the bees. He talks about wanting to feel like a beekeeper rather than a honey thief, but then he admits that his bees always die off in the winter:
This kind of utter disregard for the well-being of his livestock, or for the cost of continuing to buy and input more of what should be a self-sustaining resource, make it really hard to take him seriously. I couldn't bring myself to continue far enough to see what kind of stupid risks and pointless harm his cows and chickens go through.
Or the bees -- dear god, the bees. He talks about wanting to feel like a beekeeper rather than a honey thief, but then he admits that his bees always die off in the winter:
Experienced beekeepers are able to keep bees alive year-round, but mine die off when it gets cold. Since I enjoy ordering my four boxes of bees at the start of each season, and at $75 per box it's not prohibitively expensive, I've never investigated what causes my bees to perish around the first frost. Cold is the most likely explanation, along with the especially damp northwestern coastal air. It could even be varoa mites that invade the hive and slowly kill the bees—I really have no idea.
This kind of utter disregard for the well-being of his livestock, or for the cost of continuing to buy and input more of what should be a self-sustaining resource, make it really hard to take him seriously. I couldn't bring myself to continue far enough to see what kind of stupid risks and pointless harm his cows and chickens go through.
May 20, 2011
I love the subject matter but I don't love how Timmermeister wrote it down. I keep expecting editors to come in and help some of these authors a little more. Kurt Timmermeister is a restaurant owner and chef who buys some land on Vashon Island and slowing becomes more of a farmer until he quits the restaurant business entirely. It's so interesting to think about raising your own food, honeybees, chickens, goats, orchards, vegetable gardens, herbs, etc... Living off the land is appealing in some ways. (Also, super horrible in other ways. I know. I have chickens and a time sucking garden) I just wish the book had approached things in a natural progression, instead, it goes by subject matter and constantly skips around. We're talking about buying the land, suddenly it's been five years, then we zip back ten years when he started in the restaurant business, then rapidly speed into living on Vashon for twelve years. After I while I felt like Dr. Who in a time machine run amok. But it does make you want to visit a farmer's market and buy something organic that someone else grew so you can feel a little environmentally righteous.
July 3, 2011
I wanted to like this book. I am passionate about the subject matter and run a small farm myself. He lost me when he so casually talked about letting his beehive die off in the winter. A new box is only $75 he said, I consider my beehives part of my livestock and would NEVER willingly let one die over winter. It seems he robs them of honey and then just lets them starve, how nice! The book as others have mentioned is random and chaotic.
A good linear book about farming and living off the land is called The Dirty Life: on farming, food and love by Kristin Kimball.
The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love
A good linear book about farming and living off the land is called The Dirty Life: on farming, food and love by Kristin Kimball.
The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love
July 15, 2014
I had very mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed Timmermeister's writing style-- it had a very lulling, soothing tone to it. But it did tend to put me to sleep. So that might not be high praise.
I found many of his stories of his farm to be absolutely fascinating, but so often he would come to the wrong conclusions from these experiences. For example, he talks at length about how he couldn't live in Eastern Washington, because the people there are hicks and would never accept him. (Sounds more like he can't accept them, but whatever.) But then he also goes on at length about how he would like there to be less government control and bureaucracy in our food system, and I wanted to yell, "That's exactly what all those hicks you don't like think!!!!" Same thing again when he's so dismayed about needing a gun, and then actually really loves his gun and finds it to be a beautiful tool. Why do you think other people own guns? Why do you think you are so different or better than these other people?
And the bit when he felt that most beekeepers were simply stealing their bees' honey, but then confesses that his bees die every year and he has no idea why was enough to make me want to beat my head against a wall.
But despite those parts, there were a LOT of other parts to the book which I thoroughly enjoyed. I liked his honesty about the butchering process and how they aren't always pleasant and sometimes things go wrong and the food doesn't turn out, but when they go right and you end up with amazing fresh bacon, then you've really created something special. I, too, love the idea of having cows to milk every morning and how that gives your life a certain amount of simplicity and meaning. How work matters.
So there's a lot to like, if you can just get over those little annoying parts.
I found many of his stories of his farm to be absolutely fascinating, but so often he would come to the wrong conclusions from these experiences. For example, he talks at length about how he couldn't live in Eastern Washington, because the people there are hicks and would never accept him. (Sounds more like he can't accept them, but whatever.) But then he also goes on at length about how he would like there to be less government control and bureaucracy in our food system, and I wanted to yell, "That's exactly what all those hicks you don't like think!!!!" Same thing again when he's so dismayed about needing a gun, and then actually really loves his gun and finds it to be a beautiful tool. Why do you think other people own guns? Why do you think you are so different or better than these other people?
And the bit when he felt that most beekeepers were simply stealing their bees' honey, but then confesses that his bees die every year and he has no idea why was enough to make me want to beat my head against a wall.
But despite those parts, there were a LOT of other parts to the book which I thoroughly enjoyed. I liked his honesty about the butchering process and how they aren't always pleasant and sometimes things go wrong and the food doesn't turn out, but when they go right and you end up with amazing fresh bacon, then you've really created something special. I, too, love the idea of having cows to milk every morning and how that gives your life a certain amount of simplicity and meaning. How work matters.
So there's a lot to like, if you can just get over those little annoying parts.
July 13, 2014
what he did was interesting: starting a farm from scratch here in the Pacific Northwest. His writing is good. His social commentary, infusion of liberal politics (whether genuine or playing to the target demographic) and cognitive dissonance were annoying and difficult to rectify.
An example of the cognitive dissonance: taking multiple pages to "justify" beekeeping (as if such justification is required) such that we can take their honey as we provide for their well being - only to say in the next paragraph that he lets the bees die out each fall because they are cheap and easy to replace.
His commentary and politics would be welcome if they weren't so absolutist. Spending pages decrying meat that comes in plastic or Styrofoam containers; serving dishes in his restaurant he refused to eat; calling preservatives poisons, the commentary drags on while he buys commercial feed for his animals and shops in bees and chickens from all corners of the US. It became more and more ridiculous to read as the book went on.
An example of the cognitive dissonance: taking multiple pages to "justify" beekeeping (as if such justification is required) such that we can take their honey as we provide for their well being - only to say in the next paragraph that he lets the bees die out each fall because they are cheap and easy to replace.
His commentary and politics would be welcome if they weren't so absolutist. Spending pages decrying meat that comes in plastic or Styrofoam containers; serving dishes in his restaurant he refused to eat; calling preservatives poisons, the commentary drags on while he buys commercial feed for his animals and shops in bees and chickens from all corners of the US. It became more and more ridiculous to read as the book went on.
April 14, 2022
As a (most-of-the-time) vegetarian, I found the chapters about butchering to be somewhat unpalatable. That being said, if you're going to eat meat, it's best to consume animals raised the conscientious way Timmermeister employs. I was relieved at the end of the book when Timmermeister admits that his way of life is fairly elite and impracticable on a large scale. I'm pleased that there are people living their lives in the way Timmermeister does, but please don't suggest that every American should own a cow and churn their own butter.
March 3, 2011
While Timmermeister's successful organic farm is admirable, the writing was purely objective and became dry due to no revelations of how his efforts impacted his personal life. A life consisting of only farming equates to dry soil.
January 5, 2016
I really wanted to like this and was enjoying it up until the point – Chapter 3 – where Kurt starts describing his beekeeping endeavors. Not knowing what you’re doing/getting into with the bees is pretty common – people get enthusiastic about becoming hobbyists and then things happen. And if Kurt had said that he still didn’t know much about bees, I would have been fine with that, but he proceeds to “educate” his readers on what he does know and he’s wrong about some very basic bee biology/life cycles (how the queen is mated, function of the drones, function of the workers). I couldn’t help but think, well, this is one reason you’re not doing so great. You can still muddle through pretty well with bees without understanding them, but the MISinformation really bothered me. While his farm eventually evolves into a small dairy/cheese making enterprise, I can’t help but wonder what else he got wrong. Otherwise, his writing style is very conversational and easy to get into. Fact-checking fail, though, keeps me from finishing this (let alone recommending it).
July 25, 2017
Not too bad of a read, being interested in small scale farming/self sustainability, but, the author contradicts himself in many places, is redundant, and the publishers missed a bunch of typos. All in all, an okay book, but nothing to write home about.
March 12, 2025
Wonderfully detailed book about the evolution of a farmer and Kurtwood Farms.
did-not-finish
June 11, 2021DNF. We picked this one to read aloud. It was fine for that, but not gripping enough to invest more time in.
October 28, 2023
I just love reading about farm life. I aspire to someday be a person who grows a farm. Until then, I shall continue to read these types of glimpses into the hard but satisfying and worthy work of small, sustainable farms.
May 18, 2024
I read this book every couple of years, it's both inspiring and funny, an escape from city life and a reason to dream!
November 14, 2017
Timmermeister's writing is pure and honest and he isn't apologetic for having opinions or positions that might not be popular with everyone. Walking side-by-side with him while he converts from a city-based restaurateur to a farmer is a fascinating journey. He has no idea what he is doing, and you wouldn't either; I certainly don't know how I would do that. But he is seduced by the romantic notion of being the proprietor of a 12 acre farm on Vashon Island, just as I would be, and we get the joy of watching him grow into being a farmer. His naivete on page 1 is supplanted by a confident, perhaps even calloused, voice on page 307, and all along the way his experience is our experience, so we understand this arc. He is very honest in his writing, I think that is what I appreciate most. I am also filled with visions of the farm and his day-to-day life by the simple eloquence of his passages. He paints the farm with words.
June 17, 2012
I felt this book was informative and inspiring. As someone who is moving towards buying small acreage, who is not a vegitarian, and who is not a stickler about being "organic", I appreciated this book a lot.
A few things if you are thinking of reading this book:
This book is organized by subject matter, not chronologically. I actually preferred that format. If I want to reference back to a section in the book, it will be easy to do.
The author is open and honest about the choices he has made and why. He is honest about his faults and I appreciated his honesty. Some readers may not like his admissions.
If you want to be a fully organic farmer, this is not a book about how to do that. The author explains why he is not fully organic and I was glad about his realisit approach. It seems like he does the best he can do and some people won't find that is good enough.
If you are a vegitarian, there are large sections in this book about raising and slaughtering animals for meat. I found those portions very informative and useful. Vegitarians may be disgusted, but I became very hungry...
This is not a book for leisure reading, really. It isn't written for poetry, rather for content.
I borrowed this book from the library and found it so informative and potentially useful, that I ended up buying a copy. I would love to go to Seattle and visit Mr. Timmermeister's farm!
A few things if you are thinking of reading this book:
This book is organized by subject matter, not chronologically. I actually preferred that format. If I want to reference back to a section in the book, it will be easy to do.
The author is open and honest about the choices he has made and why. He is honest about his faults and I appreciated his honesty. Some readers may not like his admissions.
If you want to be a fully organic farmer, this is not a book about how to do that. The author explains why he is not fully organic and I was glad about his realisit approach. It seems like he does the best he can do and some people won't find that is good enough.
If you are a vegitarian, there are large sections in this book about raising and slaughtering animals for meat. I found those portions very informative and useful. Vegitarians may be disgusted, but I became very hungry...
This is not a book for leisure reading, really. It isn't written for poetry, rather for content.
I borrowed this book from the library and found it so informative and potentially useful, that I ended up buying a copy. I would love to go to Seattle and visit Mr. Timmermeister's farm!
August 15, 2017
It was a relief to finish this book. What started as an interesting story of how a city dwelling restaurant owner began a small farm, turned in to a long-winded boring book.
For the most part the author comes off as delusionally judgmental. According to Kurt anyone who takes honey from bees without caring for them is a "thief", but he isn't interested in finding out why his bees die every year. In fact he loves getting new hives each spring. (There is a bee crisis in the world but you are content to just buy new hives every year, seriously?!) While running restaurants in Seattle, he stopped eating chicken and pork because what his suppliers brought grossed him out. However, he was fine selling it customers and never considered making a change. He is so impressed with the fact he slaughters his own food that there are 2 chapters about a hog butchering. While I agree he should be impressed with himself for this, his write up was unorganized, and repetitive (how many times are you going to tell me you and the gang had a large breakfast before starting)
The book is organized more by subject than a timeline of events. I wonder if the book been in chronological order it might be more enjoyable to see how he and the property were transformed, but it wasn't so it isn't.
For the most part the author comes off as delusionally judgmental. According to Kurt anyone who takes honey from bees without caring for them is a "thief", but he isn't interested in finding out why his bees die every year. In fact he loves getting new hives each spring. (There is a bee crisis in the world but you are content to just buy new hives every year, seriously?!) While running restaurants in Seattle, he stopped eating chicken and pork because what his suppliers brought grossed him out. However, he was fine selling it customers and never considered making a change. He is so impressed with the fact he slaughters his own food that there are 2 chapters about a hog butchering. While I agree he should be impressed with himself for this, his write up was unorganized, and repetitive (how many times are you going to tell me you and the gang had a large breakfast before starting)
The book is organized more by subject than a timeline of events. I wonder if the book been in chronological order it might be more enjoyable to see how he and the property were transformed, but it wasn't so it isn't.
April 30, 2016
I really enjoyed the personable and familiar style of writing in this book. As I've grown more interested in agriculture, and the awkwardness of industrial food (vs seasonal food), I've sought out more stories of novice farmers.
Kurt Timmermeister does not make it seem like an easy thing to do; but certainly a thing that can be done. But I also love that he hasn't written a polemic condemning how we eat in the city. Instead, he encourages us to examine where our food comes from and to do what we can to appreciate the lives and work that go into feeding us. Appreciation, along with realization, is the main them I've taken form this interesting and fun read.
Kurt Timmermeister does not make it seem like an easy thing to do; but certainly a thing that can be done. But I also love that he hasn't written a polemic condemning how we eat in the city. Instead, he encourages us to examine where our food comes from and to do what we can to appreciate the lives and work that go into feeding us. Appreciation, along with realization, is the main them I've taken form this interesting and fun read.
July 29, 2018
I wanted to like this book but the author is clueless. Why do his bees die? He has no idea, nor does he care to find out. He states several times.... I’m sure I could find the answer.... He just lets them die every year. Here’s my guess. You take their honey and give them nothing to eat through the winter. How to keep deer from eating his trees? No clue... just keep replanting every year until there are enough. And my favorite right as I quit listening/reading... where do the vegetables come from? He has no idea.... seriously I cannot listen to a self proclaimed “farmer” that does not understand simple animal and plant life cycles. He’s an donkey.
May 30, 2013
Enjoyable and understandable text about farm life. I could see myself barging into alot of the situations he gets himself into. As I also want cows, goats, sheep and the list goes on. The author tells you the good and the bad about farm life. He doesn't just gloss over the eventuals as some of this type books do. I did not really care for his bee chapter..Just letting the bees die. (I'm scared of bees-so that hasn't been one of my want to do's) I mean if you are responsible for them shouldn't you at least try and keep your charges alive? That to me is part of the farm lifestyle.
May 16, 2012
Definitely an interesting read. Some parts provided a little more information than I really needed and he seemed to repeat himself or ramble a bit, however he's not primarily a writer and I definitely gained new insight from the book. I would recommend it to anyone who's interested in local food, from meat to cheese/milk, to vegetables.
August 14, 2021
I loved the book. I'd recommend it to any city dweller with neorural dreams.
I like the way it describes farm life from the viewpoint of someone who knew little of it and yet was thrilled by the idea, bestowing upon the job title "farmer" a noble significance: this trend has been becoming common and we must wake them up .
I think he doesn't render well enough the enormous fatigue any farmer experiences. On the other hand, as he was running a restaurant before, the concept of never-ending exhaustion may have been all too known to him already.
One thing I was surprised to find was regulation. The author - just as most farmers - complains about the excessive bureaucracy surrounding the activity, detailing how it works if one wants to produce dairies, slaughter pigs, serve meals. Excessive? In western Europe, the red tape surrounding farming is so suffocating that a farm the dimension of Timmermeister's wouldn't be able to cope with.
I loved his genuineness: his initial belief in nature as a benign entity, the loss he experienced, the emotional attachment, some streams of income that were more sheer losses in reality, the difficulties of making ends meet despite the effort. The book is funny, entertaining, informative and warning too.
I also see in this book an example of the solidarity farmers of old used to have with one another. When I picked up the book, I was fearing one of those obnoxiously self-congratulatory tomes one writes to fuel their ego: I found a real testimony of how one goes from 0 to farming, written with honesty and humbleness.
I loved his genuinity: his initial belief in nature as a bening entity, the loss he experienced, the emotional attachment, some streams of income that were more sheer losses in reality, the difficulties of making ends meet despite the effort. The book is funny, entertaining, informative and warning too.
I also see in this book an example of that solidarity farmers of old used to have with one another. When I picked up the book, I was fearing one of those obnoxiously self-congratulatory tomes one writes to fuel their ego: I found a real testimony of how one goes from 0 to farming, written with honesty and humbleness.
I like the way it describes farm life from the viewpoint of someone who knew little of it and yet was thrilled by the idea, bestowing upon the job title "farmer" a noble significance: this trend has been becoming common and we must wake them up .
I think he doesn't render well enough the enormous fatigue any farmer experiences. On the other hand, as he was running a restaurant before, the concept of never-ending exhaustion may have been all too known to him already.
One thing I was surprised to find was regulation. The author - just as most farmers - complains about the excessive bureaucracy surrounding the activity, detailing how it works if one wants to produce dairies, slaughter pigs, serve meals. Excessive? In western Europe, the red tape surrounding farming is so suffocating that a farm the dimension of Timmermeister's wouldn't be able to cope with.
I loved his genuineness: his initial belief in nature as a benign entity, the loss he experienced, the emotional attachment, some streams of income that were more sheer losses in reality, the difficulties of making ends meet despite the effort. The book is funny, entertaining, informative and warning too.
I also see in this book an example of the solidarity farmers of old used to have with one another. When I picked up the book, I was fearing one of those obnoxiously self-congratulatory tomes one writes to fuel their ego: I found a real testimony of how one goes from 0 to farming, written with honesty and humbleness.
I loved his genuinity: his initial belief in nature as a bening entity, the loss he experienced, the emotional attachment, some streams of income that were more sheer losses in reality, the difficulties of making ends meet despite the effort. The book is funny, entertaining, informative and warning too.
I also see in this book an example of that solidarity farmers of old used to have with one another. When I picked up the book, I was fearing one of those obnoxiously self-congratulatory tomes one writes to fuel their ego: I found a real testimony of how one goes from 0 to farming, written with honesty and humbleness.
October 25, 2021
I like how the the author's voice in this book, but as others have mentioned, I wish he had stuck to a more linear timeline. It jumps from the beginning to 10 years later, back to the beginning to 5 years later, etc. That being said, I like that it's almost of an index - you can skip to the parts about farming you're most interested in, if that's what you want.
I did NOT like his practice on keeping bees, though. He said he read up on them, but couldn't even be bothered to investigate why they were dying at the end of every season. Just let them die at the end of every season and bought another box in the spring. It seemed cruel. I haven't gotten to the chickens yet, but I
I know this is his life, so I'll try not to sh*t on him but it seemed he had no real interest in being a farmer, only in being seen as one. Didn't really care about cows or bees, just wanted the money- which is fine- but don't pretend to be a person who is interested in a more environmental/humane/ wholesome/"clean" way of animal husbandry only to do the exact same things he was trying to get away from in the restaurant.
I did NOT like his practice on keeping bees, though. He said he read up on them, but couldn't even be bothered to investigate why they were dying at the end of every season. Just let them die at the end of every season and bought another box in the spring. It seemed cruel. I haven't gotten to the chickens yet, but I
I know this is his life, so I'll try not to sh*t on him but it seemed he had no real interest in being a farmer, only in being seen as one. Didn't really care about cows or bees, just wanted the money- which is fine- but don't pretend to be a person who is interested in a more environmental/humane/ wholesome/"clean" way of animal husbandry only to do the exact same things he was trying to get away from in the restaurant.
Read
August 7, 2023This took me a very long time to read and I eventually resorted to skimming. I agree with some of the negative chatter about this book. Timmermeister is nothing if not self-congratulatory, as a lot of men who venture into farming who then decide to write books about it are; even if they are open about their missteps as Timmermeister is. I’m glad I got to learn from some of his field learning, and from his mistakes. Even if he tells on himself a bit with excerpts such as “I love chatting with women about cows. It is my great entry into the private lives of mothers in my community. Generally we would have very little in common” (p 125). Cringe. “I now admire guns deeply…guns get attention; they get respect. Few things, actual things, get respect throughout a lifetime” (p 244). Cringe.
February 7, 2019
I loved this book. Even though I grew up on a farm, I knew little about farming—until now. Timmermeister explains the various aspects of his small farm as he learned them, pitfalls and goof and all. I shook my head at his lack of preparation and foresight, yet he forged ahead and eventually succeeded. Sometimes his story slowed but never to a point of boredom. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to know how a farm runs, where your food comes from, and what it takes to attempt a reasonable degree of self-sufficiency.
November 3, 2019
This was an impulse grab from the library. I had seen some gardening books (specifically The New Square Foot Garden - which I remember its predecessor from my youth), and grabbed this. After reading the description on the flyleaf, I realized it was right up my alley.
Kurt has gotten closer to the land, closer to the food he eats, and has learned a lot about being a farmer. Granted it's just 12 acres on a Washington Island, but he grows and prepares his food from his own land.
This spoke to me and my dreams of doing the same thing.
Thank you, Kurt, for sharing your journey.
Kurt has gotten closer to the land, closer to the food he eats, and has learned a lot about being a farmer. Granted it's just 12 acres on a Washington Island, but he grows and prepares his food from his own land.
This spoke to me and my dreams of doing the same thing.
Thank you, Kurt, for sharing your journey.
July 16, 2021
Timmermeister's approach can best be described as winging it...I'm hoping it's just the way he decided to organize the book because otherwise it seems short sighted and wasteful. Yes, there's a lot of trial and error when growing food and the weather from year to year can decimate a crop, but deer eating small trees likely could have been predicted and steps could have been taken to save the trees.
January 21, 2024
Enjoyed this book! The author is open and honest regarding the struggles and high points of developing a small self-sufficient farm on a Seattle suburban island. One example quote regarding dairy herd choices : …”personally I have no interest in milking a sheep. They are just too smelly and uncute for my taste. I can’t even comment on water buffalo. Life is difficult enough without milking a water buffalo every day.”
Would like to visit Kurtwood farm one day!
Would like to visit Kurtwood farm one day!
July 3, 2017
Enjoyable
I found this incredibly interesting on how over time the author grew and changed as he purchased the land, then began becoming responsible for its success, and continued until he felt he was the steward of said land. Beyond that the stories of his successes and failures were quite entertaining.
I found this incredibly interesting on how over time the author grew and changed as he purchased the land, then began becoming responsible for its success, and continued until he felt he was the steward of said land. Beyond that the stories of his successes and failures were quite entertaining.
August 12, 2023
I enjoyed the processes throughout the book, as well as the author’s honesty and perceptions. His relationship with his animals seemed rather mechanical and were confusing. Do you really care that much or do you *think* you’re supposed to care that much? The chapter on bees was particularly baffling. It cannot be that difficult to problem solve why they die every fall.
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