Sylvia's Farm : The Journal of an Improbable Shepherd

by Sylvia Jorrin

Describes one woman's odyssey from a New England homeowner with a fear of animals to unlikely farmer with a flock of sheep, goats, cows, chickens, geese, cats, dog, and donkey and offers entertaining anecotes and vignettes of her life on a farm, the joys of discovery, and the important lessons she has learned. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Leigh-ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the idea of a book about a woman learning how to become a farmer, and doing it all by herself after spontaneously purchasing a run-down, 100 yr. old farm house in the Catskills. She starts with some sheep, and a decade later has sheep, cows, chickens, ducks, and vegetables, not to mention a mortgage that's paid off and a lot of learning under her belt. So, it was a great idea for a story (especially now, as I toy with the idea of farming), but I just hated the author's writing style! It was short and choppy, full of partial sentences, often just three or four words long, separated by periods for impact. The sentences were often not even complete, but just fragments, or a single word. Maybe it's fine to use this technique once or twice for emphasis, but an entire book of it is annoying and frankly, sometimes difficult to read. For example:

Ernest called me from the backyard. By name. He never does that. I ran outside. He had just killed a hawk. The hawk had been tangled in the mesh of the cage. Trapped. All the other chicks were gone. Presumed dead. It was a beautiful and strange wild thing lying there. The dead hawk. (you get the idea... the author can't even describe paint without breaking it into half a dozen sentences when trying to describe one colour).

I also hated the author's dependence on the word "joy" and all its variations (as well as constantly referring to "blessing", "blessed", etc.). Everything brought joy, felt joy, was joyous, and even joyful. I've found that people who describe things this way are often writing about a life that's actually kind of lousy (barn is falling apart, mortgage payment is late, house is 32 degrees in winter, lambs are dying), but they still insist that the sight of a daffodil pushing up from under the snow is "joyous" and enough to offset all the other tragedy of the moment. It's fine to be an optimist, but sometimes you just have a sucky day and I'd rather that a person admit it than try to be "faux inspirational". I, too, can find pleasure from a fresh cup of coffee and a good book, read in a comfy armchair, but I don't need to turn it into an emotionally-fraught moment where I'm reminded of how God has touched my life and how I'm lucky to have the gift of small pleasures. Blah, blah, blah. I don't want authors to TRY to inspire me. Either their story will inspire me or it won't, and telling me about finding joy in every damn thing won't make me believe them. I'll only think "they doth protest too much".

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure of a book. A perfect book. I loved the journal writing style unlike another reviewer. It fulfilled all my desires of a book: entertainment, education regarding an unknown world, enlightenment, free (given to me by my BFF). I would love to see the farm. She has more ambition and stamina than I can even imagine.

[bunnymouse 🐰🐭 alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know, I’m going all with with this one. I found it randomly in my back room with no recollection of buying it. I was looking for a new “bed book” as I call them. Something super chill to read just a chapter or two to take my mind off my worries and drift off peacefully to sleep. This book was perfect. I just loved reading about this woman and her farm. And I read it very slowly because I didn’t want it to end. I need a new farm stories bed book as charming as this one 😊

[Lovisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the concept of this book: a woman buys a farm and is introduced to farming and the adventures that come with it. However, I find that it was poorly executed. Each chapter is like a little essay on a vague topic. I was hoping for some sort of flow throughout the book to make it feel more like a story arc. This could have been done by arranging the chapters by the time of year, telling the stories by season. Or by beginning the book when she purchases the farm and then working in the order of the events that happened. Rather, each chapter and event feel random and with little respect to some sort of timeline. Overall, I felt that there was no clear direction. I also disliked the writing style, the sentences were too long or too short, or abused the use of a comma.

That being said, once I was about halfway through, I became used to the style and the layout. By the end, I was content with what to expect from each chapter and actually found it to be an enjoyable read. I think it should just have been advertised in the beginning that these chapters are from the column she wrote (as I think they are). Then, one may not expect a succinct story and be satisfied with the essays.

[Jody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Sylvia's Farm more than I thought I would. It is a collection of short essays about life on a small sheep farm, written by a woman who took up farming more or less accidentally in middle age. Sylvia and I have very little in common. I grew up a city girl, and although I now live in the country, I do not farm, or even take care of any animals whatsoever. I don't even have a vegetable garden. Thoughts and feelings about one's choices, struggles, and victories in life, however, are universal. I caught myself thinking of Sylvia the other day as I worked to compensate for a minor bone-headed mistake. She inevitably made errors as she learned to farm, such as underestimating the chances of a freeze, and learning that donkeys don't train themselves, nor are humans innately born knowing how to train a donkey. I think you'll enjoy reading Sylvia's journal.

[Lydia Gates · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is really 2.5 stars. I have to say that this seemed almost a fictional book; even though it is a biography. It appears this was written for a newspaper article weekly? Why isn't that NOTHING ever BAD happens? She is so grateful for everything--the same things over and over. Not that we shouldn't be grateful, but this seemed overso.

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written snippets of the life of an accidental shepherdess. Each essay is an impressionist painting, telling a not necessarily linear story but imparting the feelings, sensations, sounds, smells, and tastes of farming and community life. Sylvia reminds us that life can always contain the unexpected and beautiful if we only learn to embrace it.

[Marybeth Farris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book about her sheep farm in upstate New York- cozy, simple hard working life.

[Raine · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say about this book is that I love it! I loved every minute of reading it!

I wish that her and I were neighbors! I could borrow a ram from her as there is none locally here for me.Since that is not an option I would like to go to Sylvia's Farm, meet all her barnyard friends, have tea, and sit by the fire with her and chat. I would ask her if she has figured out why we are crazy for animals, why do we put ourselves through this life that is filled with ups and downs? Why can't we live a life like normal people- whatever that is? Although I already know that we are just different people than the norm out there. We are throwbacks from a different era. We are someone that loves animals, sometimes more than other people or creature comforts!

This book was so touching, it made you feeling like you are living her dream with her. It gives you a true portrait of what she is feeling and that even though us farmers have to make some hard decisions they are not made easily. They do leave their mark on us!

I am going to go see if I can get ahold of her column that she writes as it would be nice to keep reading her writing..she has a great way with details and just making you know exactly what she is saying.

I do have here her next book The Improbable Shephard... I have not started it, but I am sure that it will be as great as the first!

So yourself a favor and go read these wonderful books! A big thank you to Hatherleigh for the free book! If you want to see what other books Hatherleigh has published go to www.hatherleighpress.com

[Cheryl]

Probably a good book, but not a story. Short essays, written in a poetical style. Too much like the more elegiac entries in Roughneck Grace: Farmer Yoga, Creeping Codgerism, Apple Golf, and Other Brief Essays from on and off the Back Forty and others by Michael Perry, but without the humor. Not what I was looking for in a farming memoir.

(Don't misunderstand. I love Perry, and am enjoying reading everything he's written... I don't want to read even more like it, though, esp. by someone not as skilled in writing.)

[Joann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of an inprobable shepherd and the evolving of a single woman becoming a farmer. The book is comprised of a series of columns written for the local newspaper and is set in the eastern Catskills of New York. She is brutally honest about her failures as well as her successes. She buys a huge old house and acreage. Sylvia joins forces with a neighbor and they form a partnership agreeing to raise sheep. The partnership dissolved leaving her with 15 or so sheep and no knowledge or practical experience in farming in one of the coldest Catskill winters. She struggles with life and death daily as she fights for her flock. Eventually, she finds success and adds to her flock and even adds a cow, chickens and a donkey. I love this book and find it inspiring. I want to own some sheep after reading this book.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of short essays - most are 3 or 4 pages each - perfect bite-sized stories for bedtime reading. I fantasize about having sheep of my own, but appreciate Sylvia Jorrin's unromanticized depiction of her life. It's a hard life without many frills. The winter is brutal, there's always more work to do than can be done, money is short, and there are days that are heartbreaking. Not to say that she doesn't find joy in her life or that she doesn't describe those joys in this book - she does - but the overall mood of this book is darker than other farming memoirs that I've read (Hit by a Farm, The Dirty Life).

I read this book over a long period of time, so I don't have a good memory of the early chapters, but by the end I was hoping for more and was glad to see that there's a sequel coming out in a few months.

[Jennybeast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dream-like little essays about this odd woman's life, running a farm in the Catskills with many beloved sheep and a large assortment of outlandishly named animals. In general I want something a little different from a farm memoir -- a little more concrete how-to or how it happens and a little less meditative storying. She won me over, though, with excellent prose and the painting of wonderful mental images. Slow, savory and lit from within.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This woman undertook such a daunting job when she bought an old farmstead with ramshackle buildings and house to live in and restore. Her accomplishements with her sheep, and her chickens and her barn and her jam and bread and friends are enviable. I don't know how she did it all. (ANd still does apparently.) I wrote her an email but she never answered.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

She falls in love with the setting of a beautiful 25 room house in the Catskills. This single woman buys it with dreams of restoring it. She needs money. A neighbor sugggests that she raise sheep. We learn about this venture from her journals which she writes for the local newspaper. She is resourceful. She appreciates the "lost arts" She lives a most interesting, full life.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this venture into Sylvia's farm life. Full disclosure: I won this book as a Goodreads first read giveaway, and I am quite tempted to get the second book. Her writing is very relaxing, and I enjoyed reading all about her farm life, and I appreciated how hard she must work, and now, I never want to run a farm myself! A great read!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most enjoyable read. The short chapters are wonderful for before-bed reading. It was interesting to learn about running a farm and caring for livestock, but I appreciate the more literary and philosophical slant of the book. There is much wisdom for everyday life. Her descriptions of the farm and her home were so vivid and charming. The small details brought it to life for me.

[Odoublegood · Rating 3 out of 5]

"shall" can be over-used; Unadilla, Oneonta, and Delhi are great place-names; book has great feel for place; a mixed livestock, mostly sheep, operation in Delaware County, New York; brief weekly letters

[Lucas]

This is a fascinating look into the life of a farmer, which is a much more rare phenomenon these days. I am very glad I gleaned insight and some stories from Sylvia's life and book.

I won this through GoodReads giveaway.

[Jean Rummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book has become one of my favorite books ever! There is the gentle flow of life with peace through the trials in her writing. I could never be Sylvia but I agree that she would be a delightful neighbor...if we took time in these busy days to be neighbors.

[Starlak · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Sylvia's story isn't particularly exciting or action packed the strength and resilience of this woman is amazing. She is a survivor. I enjoyed this book.

[Ashlie Corbin-slunaker]

Just bought this!

[Toi Franks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book. Felt like I was right along side Sylvia working and tending to the farm.

[Tiffany Inman]

I love everything about sheep apparently. This is beautifully written so far.

[Brigid · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second time I have tried to read this book. It was just not that engaging.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving portrayal of transformation and hard work.

[Ginnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story; odd sentence structures happened often enough to be distracting.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just delicious