Growing into a Farm: Before the Walden Effect

by Anna Hess

"This is a love story in three parts about how I ended up with much more than I bargained for, and grew beyond the person I thought I'd be."Anna Hess spent her early childhood chasing ornery cows back into the barn, eating all of her family's strawberries before they got ripe so she didn't have to share them, and climbing sap-riddled pine trees. The reality of farm life seemed to be summed up in one word --- bliss. So when her back-to-the-lander parents threw in the towel and moved the family to a nearby town, Anna resolved to save her pennies and find a farm of her own, one that she would never have to leave.A couple of decades later, Anna had bought the property, but soon realized she couldn't make her dreams come true alone. When a friend set her up with a potential mate, Anna went along grudgingly. "To be honest, at the time I was still pretty sure that a farm and a man were incompatible," Anna wrote, "and given the choice I leaned toward the farm." Little did she know that the best partnership was a threesome --- a man, a woman, and a farm.Overflowing with photos, this book serves as a preface to the popular homesteading blog, Walden Effect.

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2013

About the author

Anna Hess dreamed about moving back to the land ever since her parents dragged her off their family farm at the age of eight. She worked as a field biologist and nonprofit organizer before acquiring fifty-eight acres and a husband, then quit her job to homestead full time. She admits that real farm life involves a lot more hard work than her childhood memories entailed, but the reality is much more fulfilling and she loves pigging out on sun-warmed strawberries and experimenting with no-till gardening, mushroom propagation, and chicken pasturing.

She also enjoys writing about the adventures, both on her blog at WaldenEffect.org, and in her books. Her first paperback, The Weekend Homesteader, helped thousands of homesteaders-to-be find ways to fit their dreams into the hours leftover from a full-time job. The Naturally Bug-Free garden, which suggests permaculture techniques of controlling pest invertebrates in the vegetable garden, is due out in spring 2015 from Skyhorse Publishing. In addition, a heaping handful of ebooks serve a similar purpose.

(As a side note, I use Goodreads more as a personal way of keeping track of the books I read than as a way to share the books I write. If you're here to learn about me as an author, check out my gardening-homesteading shelf and ignore all the fluff. You can also drop by www.wetknee.com for my authorial musings.)

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange little book! I expected a memoir of sorts, but it isn't that. I am not sure what it is. Not quite a book, not quite a magazine article, but something in-between. Still, I liked it, and have found out Anna Hess has other short works (if in hard copy might be pamphlets) that I am finding pretty helpful as the new owner of a small farm.

[Jenny Hayworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth a read. Not a lot of "how to's" but more " why" and the journey. I loved it. Keeping the goal of simplicity and owning land burning. Made me hungry to read more of what this author has written which do appear to cover the " how to's" but this was lovely to outline the beginning of the journey and motivation.

[Susan Peterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is more like a conversation across the kitchen table: "So how did you end up together and homesteading?" As a book, it's short, loosely organized, and not very focused. If what you're looking for, however, is the chat across the kitchen table, you'll probably find the author to be good company for a couple of hours. I did.

[Kristina Seleshanko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. This book started well enough, as the author explained how she bought her homestead and began shaping it. But then it just petered out, leaving aside way too many details. I'm glad I got it free; I would have been unhappy if I'd bought it.

[Henry]

Honestly not great. I read it because it 19s about a homesteading couple near where I grew up. I believe they are in Pennington Gap. But I 19m pretty sure it 19s just a bunch of blog posts mashed together.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mom tells me my newest ebook is "as good as Peanuts." Who needs any other reviews with such maternal approval? :-)

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, easy read. I will probably check out some of her other books as well.