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Good Husbandry
From the celebrated author of the beloved bestseller The Dirty Life, a "beguiling memoir about the simple life" (Elle), Kristin Kimball describes the delicious highs and sometimes excruciating lows of life on Essex Farm--a 500-acre farm that produces a full diet for a community of 250 people.
The Dirty Life chronicled Kimball's move from New York City to 500 acres near Lake Champlain where she started a new farm with her partner, Mark. In Good Husbandry, she reveals what happened over the next five years at Essex Farm.
Farming has many ups and downs, and the middle years were hard for the Kimballs. Mark got injured, the weather turned against them, and the farm faced financial pressures. Meanwhile, they had two small children to care for. How does one traverse the terrain of a maturing marriage and the transition from being a couple to being a family? How will the farm survive? What does a family need in order to be happy?
Kristin had chosen Mark and farm life after having a good look around the world, with a fair understanding of what her choices meant. She knew she had traded the possibility of a steady paycheck, of wide open weekends and spontaneous vacations, for a life and work that was challenging but beautiful and fulfilling. So with grit and grace and a good sense of humor, she chose to dig in deeper.
Featuring some of the same local characters and cherished animals first introduced in The Dirty Life, (Jet the farm dog, Delia the dairy cow, and those hardworking draft horses), plus a colorful cast of aspiring first-generation farmers who work at Essex Farm to acquire the skills they need to start sustainable farms of their own, Good Husbandry is about animals and plants, farmers and food, friends and neighbors, love and marriage, births and deaths, growth and abundance.
The Dirty Life chronicled Kimball's move from New York City to 500 acres near Lake Champlain where she started a new farm with her partner, Mark. In Good Husbandry, she reveals what happened over the next five years at Essex Farm.
Farming has many ups and downs, and the middle years were hard for the Kimballs. Mark got injured, the weather turned against them, and the farm faced financial pressures. Meanwhile, they had two small children to care for. How does one traverse the terrain of a maturing marriage and the transition from being a couple to being a family? How will the farm survive? What does a family need in order to be happy?
Kristin had chosen Mark and farm life after having a good look around the world, with a fair understanding of what her choices meant. She knew she had traded the possibility of a steady paycheck, of wide open weekends and spontaneous vacations, for a life and work that was challenging but beautiful and fulfilling. So with grit and grace and a good sense of humor, she chose to dig in deeper.
Featuring some of the same local characters and cherished animals first introduced in The Dirty Life, (Jet the farm dog, Delia the dairy cow, and those hardworking draft horses), plus a colorful cast of aspiring first-generation farmers who work at Essex Farm to acquire the skills they need to start sustainable farms of their own, Good Husbandry is about animals and plants, farmers and food, friends and neighbors, love and marriage, births and deaths, growth and abundance.
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2019
130 people are currently reading
4988 people want to read
About the author
Kristin Kimball
9 books280 followersKristin Kimball is a farmer and writer living in Northern New York. Prior to farmer, Kristin worked as a freelance writer, a writing teacher, and an assistant to a literary agent. A graduate of Harvard University, she has run Essex Farm with her husband since 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 261 reviews
October 21, 2019
Farming is endless hard work with absolutely no guarantees that your work will pay off. I would never choose to read a book about the tasks and costs of farming unless it was written by Kristin Kimball. In the midst of the MANY farming details is a story of family; a family whose priorities mostly mesh. Kristin makes a conscious decision to make her marriage work. She definitely could have chosen another path as Mark often made the farm’s needs a higher priority than his family’s. Yet, together they faced the unexpected and raised two daughters to respect the earth and the food that nourished them. Many families depended on them to fulfill their purchased CSA’s so there was no room for failure. Jane, the older daughter, recognized at an early age that she didn’t want to grow up to be a farmer because it was too much work. It will be interesting to see what she chooses for her life.
I’m pretty sure readers who toil the soil would give this book 5 stars. I got bogged down in some of the details that seemed repetitive. Yet, isn’t that a huge part of farming in upper New York State? The seasons roll around with repetition and newness all at once. I leave this book with a renewed appreciation for organic food grown with love. It should cost more and I should buy it. (This was not part of the book which is never preachy. Just a personal take away.)
I’m pretty sure readers who toil the soil would give this book 5 stars. I got bogged down in some of the details that seemed repetitive. Yet, isn’t that a huge part of farming in upper New York State? The seasons roll around with repetition and newness all at once. I leave this book with a renewed appreciation for organic food grown with love. It should cost more and I should buy it. (This was not part of the book which is never preachy. Just a personal take away.)
July 10, 2020
I've read The Dirty Life at least three times, and while nothing will pull me from the glass-and-concrete mess that is New York City, I appreciated Kristin Kimball's transformation from city slicker to cow milker. As a journalist, she followed the siren call of a story and ended up falling in love with a farmer. Good Husbandry is the follow-up to that courtship story, but it lacks the punch and originality of its predecessor.
Here, Kimball is in the weeds, literally and figuratively, trying to manage a farm controlled by the uncontrollable (the weather) and two young daughters. Her husband Mark is an original — whip-smart, impassioned — but inadvertently comes across as a tool, utterly insensitive to those around him. At one point, he wants to dress their daughters in sacks, so he and Kimball would have more time to devote to farming.
The pacing is slow, and the sentences and chapters are on the long side, which creates a lack of urgency. Still, there's a lot to appreciate about Kimball's meditative prose and the rhythm of farm life.
Here, Kimball is in the weeds, literally and figuratively, trying to manage a farm controlled by the uncontrollable (the weather) and two young daughters. Her husband Mark is an original — whip-smart, impassioned — but inadvertently comes across as a tool, utterly insensitive to those around him. At one point, he wants to dress their daughters in sacks, so he and Kimball would have more time to devote to farming.
The pacing is slow, and the sentences and chapters are on the long side, which creates a lack of urgency. Still, there's a lot to appreciate about Kimball's meditative prose and the rhythm of farm life.
September 12, 2019
I read Kristin Kimball's first memoir, The Dirty Life, back in 2016 when my husband and I were in our third year of homesteading. Her writing was so lovely and while she shared the good and the bad, it was written in such a way that I had hope for the future and could see our own struggles as an adventure.
Kimball was a thirtysomething writer living in NYC when she met her future husband Mark, a farmer passionate about growing and providing food for his community. Together the couple moved to the five hundred acre Essex Farm and Kimball chronicled their first year from planting to harvesting to their barn wedding.
Romantic, ambitious, and eye-opening, I loved reading Kimball's adventures so I was thrilled to learn about her upcoming memoir, Good Husbandry.
Kimball's second memoir, Good Husbandry, chronicles several years on Essex Farm. Once again her writing shines with savory descriptions and most importantly: honesty.
Through the birth of their two daughters, harsh seasons, financial pressures, injuries as well as aging; Kristin and Mark's marriage suffered under the strain. Kimball does not hold back when explaining both the beauty and the darkness that followed them as their lives changed in profound ways.
I loved Kimball's reflections on motherhood and how it changed her role on the farm and shifted her perspective about Mark and their home.
Her insight into caring and providing for a community is powerful. I appreciate her passion and mission and am thrilled to see their story continue through her evocative writing.
Thanks to Scribner for providing me with an advanced reader's copy. Good Husbandry: A Memoir is scheduled for release on October 15, 2019.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
Kimball was a thirtysomething writer living in NYC when she met her future husband Mark, a farmer passionate about growing and providing food for his community. Together the couple moved to the five hundred acre Essex Farm and Kimball chronicled their first year from planting to harvesting to their barn wedding.
Romantic, ambitious, and eye-opening, I loved reading Kimball's adventures so I was thrilled to learn about her upcoming memoir, Good Husbandry.
Kimball's second memoir, Good Husbandry, chronicles several years on Essex Farm. Once again her writing shines with savory descriptions and most importantly: honesty.
Through the birth of their two daughters, harsh seasons, financial pressures, injuries as well as aging; Kristin and Mark's marriage suffered under the strain. Kimball does not hold back when explaining both the beauty and the darkness that followed them as their lives changed in profound ways.
I loved Kimball's reflections on motherhood and how it changed her role on the farm and shifted her perspective about Mark and their home.
Her insight into caring and providing for a community is powerful. I appreciate her passion and mission and am thrilled to see their story continue through her evocative writing.
Thanks to Scribner for providing me with an advanced reader's copy. Good Husbandry: A Memoir is scheduled for release on October 15, 2019.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
December 24, 2019
Loved The Dirty Life so I was excited to read an update on the progress of her life and farm. I’m sure she viewed her share as truth telling but she just seems unhappy in her marriage and her life. I get that financial life on a farm is challenging; I get that marriages have ups and downs; I’m sure that the life changes that come with raising children are difficult. But there so much complaint and pessimism that just want her to make a change for herself. Seeing her (and her husband) in interviews since only reinforced this perspective. She seems caught in a victim mindset, forgetting that she has made choices to get where she is and is free to choose something else at any time.
October 29, 2019
An honest account of hard work on a farm and a struggling marriage. I don’t think that I would have survived either one.
November 29, 2019
Kristen Kimball moved from New York City to a little plot of land in the country to try out sustainable farming with her partner Mark. The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love is the book about that story, but Good Husbandry is the story of what comes after: financial troubles, weather challenges, problems in their marriage, and so much exhaustion.
I kind of love the idea of this--it’s like the next movie after the first romantic comedy ends. Like what really happens after you get your happily ever after, because marriage and life and work (especially farming) is rewarding but also tough. I actually loved Kimball's point that we should be more honest about how tough marriage, parenting, and working can be. We talk about our lives like they are perfect, post about them on social media like everything is AMAZING! all the time. But it would probably make us all a lot happier if we could just give ourselves (and the next generation) permission to feel the less pleasant emotions, too: boredom, disappointment, anger, frustration, etc. Life has its ups and downs, but there's still plenty of space for things to work out okay. No need to sugarcoat the rough stuff.
In the end, this was an interesting read. Kimball's life is unique--maybe a little privileged-white-person-ish, but intriguing all the same. And I respect Kimball for choosing a slightly different path toward happiness via her lovely farm. Sounds like a really wonderful place.
Thank you to Amazon Vine and Scribner for the ARC!
See more of my reviews at www.bugbugbooks.com!
I kind of love the idea of this--it’s like the next movie after the first romantic comedy ends. Like what really happens after you get your happily ever after, because marriage and life and work (especially farming) is rewarding but also tough. I actually loved Kimball's point that we should be more honest about how tough marriage, parenting, and working can be. We talk about our lives like they are perfect, post about them on social media like everything is AMAZING! all the time. But it would probably make us all a lot happier if we could just give ourselves (and the next generation) permission to feel the less pleasant emotions, too: boredom, disappointment, anger, frustration, etc. Life has its ups and downs, but there's still plenty of space for things to work out okay. No need to sugarcoat the rough stuff.
In the end, this was an interesting read. Kimball's life is unique--maybe a little privileged-white-person-ish, but intriguing all the same. And I respect Kimball for choosing a slightly different path toward happiness via her lovely farm. Sounds like a really wonderful place.
Thank you to Amazon Vine and Scribner for the ARC!
See more of my reviews at www.bugbugbooks.com!
December 30, 2020
After reading her first book, "A Dirty Life", my husband and I went on a tour of Essex Farm with Kristin and her family. It is an amazing place and they are very interesting people. I was so glad when she wrote this follow-up which gives even more insight into life on an organic farm in Upstate New York. The writing is insightful and their journey is inspiring.
ReadAlike: It reminds me of the movie, "The Biggest Little Farm". In both cases, the good intentions of the couples in the stories at times get overwhelmed by the enormity of what they have taken on.
Quotes: “Some people say farming is the most wholesome job in the universe. I say having a farm is more like having a gambling problem. A farm is a living, breathing slot machine, doling out just enough reward at exactly the right moment to keep you coming back for more."
Find Good husbandry : a memoir : growing food, love, and family on Essex Farm at Westminster Public Library today!
Find The Biggest Little Farm at Westminster Public Library today!
And if you are in search of new books to read, try our services, What Do I Read Next. Our library staff are standing by to create a personalized recommendation list for you!
ReadAlike: It reminds me of the movie, "The Biggest Little Farm". In both cases, the good intentions of the couples in the stories at times get overwhelmed by the enormity of what they have taken on.
Quotes: “Some people say farming is the most wholesome job in the universe. I say having a farm is more like having a gambling problem. A farm is a living, breathing slot machine, doling out just enough reward at exactly the right moment to keep you coming back for more."
Find Good husbandry : a memoir : growing food, love, and family on Essex Farm at Westminster Public Library today!
Find The Biggest Little Farm at Westminster Public Library today!
And if you are in search of new books to read, try our services, What Do I Read Next. Our library staff are standing by to create a personalized recommendation list for you!
August 12, 2019
For those that loved Kristin Kimball's "The Dirty Life," her new book "Good Husbandry" fills us in on how things went several years into owning their farm. This book takes a realistic book at the challenges, and blessings, of running large multi-faceted agricultural enterprise while managing staff, keeping animals alive, paying the bills, staying married, and raising children. This book kept my attention, and was both honest and eye opening. It is a great read for those interested in agriculture, local food, cooking, or life in the rural Northeast!
September 20, 2021
Good Husbandry is a follow-up to The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love that I thoroughly enjoyed. The richness and conflicted times in Mrs. Kimball's life are simply moving.
I read this story very slowly moving back and forth between the pages. I did not want it to end. To say she had an unusual marriage and a different take on a career in farming, is a no-brainer.
There are always 2 sides within a marriage. What makes one attracted to a certain individual before committing legally is not always the same afterward. This is a story of such a marriage and then some. Her honesty (I assumed she got the go ahead from her husband, Mark) is downright refreshing. I can only imagine what it must be like in real life.
I realize now that I could never farm. Working in my garden, yes, but never farm. I have too much compassion for all animals, I need to know that part of the profits improve my standard of living and I am not much of a salesperson.
Good Husbandry is about developing friendships, a marriage with all its ups and downs, raising children a little bit later than most and farming organically. Whether you enjoy memoirs, the subject of sustainable farming or just a solid story on marriage, find Good Husbandry. Better yet, start with The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love and then read her sequel.
Now I wish there was a sequel to the sequel!
I read this story very slowly moving back and forth between the pages. I did not want it to end. To say she had an unusual marriage and a different take on a career in farming, is a no-brainer.
There are always 2 sides within a marriage. What makes one attracted to a certain individual before committing legally is not always the same afterward. This is a story of such a marriage and then some. Her honesty (I assumed she got the go ahead from her husband, Mark) is downright refreshing. I can only imagine what it must be like in real life.
I realize now that I could never farm. Working in my garden, yes, but never farm. I have too much compassion for all animals, I need to know that part of the profits improve my standard of living and I am not much of a salesperson.
Good Husbandry is about developing friendships, a marriage with all its ups and downs, raising children a little bit later than most and farming organically. Whether you enjoy memoirs, the subject of sustainable farming or just a solid story on marriage, find Good Husbandry. Better yet, start with The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love and then read her sequel.
Now I wish there was a sequel to the sequel!
February 24, 2021
Some readers have complained that this memoir seems darker than the sunny Dirty Life, and that is another reason I love it. The writing is honest and beautiful. More importantly, Kimball reaffirms the price we pay when we commit to doing hard things the right way. Exhaustion is the cost of integrity in farming. But life is exhausting anyway, and farming ultimately rewards her investment in people, animals, and soil. And she reminds us that what we pay attention to matters. We have to weigh the daily with the long view. "The natural order of things is immutable. Seed, flower, fruit, decline, death, decay. Seed. Each stage has its own particular beauty. If you can see it, you can accept it. The parts are graceful, and so is the whole."
October 17, 2019
I enjoyed Good Husbandry so so much! Kristin gives an honest look into what life on the farm is really like. The blood, sweat and tears, the triumphs and tribulations. The honesty throughout these pages was truly breathtaking. Especially when going into detail about her relationship with her husband. I have very recently become a huge fan of memoirs and this certainly delivered. Terrific writing style and I loved the flow of each chapter. I'm definitely going to need to read The Dirty Life.
A huge thank you to Simon and Schuster for my review copy!
A huge thank you to Simon and Schuster for my review copy!
June 17, 2020
Kimball is the only one who can make a memoir about farming a page turner.
Definitely only meant for a select group of people who are interested in the farm to table concept, but if that's you, definitely start with The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love.
Definitely only meant for a select group of people who are interested in the farm to table concept, but if that's you, definitely start with The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love.
November 24, 2019
Solid 4 1/2 stars.
I know it’s not fair, I would have given 5 stars, but her husband drives me CRAZY. Not a fault of the book, but there it is. I like that I no longer romanticize farming anymore too. I’ll stick to a small back-garden and maybe a couple chickens. That’s it!!
I know it’s not fair, I would have given 5 stars, but her husband drives me CRAZY. Not a fault of the book, but there it is. I like that I no longer romanticize farming anymore too. I’ll stick to a small back-garden and maybe a couple chickens. That’s it!!
October 18, 2020
3.5 - Basically I want to go start my own farm now. 🌱 I really enjoyed the stories and the author’s style of writing and was fascinated by the idea of a full diet farm.
April 11, 2023
Once I got over the disappointment that this book was set in Essex, NY not Essex, UK and that there were very few sheep until the end, I really enjoyed this book! Very well written and interesting look at life and marriage on a modern farm. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in homesteading.
February 13, 2020
Kristin Kimball is one of my favorite farm writers. I love how I can relate to the work and the life on her farm. Her stories feel like home and glimpsing into her life with her family was touching. This book will be my Book with a rural setting for the 2020 Book Riot challenge.
May 9, 2025
3.5 stars. Really enjoyed these books about her farm and everything it takes to care for animals, grow your own food, and raise a family.
November 9, 2019
Another top book of the season, like her last one. Just as their farm churns out high-quality nourishment and substance, so does her writing.
My single gripe is that several times she worried if she was doing her children a disservice by raising them on a farm. My dear dear heart, that is the superior way to raise a child and many people wish it for their own.
Time for highlights:
*Love how she would grab a handful of dandelion greens, herbs, scoop up some fresh eggs from the henhouse before breakfast and then whip up a little omelet or frittata with lard and fresh thick cream for her family.
*All the maggots from mag-flies that infested the skin of the cows, in their cracks and how they had to work so hard to scrub them clean. "Maggots falling off their hair like dandruff".
*Once, when pregnant she suddenly had a craving for chicken soup. 15 minutes from the craving she had gone to the henhouse, pick out a no-longer-laying hen, cracked its neck, plucked it and had it boiling with some fresh vegetables.
*One of the workers brought some boiled eggs for lunch while she worked in the field. She forgot salt and rubbed the egg on the horse's sweaty neck, experimentally. Didn't like it.
*She revealed a lot about the hardship of marriage and their personal struggles. How he never wanted to fix the ugly dim farmhouse with holes in the ceiling and opposed her buying a new washing machine - "Just wash the clothes in the bathtub with two plungers!"
*And of course, SO MUCH WORK. Lugging her little baby and toddler into the 0- degree weather to milk cows or tend to crisis early in the dark morning because things had to get done and she had no choice.
*The dangers of too much rain in a season, takes years to recover from an overly rainy season.
*Mark's larger than life personality and drive and energy and, if you follow him in IG, he's hilarious and loves to do characters and voices and impersonations.
So much more to say, but read it and prepare to be converted yet repelled yet intrigued yet feeling like your life is quite comfortable and easy.
Can't wait for Kimball to go work on this farm for his next chapter in life.
My single gripe is that several times she worried if she was doing her children a disservice by raising them on a farm. My dear dear heart, that is the superior way to raise a child and many people wish it for their own.
Time for highlights:
*Love how she would grab a handful of dandelion greens, herbs, scoop up some fresh eggs from the henhouse before breakfast and then whip up a little omelet or frittata with lard and fresh thick cream for her family.
*All the maggots from mag-flies that infested the skin of the cows, in their cracks and how they had to work so hard to scrub them clean. "Maggots falling off their hair like dandruff".
*Once, when pregnant she suddenly had a craving for chicken soup. 15 minutes from the craving she had gone to the henhouse, pick out a no-longer-laying hen, cracked its neck, plucked it and had it boiling with some fresh vegetables.
*One of the workers brought some boiled eggs for lunch while she worked in the field. She forgot salt and rubbed the egg on the horse's sweaty neck, experimentally. Didn't like it.
*She revealed a lot about the hardship of marriage and their personal struggles. How he never wanted to fix the ugly dim farmhouse with holes in the ceiling and opposed her buying a new washing machine - "Just wash the clothes in the bathtub with two plungers!"
*And of course, SO MUCH WORK. Lugging her little baby and toddler into the 0- degree weather to milk cows or tend to crisis early in the dark morning because things had to get done and she had no choice.
*The dangers of too much rain in a season, takes years to recover from an overly rainy season.
*Mark's larger than life personality and drive and energy and, if you follow him in IG, he's hilarious and loves to do characters and voices and impersonations.
So much more to say, but read it and prepare to be converted yet repelled yet intrigued yet feeling like your life is quite comfortable and easy.
Can't wait for Kimball to go work on this farm for his next chapter in life.
December 8, 2019
I've read The Dirty Life more times than I can count, and was thrilled when I saw there was a sequel - not just to find out what's been going on over at Essex Farm all of these years, but to get more descriptions of that food! Whether it's describing eating strawberries straight from the dirt, or cooking a dinner for 10 when there's nothing in the fridge, the writing jumps off the page and I find myself dreaming of running away to start my own full diet CSA.
Yeah, but the rest of this book definitely squashed that idea - I would never survive the unpredictability, let alone the stress put on the person (and marriage). And I'm assuming she didn't intend this, but goddamn does her husband come off as a dick. I get that he's "passionate" and "opinionated" and all that, but dude - when your wife has just given birth to your second child, maybe think before you complain that you're "no longer her priority." And when people throughout your small town complain to your wife about you...maybe take that as a hint? To no longer be a dick?
Dick husband aside, I'm hoping Kristin's next book is a cookbook because omg just take my money now.
Yeah, but the rest of this book definitely squashed that idea - I would never survive the unpredictability, let alone the stress put on the person (and marriage). And I'm assuming she didn't intend this, but goddamn does her husband come off as a dick. I get that he's "passionate" and "opinionated" and all that, but dude - when your wife has just given birth to your second child, maybe think before you complain that you're "no longer her priority." And when people throughout your small town complain to your wife about you...maybe take that as a hint? To no longer be a dick?
Dick husband aside, I'm hoping Kristin's next book is a cookbook because omg just take my money now.
August 5, 2019
This book chronicles Kristin's move from New York City to the farm life with her husband Mark. Kristin describes the process of getting their farm prepared to support their customer community, which includes land management, employees, community involvement, and all of the farming decisions required. She touches on the joys of seeing a great harvest, and of bringing new animals into the world. She also touches on the hard parts of farming - balancing work & family, the threats of weather, financial decisions. I enjoyed this realistic view into the world of farming.
January 8, 2020
I read this 3x slower than I normally read just because I wanted to savor every page. This book fills my cup in every way. Kristin is a wonderful story teller. She gives vivid logistical details of her farm life (I watched farm chores on Youtube - so right up my alley!), writes about food in the most delicious way, and allows us to experience their unique life, one that is so full of beauty and depth but also difficulty and sacrifice. 100% recommend whether you're into farming or not!
October 6, 2019
From the celebrated author of the beloved bestseller The Dirty Life, a “beguiling memoir about the simple life” (Elle), Kristin Kimball describes the delicious highs and sometimes excruciating lows of life on Essex Farm—a 500-acre farm that produces a full diet for a community of 250 people.
The Dirty Life chronicled Kimball’s move from New York City to 500 acres near Lake Champlain where she started a new farm with her partner, Mark. In Good Husbandry, she reveals what happened over the next five years at Essex Farm.
Farming has many ups and downs, and the middle years were hard for the Kimballs. Mark got injured, the weather turned against them, and the farm faced financial pressures. Meanwhile, they had two small children to care for. How does one traverse the terrain of a maturing marriage and the transition from being a couple to being a family? How will the farm survive? What does a family need in order to be happy?
Kristin had chosen Mark and farm life after having a good look around the world, with a fair understanding of what her choices meant. She knew she had traded the possibility of a steady paycheck, of wide open weekends and spontaneous vacations, for a life and work that was challenging but beautiful and fulfilling. So with grit and grace and a good sense of humor, she chose to dig in deeper.
Featuring some of the same local characters and cherished animals first introduced in The Dirty Life, (Jet the farm dog, Delia the dairy cow, and those hardworking draft horses), plus a colorful cast of aspiring first-generation farmers who work at Essex Farm to acquire the skills they need to start sustainable farms of their own, Good Husbandry is about animals and plants, farmers and food, friends and neighbors, love and marriage, births and deaths, growth and abundance.
The Dirty Life chronicled Kimball’s move from New York City to 500 acres near Lake Champlain where she started a new farm with her partner, Mark. In Good Husbandry, she reveals what happened over the next five years at Essex Farm.
Farming has many ups and downs, and the middle years were hard for the Kimballs. Mark got injured, the weather turned against them, and the farm faced financial pressures. Meanwhile, they had two small children to care for. How does one traverse the terrain of a maturing marriage and the transition from being a couple to being a family? How will the farm survive? What does a family need in order to be happy?
Kristin had chosen Mark and farm life after having a good look around the world, with a fair understanding of what her choices meant. She knew she had traded the possibility of a steady paycheck, of wide open weekends and spontaneous vacations, for a life and work that was challenging but beautiful and fulfilling. So with grit and grace and a good sense of humor, she chose to dig in deeper.
Featuring some of the same local characters and cherished animals first introduced in The Dirty Life, (Jet the farm dog, Delia the dairy cow, and those hardworking draft horses), plus a colorful cast of aspiring first-generation farmers who work at Essex Farm to acquire the skills they need to start sustainable farms of their own, Good Husbandry is about animals and plants, farmers and food, friends and neighbors, love and marriage, births and deaths, growth and abundance.
March 6, 2024
So many thoughts about this book! Unlike her first book, The Dirty Life (one of my all-time favorites), this book delves into the long-term struggles and joys of the everyday on a diversified farm.
One thing I love about Kristin Kimball's narration is how she paints such a real, hard, often painful picture of how farm life can be, but then she never fails to observe the beautiful that is often right there beside the ugly. She gets really honest about her difficulties with the farm, motherhood, her changing role, and her marriage. (God bless this woman for being married to such a chaotic man!)
Reading her story from a Christian perspective, a lot of the tension she expresses made my heart ache a little bit, especially when it came time for her to give up actively farming as much to take on a mother's/homemaker's role. It's interesting to read any farmer's philosophies, but it can be sad to hear a non-Christian's farming (or family) philosophy when they don't have an understanding of the created order and instead view life and farming as just a series of lucky or unlucky happenings.
Still, I love Kristin Kimball's writing so much. She and her family and crew have cultivated such an amazing farm and community. I will definitely be revisiting this book, probably again and again, along with my annual re-read of The Dirty Life.
One thing I love about Kristin Kimball's narration is how she paints such a real, hard, often painful picture of how farm life can be, but then she never fails to observe the beautiful that is often right there beside the ugly. She gets really honest about her difficulties with the farm, motherhood, her changing role, and her marriage. (God bless this woman for being married to such a chaotic man!)
Reading her story from a Christian perspective, a lot of the tension she expresses made my heart ache a little bit, especially when it came time for her to give up actively farming as much to take on a mother's/homemaker's role. It's interesting to read any farmer's philosophies, but it can be sad to hear a non-Christian's farming (or family) philosophy when they don't have an understanding of the created order and instead view life and farming as just a series of lucky or unlucky happenings.
Still, I love Kristin Kimball's writing so much. She and her family and crew have cultivated such an amazing farm and community. I will definitely be revisiting this book, probably again and again, along with my annual re-read of The Dirty Life.
March 22, 2021
Well, I am 2/2 for absolutely falling in love with Kristin Kimball and her family/farm through her books - first with The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love and now Good Husbandry, which I thoroughly enjoyed listening to on audio.
Kimball is a fantastic writer - I think I'll start with that. If I hadn't been listening on audio, while in my car, I would have been writing down quotes to save for later left and right. She talks about the farm and her life there in very realistic, straight-forward terms but still manages to create some beautiful thoughts to put down on paper about it. She's so real about everything that she experiences there - the good, bad, and ugly - and shows it all to us unapologetically. It especially struck me how open she was about the serious problems in her marriage and her issues with motherhood. I honestly never thought I would be close to tears listening to someone talk about how their farm and their marriage survived a rough couple of years. I really can't recommend this book enough, although I encourage people to read The Dirty Life first, because the two are companion pieces, and The Dirty Life sets up all the characters and struggles explored in Good Husbandry.
Kimball is a fantastic writer - I think I'll start with that. If I hadn't been listening on audio, while in my car, I would have been writing down quotes to save for later left and right. She talks about the farm and her life there in very realistic, straight-forward terms but still manages to create some beautiful thoughts to put down on paper about it. She's so real about everything that she experiences there - the good, bad, and ugly - and shows it all to us unapologetically. It especially struck me how open she was about the serious problems in her marriage and her issues with motherhood. I honestly never thought I would be close to tears listening to someone talk about how their farm and their marriage survived a rough couple of years. I really can't recommend this book enough, although I encourage people to read The Dirty Life first, because the two are companion pieces, and The Dirty Life sets up all the characters and struggles explored in Good Husbandry.
November 25, 2019
Fantastic!
I loved the first book, The Dirty Life, and often wondered what happened since then. But this is much more than a sequel or continuation of the story. It's an unvarnished treatment of a life - the vicissitudes of marriage, business, family, friends...self. It describes a set of outdoor experiences that are completely foreign to me, reading in my apartment in NYC, and yet I could completely relate to the personal and interpersonal feelings.
SO many engaging stories, beautifully told. I can't wait for a 3rd book!
I loved the first book, The Dirty Life, and often wondered what happened since then. But this is much more than a sequel or continuation of the story. It's an unvarnished treatment of a life - the vicissitudes of marriage, business, family, friends...self. It describes a set of outdoor experiences that are completely foreign to me, reading in my apartment in NYC, and yet I could completely relate to the personal and interpersonal feelings.
SO many engaging stories, beautifully told. I can't wait for a 3rd book!
June 3, 2020
I was a big fan of Kimball's first memoir all about how she stumbled into the farming life, and I was beyond excited to hear that she'd written a follow-up all about the highs and lows and triumphs and failures of her next decade or so of farming. I particularly loved the honest and multifaceted looks into raising young children and on the maturing of her marriage as Essex Farm continued to grow larger and larger. Her work makes me appreciate farmers all the more, and it also makes me excited for the day when we own more land so that we can be more self-reliant ourselves.
August 21, 2019
An authentic and open look at the struggles of managing a farm, two small children and a marriage. Kristin covers the challenges faced with weather, employees, customers, animals, etc with a willingness to share all of her feelings. As a gardener, the farm information was fascinating and the model they run Essex farm on is one that I wish I could find locally because I would join.
Kristin does a good job of sharing both the truth behind the myth of the happy modern homesteading moment, with the slog and weariness, but she also shares the wonderful high points that have kept her and her husband farming. Beautiful read, with evocative descriptions. You find yourself crossing your fingers that their farm and their relationship thrive.
Advance digital copy provided by #netgalley but opinions are my own.
Kristin does a good job of sharing both the truth behind the myth of the happy modern homesteading moment, with the slog and weariness, but she also shares the wonderful high points that have kept her and her husband farming. Beautiful read, with evocative descriptions. You find yourself crossing your fingers that their farm and their relationship thrive.
Advance digital copy provided by #netgalley but opinions are my own.
February 10, 2020
I enjoyed this book tremendously (also greatly enjoyed her previous one, The Dirty Life). The author is such a gifted writer— insightful, honest, and beautiful. She will also make you very, very hungry for amazing, fresh food; consider yourself warned.
(Note: For my more conservative friends, there is a tiny bit of language and a descriptive passage or two of farm life that might make you blush 😳).
(Note: For my more conservative friends, there is a tiny bit of language and a descriptive passage or two of farm life that might make you blush 😳).
August 22, 2020
As some friends know, my “odd” shelf of books are farm memoirs — I read as many as I can find that seem interesting to me. Kimball’s first book was one of my favorites in this genre and this one doesn’t disappoint either. I hadn’t quite realized how well the timing would work out — while I’d been looking for a book that wasn’t parenting related as a little break to being 8 months pregnant, this story did deal with the birth of her second baby but in a way that was far less parenting manual and far more memoir-esque. All in all, a great read and another fascinating look into the challenges and joys of modern farm life.
August 23, 2019
How many people stop and give any real thought to where out food comes from, how it was planned, planted or birthed, nurtured, gathered and prepped, and sent onto consumers? This book is a wonderful continuation of Ms. Kimball's story as a woman, as a farmer and as as a farm wife on a 500-acre farm in upstate New York. She shows you just how challenging and rewarding that kind of life really is - bumps, manure, and all.
Her skills as a professional writer prior to making this life choice clearly shine through. This isn't just an autobiography, it's an ode to rural life that most of us will never know. Bravo.
Her skills as a professional writer prior to making this life choice clearly shine through. This isn't just an autobiography, it's an ode to rural life that most of us will never know. Bravo.
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