Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard

Last time I was at the library, I popped upstairs to the main counter. Typically I am downstairs to pick up books from the hold section or with the boys in the children's section. At the main counter, I inquired about donating my One Woman Farm book. (Yes it was fantastic and I may want to read it again, but this way, everyone can read it as my library doesn't currently have a copy.) Upon leaving the counter, I saw that they were displaying a number of farming books. The cover of Gaining Ground caught my eye so I grabbed it without even reading the back. When I got home, of course the baby was interested in nursing so I grabbed this paperback out of the stack (it was on the top after all) and plopped us down on the couch.

I had no expectations of this book. None. I was very happy to discover that I loved the author's voice. The writing style and tone sucked me in and I had trouble putting it down. It took me a couple of days ; for some reason the kids wanted to eat and I needed sleep otherwise I would have finished this in one sitting. It was that good.
The book is a story of how this farmer:
1. decides to become a farmer
2. his total lack of farming experience
3. learns to be a farmer through experience, reading and a conference
4. learns to use what he has
5. become a fantastic organic farmer
6. promote other local farmers

I learned so much from this book. While the book isn't a how to book, it provides a lot of information on how he does things on his organic farm. The book isn't dry though, including some comical situations - almost being killed by a pig - that leave you smiling. This is a must read for anyone who is interested in raising organic meat or for anyone who likes farming memoirs.

If you have read it, what do you think?

This article was shared at The Chicken Chick, Homestead Hop, Tilly's Nest, The HomeAcre Hop, The Mind to Homestead,
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