SY

Terra Brockman reveals the farmer's moons: the tasks and fruits and nature of each month. This is a great book for those who want to start eating seasonally, but don't know what's in season. Yet there is also plenty of inspiration for a lifelong home gardener like myself. This book is a revelation to the hard work it takes to bring fresh vegetables to the table, and I am very grateful to farmers like Henry who do so in a sustainable way (i.e. raising animals AND growing crops to be in a manure/fertilizer balance). It is also sobering to realize that if it takes this much work to provide the quality and variety that the small farm provides, then our food system is in big trouble! Not many souls would be willing to work this hard for such a meager reward. They must have a love of the work and a desire to do the right thing, so I hope that this book will spur people to support their local organic farmers.
But this book would be a bore if that were all it was about. No, it is peppered with simple recipes, and Terra manages to surprise and delight with warm stories of family and garden lore, even stepping aside to allow Henry's daughter to describe a day of weeding with her brothers. I've been gardening for decades, yet I never knew what Terra told me about spring ramps, or that there was no red rose before 1950, or how to grow shiitake mushrooms on a freshly cut oak log. The variety of vegetables that Henry grows (hundreds of varieties) made me green with envy, as it is difficult to find an heirloom tomato or a unique varietal at the farmer's markets I attend here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I can't stress it enough - support your local organic farmers! You will be rewarded, and someone from the future will thank you.
Diana Abreu