With title chapters like Spirit Wrestlers, Militance and Outlaws, and an opening that goes like this:
A farmer's journey is normally taken in winter, when fields are at rest and orchards are bare and dormant. It's strange and awkward to be leaving now, with the year's work yet to be harvested, Michael Ableman's book
Fields of Plenty: A Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It, sucked me in from page one. I am thrilled to name it my
FoodShed Summer Reading Pick of the Week.
As I shared Ableman's coast-to-coast journey from one interesting, abundant, wild and eccentric farm to the next, captured in poetic prose, beautiful photos taken consistently during the "magic hour" of light that falls at dawn and dusk, and simple, simple, simple recipes that star seasonal farm products, a knot in my stomach nagged for home, as I suspect his stomach did as well. That's because like Ableman, I don't yet feel connected to my day, my purpose, my soul, until I've checked in with what miracles have happened overnight in my garden. And to be away now, when the blackberries are hanging heavy and the squash flowers have opened and there's a new ripe tomato each day and I don't remember planting the black-eyed susans, where did they come from? . . . well, I can hardly imagine it. Ableman left his farm in British Columbia at the peak of ripeness to travel throughout the United States with his son for this book, his imaginings of what exactly was happening back home on the farm consuming his thoughts at times like a lost lover. All I can say is thank you, Michael. Your book is a gift from the heart.
I have a habit of browsing bookstores just to read the About the Author blurb on the inside back covers of books, perhaps continually redefining myself in hopes of one day seeing my own blurb.
Pattie Baker lives in suburbia and drives a minivan that is often filled with hay. No, no, not that.
Pattie Baker writes articles and lives in a neighborhood that forbids the ownership of live poultry, much to her disappointment and her husband's relief. No, no, no. Well, Michael's is a good done. It starts
Michael Ableman lives and farms on an island in British Columbia with his wife and two sons.
I love that Ableman brought his son with him on this journey. I think of him when I bring my kids with me as well. Sometimes they slow me down, or distract me from the job I think I'm supposed to do. But when this happens, I realize they have found something worth noticing, something I would have missed. And, like Ableman in his touching dedication to his son at the end of the book, I am grateful.
To order
Fields of Plenty:
I intend to read anything and everything Michael Ableman has written. He is an absolutely wonderful writer and photographer. And, I'm guessing, farmer.
With title chapters like Spirit Wrestlers, Militance and Outlaws, and an opening that goes like this: A farmer's journey is normally taken in winter, when fields are at rest and orchards are bare and dormant. It's strange and awkward to be leaving now, with the year's work yet to be harvested, Michael Ableman's book Fields of Plenty: A Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It, sucked me in from page one. I am thrilled to name it my FoodShed Summer Reading Pick of the Week.
As I shared Ableman's coast-to-coast journey from one interesting, abundant, wild and eccentric farm to the next, captured in poetic prose, beautiful photos taken consistently during the "magic hour" of light that falls at dawn and dusk, and simple, simple, simple recipes that star seasonal farm products, a knot in my stomach nagged for home, as I suspect his stomach did as well. That's because like Ableman, I don't yet feel connected to my day, my purpose, my soul, until I've checked in with what miracles have happened overnight in my garden. And to be away now, when the blackberries are hanging heavy and the squash flowers have opened and there's a new ripe tomato each day and I don't remember planting the black-eyed susans, where did they come from? . . . well, I can hardly imagine it. Ableman left his farm in British Columbia at the peak of ripeness to travel throughout the United States with his son for this book, his imaginings of what exactly was happening back home on the farm consuming his thoughts at times like a lost lover. All I can say is thank you, Michael. Your book is a gift from the heart.
I have a habit of browsing bookstores just to read the About the Author blurb on the inside back covers of books, perhaps continually redefining myself in hopes of one day seeing my own blurb. Pattie Baker lives in suburbia and drives a minivan that is often filled with hay. No, no, not that. Pattie Baker writes articles and lives in a neighborhood that forbids the ownership of live poultry, much to her disappointment and her husband's relief. No, no, no. Well, Michael's is a good done. It starts Michael Ableman lives and farms on an island in British Columbia with his wife and two sons.
I love that Ableman brought his son with him on this journey. I think of him when I bring my kids with me as well. Sometimes they slow me down, or distract me from the job I think I'm supposed to do. But when this happens, I realize they have found something worth noticing, something I would have missed. And, like Ableman in his touching dedication to his son at the end of the book, I am grateful.
To order Fields of Plenty:
I intend to read anything and everything Michael Ableman has written. He is an absolutely wonderful writer and photographer. And, I'm guessing, farmer.