I’m sure we’ve all thought about life out in the country. Growing our own food, raising our own animals, waking up with the sun and going for a long horseback ride through your acres and acres of land…ah, the simple life.
I’m sure a little piece of Kristin Kimball was expecting that when she decided to throw away her journalism career, her Harvard education, and her glamorous life in Manhattan, and move out to upstate New York to start a cooperative farm with a man named Mark, a man who started out as the subject of one of her articles and ended up becoming her husband.
In her sweet and inspiring book, The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love, Kimball takes us on a year-long journey with her, beginning with her first arrival to Mark’s farm and concluding with the start of her and Mark’s extremely successful Essex Farm. Through all the dirt, frustration, deception, and doubt, Kimball emerges as a woman with a driving passion for life and pleasure. She throws herself into learning all she can about farm life, to Mark’s surprise and amazement. Their story is one of power and determination…and, as Mark might say, “good luck.”
You can learn more about Kimball and Essex Farm (GardenShare) here.
NEXT WEEK: Death, compulsion, unwanted sexual advances, corporal decay, and more death.
Looking for a new book to read? Check in every Friday for a “Bee Happy” post, where I share reviews of books I’ve read or other book-themed lists.
The Hob-bee Hive 