The Freckled Farm Soap Company

Tag: Memoir

  • The Freckled Farm First Friday Book Club – Sheepish

    This month on The Freckled Farm First Friday Book Club I am recommending the wonderful book Sheepish by Catherine Friend

    Sheepish

    Just so you don’t think that I am completely bias towards goats I have decided to go ahead and throw in this delightful book that predominately features sheep! One of the things that I love about this book is that it talks about the “middle.” In fact, it is the theme of the book. There are a ton of farming memoirs out there that talk about the start of a farm. Most likely because it is the most interesting time for a farm and it’s farmers, but for once it would be nice to read about what comes next. What happens after the farm is established? Farms constantly change and grow, how do you keep going from year to year? How do you deal the heartache?

    In Sheepish Catherine is in that place in her farming career… the middle. Catherine struggles to find her true place on the farm. She feels like it comes so naturally to her partner Melissa, while she questions if this is what she really wants to be doing. She occasionally contemplates selling the farm and touring the country in an RV, but knows that this will destroy Melissa. The book follows her as she searches for, and discovers, a part of the farm that she feels like she can call her own, something she can be passionate about. Ms. Friend has a wonderful sense of humor and the book is beautifully written. By the end of the book you will be considering an all wool wardrobe… no kidding.

    Have you read Sheepish? Leave your thoughts in the comment section.

     

  • The Freckled Farm First Friday Book Club – Goat Song

    I am starting the 2014 “The Freckled Farm First Friday Book Club” with my favorite farming memoir – Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, a Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese by Brad Kessler

    Goat Song

    You will learn over the next year that I am completely obsessed with farming memoirs. I find the process of starting a farm incredibly fascinating… any type of farm, not just goat farms. It’s likely because I am at that same point in my life as many of the authors, but even if you aren’t I can assure you that they are great reads. There is something very romantic about learning to live of the land.

    This was the book that started my love of farm memoirs. This wonderful novel follows Brad Kessler’s journey as he leaves the big city, moves to a farm in southern Vermont, and learns to raise goats and make cheese. I found his process of learning to make cheese especially inspirational. I love when people go to great lengths to truly learn their craft. Throughout the book Mr. Kessler throws in interesting facts about goats and how they have been viewed and used through history. So not only is this book a lovely story it’s also a history lesson.

    Goat song is beautifully written. It goes into great detail about what it is like to start a goat farm and if you haven’t witnessed a buck in rut or the whole breeding process I am here to attest that it really is as gross as he depicts. Brad loves his land, his goats, and good cheese. I sincerely love this book. It is the perfect book to start your love of farming memoirs!

    Have you read Goat Song? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!