love joel salatin but he is in desperate need of an editor, this book was so repetitive and preachy that I quit reading it, I disagree with a lot of Salatin's beliefs, but he had some useful insights, I thought, about creating a sustainable, scalable business and making agriculture an appealing career.
The flow between chapters is not great and there's certainly some repetition a good editor would have tightened this up significantly, This book was an amazing surprise, I was aboutpages into it and describing what I'd read to my husband, He said, "I thought you were reading that book to learn to grow vegetables, " Well, that wasn't exactly why I was reading it, but not too far off,
Joel Salatin covers an amazing array of territory in his testament, Yes, he does write about farming, pastured poultry farming in particular and it's ugly cousin, industralized poultry farms, However, this book also discusses goal setting, business planning, child training, estate planning, and many problems inherent in the family farms of today.
This is a fabulous book, One that I encourage everyone to read and will reread myself in the future, Hopefully, the next time I read it I'll have a small farm of my own, : If you own a piece of ground and expect to die someday you have no business doing so until you've read this book:.
Had my own family read this I believe we could have avoided a great deal of irreperable hurt and what very likely will end in the cutting up and sale of the family farm or at the very least the poisoning and pillaging of it.
Absolutely tragic. Read it. Ok, honestly, I didn't get this book finished because it is so convicting, it makes me stop and think about it for a while.
I am definitely going to check it out again though, and probably even buy itand that is high praise indeed,
It doesn't even ONLY apply to farmers eitherif you want to keep your LIFE family friendlyread this book! Salatin is passionate but wordy and rambly.
I love the ideas in this book though and his passion for their lifestyle comes through, An inspiring read for those interested in making a go of farming together as a family, This is a parenting book disguised as a farming book, I love his definition of Greenhouse Kids! I found this book to be very inspirational and moving, I appreciated the deeper look into Salatin's philosophies, Salatin has a refreshing perspective on life, Although I find myself in slight disagreement on some points, I can't help but be motivated by his vision for the future, This is an excellent philosophy book for the family farm, He addresses relationships, approach, money, retirement, complementary crops, etc, He addresses family relationships as well, Very enjoyable. I wanted to love this book, I really did, I so admire and appreciate what Joel Salatin is doing with Polyface and hope that his approach revolutionizes how we grow our food.
But I just did not like this book much, It was so generalized and judgemental that I just couldn't get into it, He has some great points about including children in enterprise and other family friendly topics, but saying that kids are sissies if they can't happily slaughter their own animals is a bit much.
I was excited to see the chapter on how to financially support yourself while starting a family farm, but was most disappointed in that chapter.
There were no details, no practical advice, no other suggestions than "Just do it", Thanks, but that doesn't really feed my family while I get the farm going,
I still love what Salatin is doing and maybe "You Can Farm" has more practical information, but I think I'll stick to the concept of his work rather than reading his books from now on.
Inspiring
Fantastic and thoughtful look at the next generation of family life and food production, combined, I wish I'd read this book years ago! I love all of Joel Salatin's books, This book explains why farming today isn't working i, e. , why farmers hope their kids LEAVE the farm instead of stay and how to change that, A good childrearing book from an seeminly unlikely source, I've read all but Joel's newest book, and they're all terrific, but I probably won't review them here because I think their appeal to others is limited.
Saving the landscape, rebuilding entrepreneurial rural families, and protecting nutritious food are the themes of this timeless treatisehence the word testament, Delving into the soul of the Salatin family's nationally acclaimed Polyface Farm, author Joel Salatin offers Family Friendly Farming as the key to dealing with resource issues, food policy, and social fabric.
With humor and personal stories, he opens his family and farm convictions for all to see, share, and enjoy, Written from his unabashed Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist perspective, his ideas are guaranteed to encourage and challenge virtually every ism in the culture.
It will captivate anyone passionate about healing the land, healing families, and healing the food supply,
For several decades young people have been leaving the family farm, The ones left behind are now responsible for society's greatest resources: clean land and clean food, Anyone dedicated to preserving
these resources will find in these pages a nongovernmental, selfempowerment approach to environmentalism and food safety,
The heart of this book is aimed toward parents tired of their Dilbert cubicle at the end of the expressway who want to reconnect with their children through a pastoral lifestyle.
It's written for anyone who yearns to grow old working with and being adored by valuesharing grandchildren and honored by passionate, productive adult children.
Family Friendly Farming can make any family business more viable and any family more functional,
The tenchapter section on how to get the kids to love the farm is an invaluable addition to any collection of childrearing manuals.
Salatin moves from the family teambuilding section into a practical discussion on how to increase income per acre and create new, whitecollar salaries without buying more land, equipment, or buildings.
He deals with the unique and thorny issues surrounding any family business by using his own multigenerational family farm experience as his base for insight and wisdom.
I'm such a ranchers daughter! Oh, to live off the land, these people are soooo resourceful, I would do it accept, Star Valley just isn't conducive to outdoor living as a whole, I'm waiting for my greenhouse and indoor barn! I love rural America! Well worth your time to read! As others have said, Salatin in his early books could have used an editor.
Though in not having an editor, we do get a better picture of the real Salatin, Salatin's vision of a family and locallycentered society is beautiful, His parenting advice is countercultural and often sage, Much to think about and apply, Joel is a nationally renowned speaker on organic farming and relationship marketing, He is on a mission to develop emotionally, economically and environmentally enhanced agricultural enterprises, and facilitate their duplication around the world, Part of that goal is to produce the best food in the world, Joel espouses an agricultural paradigm shift that sees plants and animals as partners rather than units of production, Let the plants and animals fill their natural niche with full distinctive expression, The starting point for animal husbandry is to let the animal express its uniqueness, from sitelink Joel is a nationally renowned speaker on organic farming and "relationship marketing, " He is on a mission to develop emotionally, economically and environmentally enhanced agricultural enterprises, and facilitate their duplication around the world, Part of that goal is to produce the best food in the world, Joel espouses an agricultural paradigm shift that sees plants and animals as partners rather than units of production, "Let the plants and animals fill their natural niche with full distinctive expression, The starting point for animal husbandry is to let the animal express its uniqueness, " from sitelink sitelink.