Book to Read

I don't finish a book cover to cover too often. Even less often now with children. But I am approaching the back cover of this one, so there must be a good reason for it.

Barbara Kingslover, the author of this book, had a mission with her family: to live for a year off their land, almost completely. They grew most of the food they needed for the year in their garden, ate it, stored it, learned from it. I hope someday to be fortunate enough to be able to accomplish such a challenge.

We had friends in Maine who practically lived this way, all the time (or at least when we knew them 10 years ago). The husband, Tom, built their house from scratch, literally using the rocks and stones from the land to build the foundation of the house. His job was to grow their food, barter from neighbors, and forage for wild or unwanted fruits and vegetables off the land. His wife, Eileen, a family doctor, was the bread-winner, the financial liaison for the family who only worked enough hours to support the family's needs for health insurance, clothing, and maybe salt and sugar. She needed the rest of the time to raise their one daughter, and help Tom in his ventures.

One memorable night in their home, after touring their incredible garden, we sat around the harvested bounty in their kitchen. It was early fall, the apex of the harvest season. Tom and Eileen were at their busiest. Like little animals trying to store away food for the winter, they, too were shelling beans, canning tomatoes, grinding grains into flour (I kid you not). The meal served to us that night was utterly home-grown and home-made, except for the few grains of salt that went into seasoning (and they didn't use much). After the meal, we participated in the bean shelling as we listened to Tom telling us about how he built the house, and how one day Eileen stumbled on it during her walk in the woods, and how they fell in love.

In some ways, reading Kingslover's book isn't as much fun as listening to Tom's stories. But perhaps what the book is doing for me is reminding me of that sense of awe I had for Tom and Eileen's life, their dedication and willingness to be self-sufficient and living off the land, using their own sweat.

In this day and age, it is impressive enough for one to have a garden, let alone a garden that can feed a whole family for a whole year. Kingslover went as far as to raise her own meats: chicken, turkey, and the like. I don't know if I could go that far. If we ever succomb to this kind of challenge, we will have to be vegetarians for the year (or have a fish pond). Go read the chapter on the meat 'harvest' and you will know what I mean!