Growing A Farmer

After having read the “About the Author” page, I’m surprised Kurt Timmermeister graduated with a degree in International Affairs. I would have assumed that he had either gone to culinary school or pursued some sort of agricultural/environmental degree. That being said, I enjoyed reading his thought process as he goes through his journey to becoming a farmer. As I was reading, I felt as if Kurt was trying to prove himself to someone. This is a recurring thought throughout the book and is already mentioned in the first chapter when he states that buying a house would prove that he is self-sufficient. I was surprised to hear that the first four acres he bought only cost $100,000 considering how much an acre costs where I’m from, although I understand this purchase occurred over 20 years ago. It’s interesting how once he saw the land, he knew that that was it; that it felt just right. I hope that when I’m looking for a home I’ll be able to foresee a future there and know when it’s the one. When he begins to look for new farming land for his beef cow venture, I was again shocked at the low price: $300,000 for 100 acres.

I like how Kurt inserts facts and background information to support his story. I remember reading about the blackberries and how Luther Burbank introduced them to Vashon Island in 1885. I also enjoyed his story about the 95-year-old milk farmer, and how he too had no background in agriculture when he began his farming career. It was funny how Kurt compared milking cows in your old age to doing cross-ward puzzles. His third chapter “Bees” reminded me of my aunt who is a beekeeper and loves it. I didn’t realize female bees did all the work while male bees, or drones, simply mooched off of them and were there to fertilize the queen. I would have expected them to help the workers a little more. I was also surprised to hear that it takes 155 trips to a flower to make just one tablespoon of honey.

I find that Kurt is a little childish in that everything he does is on whim. He chooses to buy four acres of land because four sounds like a good number. He attends one lecture by a beef cow farmer and decides he wants to be a beef cow farmer. His friend gives him a book on beekeeping and, surprise surprise, he wants to become a beekeeper. Kurt thinks that he can learn everything about farming from books and never takes the time to step back and think it through. He naively believes each new farming task he embarks on will be easier than it truly is. If I could go back in time and give Kurt some sort of advice, I would tell him to reflect a little on each choice he makes.