Growing a Farmer Pt. II

This second half of the book was easier to read than the first. I felt as if Kurt became a little more lighthearted, and he joked a little more often than before. My favorite chapter of the book was when he described the apple syrup. If you were to ask any of my friends what my favorite food is, they would hands down say maple syrup (I have actually gotten the reputation of “maple syrup snob” in the friend group). Kurt states that the one he makes is his “local version of maple syrup: brown, thick, sweet and of the land.” Since I am from New York and most maple syrup is made locally in Vermont (only a couple hours away from where I live), I have never tasted apple syrup. Truthfully, I want to go to Kurtwood Farms just to try it! In this same chapter is my favorite quote from the book, “like a 401(k), fruit trees grow with compounded interest”. I thought this was something funny that a lot of people could relate to. He made this same type of analogy in the last chapter when he uses Zeno’s paradoxes from Calculus to explain that he’ll never be able to fully and completely live off the land.  

Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live Off the Land taught me a lot the food we eat everyday, especially information that I wish I had known a long time ago. In the first half we get this image of gross-looking, mush-like meats being cooked into meals at restaurants. In the second half, we learn how animals are slaughtered, butchered, and then served literally from farm to table. Kurt tells us that he likes knowing where the food he makes comes from. He likes milking his own cows, making his own cheese, raising his own animals, etc… He wants to live off his land as grandly as possible. His goal was to be self-sufficient, and I believe he achieved it (even if he still has to go to the store to buy salt and pepper). And as a college student, I think his most useful tip to us it not create debt! (Guess I’ll start building my sustainable farm now…)