There are few things more Zen than reading a great gardening book. The Lean Micro Farm: How to Get Small, Embrace Local, Live Better, and Work Less by Ben Hartman provides more than a satisfying mental walk through the garden. It's full of inspiration--not only for micro farms but also for how to live a simpler, more sustainable, and fulfilling life.
"I worried that less land in production--cutting it by more than half--would decrease our income. It didn't.... I underestimated the power of a carefully set limit, adhered to with creativity and discipline, to inspire better work." Hartman (The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables) presents thoughtful pearls of wisdom that spur readers to reconsider the structure of their own lives, whether that involves growing a greenhouse full of heritage tomatoes or setting aside exactly 30 minutes each morning for a creative pursuit. Sometimes, he notes, limits can result in more, not less.
Sections highlight different approaches to farming around the globe, broadening the concept of how food can be produced and what that can mean for the community and the people growing it. Who knew that musician Gregory Alan Isakov spends his winters touring and summers farming near Boulder, Colo.? Tamara Bogolasky runs a small farm in Chile, part of a local movement away from big agriculture. She gives food to potential customers to taste in an effort to convince them to reconsider the entrenched local habits of store-bought, monoculture food. There are stories and life lessons both big and small in Hartman's pages. --Carol Caley, writer