Book club read #2: The Dirty Life
I figured we all deserved a
break from hard-to-parse books during the dog days of summer. So
our second selection will be a light and fun memoir.
The
Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love follows a back-to-the-land
couple who eventually developed perhaps the most interesting CSA currently in
existence. Here's a description of Essex farm (from the author's website):
We currently farm 600 acres and feed 222 members. We are powered by fifteen solar panels, nine draft horses, ten full-time farmers, and three tractors. We do not use synthetic fertilizer, herbicide, or pesticide. Our animals eat feed we’ve grown ourselves or local hay and local, certified organic grain.
The all-you-can-eat membership price for 2012 is $3300 per year for the first adult in a household, and $2900 for the second adult, with a $400 discount for each additional adult. Children over 3 are $100 per year of age (e.g., a five-year-old is $500 for the year, a seven-year-old is $700, etc.).
It's an intriguing
model, and my understanding is that Kristin Kimball writes about the 
path to building their farm
in an easy-to-read and entertaining manner. So, head to your
library or book store and pick up a copy! We'll begin discussions
on July 25 (with more information about how much of the book we'll
discuss in the first chunk once I have a copy in my hands). I
hope that even those of you who've been driven away by Thoreau's
excessively long sentences will return to the fold!
My
paperback is
currently at the printer, so those of you who have preordered will have
a copy before too long! Thanks to everyone who has bought it
sight unseen.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Daddy --- I know, it does sound like a lot, until you realize that if you don't eat out or consume things like chocolate, presumably they're providing your entire food intake (unlike most CSAs).
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/usdafoodcost-home.htm provides food costs for average Americans at four income levels. An adult male Mark's age is listed as spending $38.10, $50.80, $62.60, or $76.70 per week on food at home, depending on whether he's on the thrifty, low cost, moderate cost, or liberal plan. They expect women to spend just a hair less.
Given that data, this CSA is really right in the ball park for an average American.
Kyrie --- I'm glad to hear from someone who's enjoying this kind of CSA!
Brandy --- Drat --- I thought the book had been out long enough that there wouldn't be phenomenal waits for it. But it is nearing best-seller status.... Glad you could find an audio copy! (My little library doesn't even have it.
)
I would JUMP at the opportunity to participate in a CSA like this! For my family of 7 it would be about $185 per week which is as much as I spend now on far lower quality food than this. We are almost completely grain-free (mostly restaurant meals have grains, at home we're pretty clean) so food is pricey since we can't depend on low-cost fillers like pasta and bread. The health benefits have been wonderful and I have no desire to go back. I hope these folks set off a trend that heads further south soon
Also, I have the book on order from my library and I think it's ready to pick up; I'm just waiting for the next trip down that side of the mountain. Can't wait to get started!