One Of My Favorites

I am an avid reader but I rarely reread a book. But there are a few exceptions to that rule. A book by the title of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle....by Barbara Kingsolver. It had been one of my son's required summer reading selections when he was in high school. Needless to say, he wasn't impressed by it. But I certainly was. I picked it up a couple of months after he "read" it (and I have my doubts about how much he actually read) and thought it sounded really interesting.

The following is taken from the back cover of the book, to kind of give you an idea of the direction the book goes in....

"Author Barbara Kingolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life-vowing that, for one year, they'd only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat."

The author, although having been born and spent her childhood in Kentucky, had lived more than half her life in Arizona, raised her children there and lived there with her husband.The author's husband owned some land with an old farmhouse on it in the mountain region of Virginia and the family spent their summers there, connecting with relatives, growing some of their own food and enjoying the mountains and creeks and outdoorsy life.

They eventually decided to leave the desert and move to the farmhouse and live closer to the land. They also decided to, for one year, only eat what they can grow or buy and/or trade with other farmers, or make themselves or buy from local atrisans. They would only eat what was in season. One daughter, who loved bananas, had to do without for the year since bananas are not grown in Virginia. Although they did each get one luxury item, for instance coffee for the husband. (I would need that one too!)

The story takes you through them having to clear the rocky ground, getting to know their neighbors, planting their garden. They were able to find a mill nearby where they could buy flour, they learned to make cheese, can food and butcher chickens. A funny story includes trying to get the turkeys to mate. I loved the stories of shared, simple meals with neighbors and friends. Recipes are also included in the book.

I was particularly interested in the sections where the author would "step out of the story" to talk about the food producing industry and how it as all gone awry. I've read some reviews of the book online and some people think these sections were "preachy", but I didn't personally find that to be true. Actually, they seemed to mirror some of the things I've thought about.

While their experiment just lasted a year and their strictly locale rule was no longer in effect, they where all changed by it. And as gardening season will soon begin, I've gotten the book back out and have started reading it again. If anyone else out there has read this book, I would love to hear what you thought about it. I know that while I read it, I wanted to be them.

On a side note, this weekend the temperature is going up into the 60's and it's supposed to be sunny. My plan is to rake and clean up the yard, get my containers out and make sure they're still in good shape and clean them up also. I can't wait to plant something!


Kathy