Our Farm

Our Farm

Sadly more and more of our food is raised and grown by huge
corporations. Fortunately some small farm clans are sticking in there
even in today's uncertain times. Michael J. Rosen's Our Farm: Four
Seasons with Five Kids on One Family's Farm is a celebration of this.
It's a must read, especially since many youngsters have no clue where
food comes from before arriving all wrapped up on supermarket shelves.
Caleb (17) is a high school scholar athlete who coaches his
brothers. Chase (15) considers reading and working with cows to be
his thing. Cayne (10) enjoys farm work but wants to become a
builder. Grey (8) enjoys baseball, wrestling, and fishing. Ali (4)
aspires to have a farm and be mom to four girls but no boys. Although
Rosen did the photographs and editing, most of the story is told by
the children and their parents.
Unlike most families these days, the Bennetts follow the rhythm
of the seasons. In winter there's sledding, rabbit hunting, and cow
breeding. Spring brings fence mending, calf delivery, cow coralling,
and garden work. With summer comes garden and orchard work, pond
swimming, and the county fair and other social events. Fall ushers in
deer hunting and jam making. All year round there are animals to tend
to and woods to explore.
This book is captivating. It has the potential to interest more
youngsters in farming. That would be a very good thing.
On a personal note, there are some young people coming along who want
to practice small scale agriculture. We must start putting more of
our land to this good use instead of more suburban sprawl and find
other ways to help them make their dreams come true.
A great big shout out goes out to all present and future small farm
families.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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