Growing a Farmer Reflection

Growing a Farmer Reflection

My first impression of Growing a Farmer, was that it was going to be a book about how a small farm came to be a large profitable, perhaps even commercial, farm. To my surprise, I was very mistaken. It was a story about how a city dweller evolved in to a farmer through his journey of starting a small farm in hopes of creating self-sufficiency. The author, Kurt Timmermeister, never expected to yield huge returns. He just wanted to reconnect with his food. The second half of the book goes into detail of ambitious production methods, such as, meat production and consumer involvement. These chapters go into full detail about the slaughter and butchering of the farm animals and his attitudes toward it. For example, he mentions how he thinks children should be present at animal slaughters so they can learn where their food comes from and to normalize the killing of the animal.  However, I accidentally walked in on a pig slaughter once and never ate pork, so I don’t think that was a very normalizing experience for me. The last two chapters are a reflection of Kurtwood Farms’ present state and how the farm managers to stay afloat. The farm is able to make a profit from selling artisan cheeses and hosting weekly dinners for guests who pay for the fresh-off-the farm food experience with almost all ingredients coming from the farm. In these last few chapters, I also was really able to see Kurt’s vision for his farm as being as self-sufficient as possible. He has worked hard in order for the components of his farm to work together to produce a better farm as a whole and to connect with his food. He also worked hard to create a family that sat down for evening dinners and through his farm and he was able to create one. The people who helped build Kurtwood Farms, his friends, and his guests all became part of the family he wanted to share his farm with.

After finishing Growing a Farmer, I have to say that I gained more respect for the author. Each chapter describes not only his evolution as a better farmer but also his perseverance as he faced troubles with his farm. However, each tribulation not only made him a better farmer, but also connected him to his farm and nature. It took him years to finally come up with a production model that suited his farm. Unlike Kurt, I would have given up pretty early on in the process. I also admire his goal of becoming more connected to his food. I am fortunate that I do not have to farm for my food every day, but sometimes I think that would be nice to eat something I produced.  This book reflects the author’s journey, his ups and downs, and is another example that with perseverance, goals can be accomplished.