Survival, horses, wild life, farm life and farm humor. This book is a look at the adventures and stories of a city girl becoming a country girl and many of the lessons she and her husband learn along the way. It is filled with stories of the animals they love, the wild life they find and the challenges that just happen on a daily basis. From the eagle they saved, the cat that adopts them, the funny things that horses do, saving a cow in birth, the agony of trying to save a horse that colics and the countless things that have to be fixed as they live in the country. This is a story of retirement as they learn, adapt and overcome obstacles in their transition to country life.

A study of how the mule became the major agricultural resource in the American South and was later displaced by the farm tractor.

The Georgic Mode in Twentieth-Century American Literature: The Satisfactions of Soil and Sweat explores environmental writing that foregrounds labor. Ethan Mannon argues that Virgil’s Georgics, as well as the georgic mode in general, exerted considerable influence upon some of America’s best-known writers—including Robert Frost, Willa Cather, and Wendell Berry—and that these and others worked to revise the mode to better fit their own contexts. This book also outlines the contemporary value of the georgic literary tradition—two thousand years of writing that begins with the premise that humans must use the world in order to survive and search for a balance between human needs and nature’s productive capacity. In the georgic mode, authors found an adaptable discourse that enabled them to advocate for the protection and responsible use of productive lands, present rural places and people in all of their complexity, explore human relationships with laboring animals, and advertise the sensory pleasures of rooted work.

The New Horse-Powered Farm is the first book of its kind, offering wisdom and techniques for using horse power on the small farm or homestead. It sets the stage for incorporating draft power on the farm by presenting necessary information for experienced and novice teamsters alike, including getting started with workhorses; the merits of different draft breeds; various training systems for the horse and teamster; haying with horses, seeding crops, and raising small grains; in-depth coverage of tools and systems; and managing a woodlot, farm economics, education, agritourism, and more. It's a must-have resource for any farmer, homesteader, or teamster seeking to work with draft power in a closed-loop farming system.

Ever wondered what goes down at a Tar Barrel Festival? Don't know your wassailing from your wife carrying? Well buckle up, because Kaleb Cooper - star of hit TV show Clarkson's Farm and Sunday Times bestselling author - is here to take you on a guided tour of some of the UK's most eccentric rural traditions. In his smash-hit debut The World According to Kaleb, we learnt how Kaleb feels about everything from existentialism to comb-overs, and why he doesn't want to visit the Mediterranean. In this follow-up, Kaleb casts his focus closer to home to examine what people like to get up to in the great outdoors. You'll go gravy wrestling in Lancashire, nettle eating in Somerset, and venture to Hereford for the significant occasion that is Best Dressed Stick. Along the way Kaleb will muse upon enduring British traditions like Morris Dancing and country fairs with his trademark warmth and deadpan wit. For fans of Kaleb's unique perspective and amusing hot takes, this will be a must-read.

The bestselling classic guide to off-grid green living, now with a brand new foreword from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. John Seymour has inspired thousands to make more responsible, enriching, and eco-friendly choices with his advice on living sustainably. The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It offers step-by-step instructions on everything from chopping trees to harnessing solar power; from growing your own vegetables and fruit, and preserving and pickling your harvest, to baking bread, brewing beer, and making cheese. Seymour shows you how to live off the land, running your own smallholding or homestead, keeping chickens, and raising (and butchering) livestock. While we aren't all be able to move to the countryside, we can appreciate the importance of Seymour's message, as he shows us the value of living within our means and making the most of what we have, to use skills that have been handed down through generations. With refreshed, retro-style illustrations and a brand-new foreword by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, this new edition of Seymour's classic title is a balm for anyone who has ever sought solace away from the madness of modern life.

Ronald Blythe's 1969 book Akenfield - a moving portrait of English country life told in the voices of the farmers and villagers themselves - is a modern classic. In 2004, writer and reporter Craig Taylor returned to the village in Suffolk on which Akenfield was based. Over the course of several months, he sought out locals who had appeared in the original book to see how their lives had changed, he met newcomers to discuss their own views, and he interviewed Ronald Blythe himself, now in his eighties. Young farmers, retired orchardmen and Eastern European migrant workers talk about the nature of farming in an age of computerization and encroaching supermarkets; commuters, weekenders and retirees discuss the realities behind the rural idyll; and the local priest, teacher and more describe the daily pleasures and tribulations of village life. Together, they offer a panoramic and revealing portrait of rural English society at a time of great change.

New York Times bestselling author Jon Katz—“a Thoreau for modern times” (San Antonio Express-News)—offers us a deeper understanding of the inner lives of animals and teaches us how we can more effectively communicate with them, made real by his own remarkable experiences with a wide array of creatures great and small. In Talking to Animals, journalist Jon Katz—who left his Manhattan life behind two decades ago for life on a farm where he is surrounded by dogs, cats, sheep, horses, cows, goats, and chickens—marshals his experience to offer us a deeper insight into animals and the tools needed for effectively communicating with them. Devoting each chapter to a specific animal from his life, Katz tells funny and illuminating stories about his profound experiences with them, showing us how healthy engagement with animals falls into five key areas: Food, Movement, Visualization, Language, and Instincts. Along the way, we meet Simon the donkey who arrives at Katz’s farm near death and now serves as his Tai Chi partner. We meet Red the dog who started out antisocial and untrained and is now a therapy dog working with veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. And we meet Winston, the dignified and brave rooster who was injured defending his hens from a hawk and who has better interpersonal skills than most humans. Thoughtful and intelligent, lively and powerful, this book will completely change the way you think about and interact with animals. Katz’s “honest, straightforward, and sometimes searing prose will speak to those who love animals, and might well convert some who do not” (Booklist).