- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (Aug 31 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312571429
- ISBN-13: 978-0312571429
- Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.8 x 2.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#794,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #92 in Books > Science > Agricultural Sciences > History
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
“A truly inspiring story, in gorgeous prose, about one family’s journey into blueberry farming. Delicious reading.” —Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America
The Blueberry Years is a mouth-watering and delightful memoir based on Jim Minick’s trials and tribulations as an organic blueberry farmer. This story of one couple and one farm shows how our country’s appetite for cheap food affects how that food is grown, who does or does not grow it, and what happens to the land. But this memoir also calls attention to the fragile nature of our global food system and our nation’s ambivalence about what we eat and where it comes from.
Readers of Michael Polland and Barbara Kingsolver will savor the tale of Jim’s farm and the exploration of larger issues facing agriculture in the United States—like the rise of organic farming, the plight of small farmers, and the loneliness common in rural America. Ultimately, The Blueberry Years tells the story of a place shaped by a young couple’s dream, and how that dream ripened into one of the mid-Atlantic’s first certified-organic, pick-your-own blueberry farms.
About the Author
JIM MINICK grew up eating blueberries, and for eight years he and his wife owned and operated Minick Berry Farm, a certified-organic, pickyour- own blueberry farm in Floyd County, VA. He writes a monthly column for The Roanoke Times New River Current. Currently, he lives in southwest Virginia on a forested farm with his wife and their three dogs.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written, Sep 12 2010
By L. Meloy - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family (Hardcover)
In a wonderfully poetic style, Jim Minick doesn't just tell a story of his decade with blueberries. The reader sees, hears, tastes and feels their experiences on this beautiful blueberry farm. Like Barbara Kingsolver and her book "Animal, Vegetables and Miracles", Jim Minick takes a subject that could be very dry (how much can one person say about blueberries?), and with his beautiful prose keeps his readers turning the pages, wanting more. I highly recommend this book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An eloquent and charming memoir, Jun 28 2011
By M. H Clarke - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family (Hardcover)
Minick describes his years as a blueberry farmer in Virginia with grace and wit. He describes the challenges of farm life in a vivid way, with humor. If you've ever thought of leaving the city and becoming a farmer, read this first. And if you love blueberries, you will find this irresistible. I enjoyed this story (and I've been convinced that blueberry farming is not for me).
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gem of a book, Sep 21 2011
By BermudaOnion - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family (Hardcover)
Jim Minick, and his wife Sarah, wanted to quit their day jobs and become homesteaders so that they could pursue some of their passions, like writing. Since Jim's family had some experience with blueberries, they decided to start a blueberry farm. They purchased land in Floyd County, Virginia and had quite a task ahead of them since the land hadn't been farmed in over forty years. After a lot of hard work, they opened a certified-organic pick-your-own blueberry farm and operated it for over ten years. In The Blueberry Years, Minick recounts their toils and triumphs and introduces readers to the people they got to know along the way. He also includes informative "Blue Interludes" about things like the history of the blueberry, facts about organic farming and the history of domesticated blueberries.Minick is a poet and essayist who teaches English at Radford University and his talent comes through on the pages of this quiet, introspective book. I just loved it! It made me long for simpler times and hunger for blueberries. I love this description:
"Before a blueberry turns blue, it really is pink, the blush of a child's cheek, the soft red of a sunset as it slowly burns down the shoulder of a green mountain. Pink turning to red turning to blue. And like a sunset, all of this slow coloring happens at such a pace that you fail to notice until night falls, and the stars speckle the blueberry sky."
Minick also includes some color photos and over twenty blueberry recipes, for everything from breakfast foods to desserts to drinks, even some adult beverages. If you love memoirs, community, or food, you won't want to miss this gem of a book!
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