The Dirty Life A memoir of farming, food, and love by Kristin Kimball

The Dirty Life  tells the story of the chance encounter between a journalist from New York in her thirties and a passionate and visionary farmer.

Kristin meets the attractive Mark when reporting on a bio-farm. While falling in love with Mark and settling down with him, Kristin also falls in love with a life-style.

Kristin describes, with complete honesty, her first year on the farm and the shift in her existence. From her daily life in Manhattan to daily life on the farm: quite a shift! She explains how this earthly life slowly took root deeply in her life, making her appreciate the meaning of essential things but also rediscovering the meaning of work and hardship but with a sense of accomplishment.

“I was beginning to learn something about the peace you can find inside infinite challenge. I was fundamentally happier, I found, with my focus on the ground. For the first time, I could clearly see the connection between my actions and their consequences.”

With honesty and a great sense of humor, she tells about the stress but also the pleasure this choice has brought her. The book is also very informative about bio-agriculture and the life of small farmers. It will give you a great overview on sustainable farming.

“If you ever wonder why organic vegetables cost more, blame weeds. The work on a conventional farm that can be done with one pass of the sprayer must, on an organic farm, be done continually, from germination to harvest, by physically disrupting the weeds.”