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Review: The Seasons on Henry's Farm
If you've ever been to a vegetable stall at the farmer's market and wondered how it all happens, read Terra Brockman's new book, The Seasons on Henry's Farm.
The book is a poignant, comprehensive and tactile description of one season on her family's organically managed (not certified) vegetable and livestock farm in northern Illinois. That season is divided into twelve months, 52 weeks and thousands of small moments beautifully rendered.
Brockman's focused descriptions of farm life are mixed with stray thoughts, observations and farm theory, making Seasons on Henry's Farm as close an account you'll find of the kaleidoscope sensations, emotions and errant philosophies organic farming may provoke.
The language of Seasons is confident, bordering on masterful. Confident, in that Brockman's language is playful, well-turned and wholly owned. Masterful in that so many disparate, poetically rendered moments, emotions and sensations form a cohesive and satisfying whole.
And while the language is romantic, the book is also a very practical introduction to the plants and practices that make up organic farming. By the end you'll know what is planted when, how it's planted and harvested and end up with a bit of insight into the nuance and complexity behind each practice.
Like most books about organic farming, The Seasons on Henry's Farm eventually addresses it's chemical cousin, industrial agriculture. I was dreading this exhausted collision and for the most part it's done tastefully. There's a few jibes at corn and soy, a few mentions of poisons, runoff and cardboard taste. A welcome smidgen of E.B. White.
But the book is more a celebration of organic farming than an attack on its alternatives. And if Henry's farm embodies half the beauty, dignity and humanity of this loving portrait, then the land is it's own best argument for organic practices.
Here's to many seasons more.
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