Hit By A Farm by Catherine Friend

This book was a random book that popped up as a Amazon recommendation for me. Because I've taken a great interest in farming and homesteading lately, I thought it would be enjoyable to read an account from someone who has actually done what I want to do. Catherine Friend provided that in this memoir of her life when she moved out to the farm.

She and her partner Melissa, following one of Melissa's dreams, buy a farm and start putting up fences (literally and figuratively as the farm seems to be a source of contention sometimes). Their goal is to raise meat sheep, meat chickens, and cold weather grapes. All of these are actually pretty large endeavors and soon the two find themselves with plenty of animals, and only an inkling of whats in store for them. Of course the main focus of this book, as told by the cover, is the sheep. While there are funny stories about both the grapes and the chickens, the majority of the novel dealt with the sheep.

Raising the sheep proved to be a lot tougher than first glance. From lambing to "bum lambs", sickness and deaths, the raising of sheep is not to be taken lightly. The author especially has a hard time the first time one of the lambs she's grown to love is sent to the slaughter. Luckily, they followed the rule about not naming them and didn't have to go through as much pain as a result. In addition to this wonderful group of sheep, the two also dabble with llamas, goats, ducks, geese, and egg producing chickens. I believe even a peacock is mentioned.

Throughout this the story is not only about the farm but about the relationship between the author and her partner Melissa. While I can't get the visions of the underwear drawer out of my head, it was easy to see the connection and the troubles of this relationship. While I would have liked a little more insight into Melissa's predicaments (as it seems the author was upset with her for no good reason until the therapy shed some light on what was going on) I understand that this is the author's memoir and what detail was added was probably more fitting and comfortable for her.

This is not a book for if you are wanting to learn how to farm, and it isn't advertised as such. What this is is a story of two people and how the farm changed their life. It is about their struggles and their triumphs. A very pleasant read.

Hit By A Farm
Copyright 2006
237 pages