She finds that a farmer must continuously put forth effort in order to reap benefits. One of the biggest adjustments Kristin has to make when moving to Essex Farm is learning to live with the absence of instant gratification. In what ways did all of the mishaps shape Kristin and change her perspective?ĥ. Kristin had never farmed before and much of her knowledge came from her neighbors and from books. The first year on Essex Farm was full of trial and error. If a farm in your area did the same thing, would you become a member? How would it change the way you cook and eat?Ĥ. Mark and Kristin start a farm that aims to provide a whole diet for their year-round members. In what ways did Kimball’s yearning for a home sway her decision to leave the city and start a new life with Mark? If you were put in a similar situation, do you think you would have made the same decision? Why or why not? What is your own personal definition of “home”?ģ. In what ways do you think this feeling comforted her? Were you surprised when the situation flipped and Kristin felt foreign to the life she used to lead in the city?Ģ. When she first met Mark on his farm, she felt like a foreigner. Kristin was a freelance writer in New York City, which gave her the opportunity to travel around the world. The Dirty Life is the captivating chronicle of Kristin’s discovery of the pleasures of physical work, that good food is at the center of a good life, and ultimately of love.ġ. But on an impulse, smitten, if not yet in love, she shed her city self and moved to five hundred acres near Lake Champlain to start a new farm with him. Kristin knew nothing about growing vegetables, let alone raising pigs and cattle and driving horses. When she interviewed a dynamic young farmer, her world changed. But she was beginning to feel a sense of longing for a family and for home. Single, thirtysomething, working as a writer in New York City, Kristin Kimball was living life as an adventure. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. This reading group guide for The Dirty Life includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. In The Dirty Life, Kristin discovers the wrenching pleasures of physical work, learns that good food is at the center of a good life, falls deeply in love, and finally finds the engagement and commitment she craved in the form of a man, a small town, and a beautiful piece of land. Every Friday evening, all year round, over a hundred people travel to Essex Farm to pick up their weekly share of the “whole diet”-beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, maple syrup, grains, flours, dried beans, herbs, fruits, and forty different vegetables-produced by the farm. Kristin and Mark’s plan to grow everything needed to feed a community was an ambitious idea, and a bit romantic. The Dirty Life is the captivating chronicle of the couple’s first year on Essex Farm, from the cold North Country winter through their harvest-season wedding in the loft of the barn. On an impulse, she shed her city self and started a new farm with him on five hundred acres near Lake Champlain. When Kristin Kimball left New York City to interview a dynamic young farmer named Mark, her world changed. From a “graceful, luminous writer with an eye for detail” ( Minneapolis Star Tribune), this riveting memoir explores a year on a sustainable farm.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |