Gold in the Grass: Rags to Riches Through Soil Reclamation and Sustainable Farming. A Back-to-the-Land Adventure from 1954 |  | Author: Margaret L Leatherbarrow
Publisher: Norton Creek Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
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Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 1014464
Media: Paperback
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3
ISBN: 0972177051
Dewey Decimal Number: 630
EAN: 9780972177054
ASIN: 0972177051
Publication Date: September 21, 2008
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Product Description
As World War II was ending, Alfred Leatherbarrow, a wounded Canadian veteran, and his nurse, Margaret, fell in love, married, bought their dream farm—and discovered that their crops would not grow. The farm’s soil had been exhausted through years of destructive tillage practices. Faced with certain defeat, they used innovative farming techniques—including a prototype forage harvester to gather grass for silage—to restore the fertility of their farm. This early experiment in sustainable agriculture not only saved the farm in a rags-to-riches turnaround, but showed other farmers in their region how to pull out of the death spiral of decreasing fertility, yields, and income. Gold in the Grass is a love story, a back-to-the-land adventure, and an inspirational example of how conservation tillage can restore the fertility of a used-up farm. This is a great book, and has spent far too many of its fifty years out of print. Gold in the Grass is an example of the Norton Creek Press motto: “Most of the best books are out of print and forgotten, but we can fix that!” Check out our offerings on http://www.nortoncreekpress.com.
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| Customer Reviews:
Timeless ideas January 20, 2009
Lynn (Minnesota)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I throughly enjoyed this book. It shows that grass based farming is not a new fad and that soil fertility issues have been around for many, many years. It was interesting to see how someone improved their soil without much outside help and for minimal costs. The ideas are just as good today as they were 50 years ago.
How to rebuild poor soil September 17, 2009
Ronald Clobes (Alexandria, MN USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is written from the point of view of the farm wife who is telling how she and Alfred were able to take a worn out farm and turn it into a very productive farm by grass land farming. The farm under consideration was 100 acres. The lessons in the book could be applied to a backyard garden just as easily. A lot of the book is biographical in nature, but there are a few nuggets of information sprinkled throughout. The last chapter is by far the best as it summarizes the yearly planting and harvesting practices that Alfred and Margaret developed. The fourth chapter also has a description of what worn out land looks like and the weeds that take it over, and a little understanding of why. Well worth reading if you are dreaming of escaping the city for land in the country.
All-in-all, a very heart warming story and and timeless information.
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