By Don Mitchell
Yankee Books, 1984
Don Mitchell and his wife abandoned their sophisticated urban lifestyle in favor of upcountry farming. An astounding decision, considering that neither knew anything about country life apart from the rosy-hued vision shared by the back-to-landers of the Sixties. Indeed, they had everything to learn, often by painful experience.
How they did it makes an informative, inspiring, and often uproarious tale, drawn by Don Mitchell in accurate strokes on the beautiful background of upcountry Vermont. The Mitchells tried out all sorts of farm projects: chickens ("a sort of beginner's duck"); then ducks themselves; sheep; pigs; maple sugaring; cutting wood and hay; growing corn (disaster); and vegetable gardening and preserving. Eventually it became clear that what worked for them, financially and temperamentally, was sheep.
In the course of this hilarious Odyssey of transition, the Mitchells learned. Learned the value of Machines. Learned the difference between the Sixties' Ideal and Reality. Discovered the intricacies of country etiquette and the Farmer's Schedule of the Federal Income Tax forms. Learned to get along with their neighbors. In fact, they made it, against all odds, and after 10 years are indeed established sheep growers.
". . . city-boy encounters with vets, dairy farmers and others should delight readers on both sides of the urban-rural divide.
"--Publishers Weekly
"Don Mitchell's a good writer. That scarce breed should be encouraged."
--George V. Higgins, Boston Globe
"a funny book, a charming book ... with nuggets of wisdom and philosophy"
--Sy Syna, New York Tribune
"as solidly framed as a post-and-beam barn and has the good bones of a prize ram."
-- Jim De Filippi, Burlington Free Press
"a warm and wonderfully funny tale, full of humility and humor."
-- Sarah Bailey (Middlebury VT) Valley Voice
"Anyone who has moved even three miles out from town on a dirt road will get a kick out of this book." Colebrook (NH) News and Sentinel
"The book is, plainly, a gem."
-- Fred Laberge, Bristol Valley Press
"at once conversational and erudite, perceptive and funny... appealing and eminently readable."
--Nancy Means Wright, Addison County Independent