The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love

Written by Kristin Kimball

Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

Single, thirty-something, and working as a writer in New York City, Kristin Kimball was living life as an adventure. But she was beginning to feel a sense of longing for a family and for home. When she interviewed a dynamic young farmer, her world changed. Kristin knew nothing about growing vegetables, let alone raising pigs and cattle and driving horses. 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. The Dirty Life is the captivating chronicle of their first year on Essex Farm, from the cold North Country winter through the following harvest season-complete with their wedding in the loft of the barn.



Kimball and her husband had a plan: to grow everything needed to feed a community. It was an ambitious idea, a bit romantic, and it worked. Every Friday evening, all year round, 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. The work is done by draft horses instead of tractors, and the fertility comes from compost. Kimball's vivid descriptions of landscape, food, cooking-and marriage-are irresistible.



"As much as you transform the land by farming," she writes, "farming transforms you." In her old life, Kimball would stay out until four AM, wear heels, and carry a handbag. Now she wakes up at four, wears Carhartts, and carries a pocket knife. At Essex Farm, she 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Audio
• Release date: Jun 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452672786

Kristin Kimball

Kristin Kimball is a farmer and a writer living in northern New York. Prior to farming, Kimball worked as a freelance writer, writing teacher, and as an assistant to a literary agent in New York City. A graduate of Harvard University and the author of The Dirty Life and Good Husbandry, she and her husband Mark have run Essex Farm since 2003, where they live with their two daughters. 

Reviews for The Dirty Life

[addunn3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A young New Yorker on a mission to interview a "new age" farmer ends up becoming a partner in the development of a 500 acre "full service" farm serving 100+ CSAs. Her growth on the farm, as well as the farm itself, are well documented. I just don't know when she would have had time to write this book!

[markplunkett · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read the book when it was first published and liked it. The second read was even better. Honest. Well-written. Full of real life. And focused on a young couple creating a sustainable CSA and a home. A great read in February while waiting for the ground to warm and plants to grow.

[sasham-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Farming the hard way. The very hard way.

[wortklauberlein · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fear that this might get all romantic proved totally wrong. The real love affair here is not with the handsome salt-of-the-earth guy the author marries but with learning to live both gently and solidly on the earth. This happily-ever-after required guts and no small amount of hard work.

[hagertyhartfeldt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Definitely enjoyed this memoir.

[jmc400m · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is not really about farming but more about the author's search for what makes her happy. It is also a very candid portrayal of her relationship with a man and how and why she loved him. I enjoyed the journey of how she fell into a radically different lifestyle, often with some serious reservations. This book is written by a highly intelligent and talented woman who wasn't afraid to test the waters of an alternative world. Highly recommended.

[mathmaverick-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent book that everyone should read. It illustrates what is possible when individuals put their mind to something and how everyone benefits.

[bookwormteri · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I could never ever ever live on a farm/homestead. However, I adored reading about it. The amount of work it takes to run a farm is unbelievable, which did not surprise me. The fact that they learned on the job did surprise me. Not a boring tale at all.

[debra_armbruster · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book left me seriously conflicted. I learned quite a bit about the realities of farming, and about CSA models (the whole diet model is ambitious but really cool in concept), but I had difficulty believing the authenticity of the author's expressed feelings.There is nothing finer than farm-fresh produce, and local dairies serve up some amazing milk, butter and cream; however, I can honestly say that that lifestyle is not for me. It is too difficult, too demanding, too full of sacrifice and a learned comfort with accident and death. Will I strongly consider (as I do every year) a small vegetable garden in the one unshaded patch of our yard? Of course! But, I do not have any illusions about it. I would not assume that because I liked it that I was cut out for farming or, if I traded in my husband for a green-thumbed nomad, that I'd upend my life to the degree Ms. Kimball did. Frankly, her snap decision to join Mark on their wild adventure smacked as a desperate maneuver to impress a good-looking guy and then finding herself dragged along. I guess what troubles me is that I don't believe. I can't buy into Kimball's professed sincerity - the "miracle" and mystery of a "tablespoon of soil". It sounds like the flowery prose of a travel writer, which was her bread and butter before (and during) her early life as a farmer, and made me emotionally disengage.

[emilyingreen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining account of one woman's transformation from NYC socialite to upstate organic farmwife. Could easily be called "Seed, Plow, Pluck" and appeal to earthier fans of Elizabeth Gilbert's hit memoir.

[quailjulia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is not really about farming but more about the author's search for what makes her happy. It is also a very candid portrayal of her relationship with a man and how and why she loved him. I enjoyed the journey of how she fell into a radically different lifestyle, often with some serious reservations. This book is written by a highly intelligent and talented woman who wasn't afraid to test the waters of an alternative world. Highly recommended.

[jennybeast · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Funny, delightful autobiography.

[katielibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good audiobook. I liked it ... It fueled my secret desire to be a farmer (or at least have chickens or a goat)

[bhagerty-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Definitely enjoyed this memoir.

[rapini-46852 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a really gripping story of two people starting a farm, and life, together.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

adult nonfiction. Journalist falls in love with farmer, gives up city life to build a farm with him in upstate New York. Nothing is as easy or simple as it would seem, from the pair's somewhat turbulent romance to mowing the front lawn. Essex Farm utilizes organic, sustainable practices, relies on draft horses to pull the farm equipment, and aims to provide a complete diet--which means in addition to the fruits, veggies and flowers, they also raise chickens, beef and dairy cows, and pigs.

[dandiercks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I’ve lived most of my adult life in farming communities and many of my friends are farmers, so while I’ve never farmed, I know enough about the way they talk. And it ain’t like this. Seriously, I enjoyed this book and leaned a lot about organic farming, but I couldn’t help but laugh as I listened (I had the audio version of “The Dirty Life”) to Kimball’s poetic descriptions of the agrarian life. Much of it sounded more like an English literature PhD dissertation than a memoir about farming a la Amish style. And how often has a distressed cow had The New Yorker read to her the way Kimball did. And who would possibly see Sandra Cisneros in the face of another cow. Well, Kimball did. The wedding scene near the end of the books was a cross between Woodstock Hippie and Fifth Avenue Chic. After all, don’t we all have guests “coming from Europe”? Enough snark. Kimball is really an excellent writer. It just mixes a little strangely with the…dirt.

[willszal-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Over the past two days, I drove back from Montreal, and went to a show at the Chester Theatre. This was more than enough time to listen to the entire audio edition of “The Dirty Life,” by Kristin Kimball. The book is a memoir about Essex Farm - a diversified whole-diet CSA slightly South across the lake from Burlington, VT - and Kristin’s personal journey surrounding the birth of this project.

Background

Three springs ago I spent a couple days at Essex. They wanted me to arrive for breakfast, but not stay over the night before, so I woke up at 3:00am that morning and took the drive over to upstate New York that morning. I’d found out about the farm from the Assistant Grower when I was a student at Maggie’s Farm.

I felt like I was in some other world. The amount of work on the farm was mind boggling. The had about 100 acres under production by draft horse [note to mention the larger acreage they had for grazing and haying]. To put things in perspective, the largest organic farm in VT has 80 acres under production, and that’s with like twenty people and tractors…

Rustic is too weak a term to describe the place. It’s like being in the Middle ages. We ate a ton of animal fat during my time there. We stacked and fed out an entire hay wagon of bales before sunrise. It was more than epic. They shoot animals out in the fields and process them in a trailer. They do their dairy in a trailer too. The grow grain. My cabin had a spigot outside as my running water.

I was very interested in the place - as it’s the only integrated full-diet CSA in the northeast. I was hoping to get an internship there, but got turned down [just like another one of my highly-qualified friends]. I guess they’re too much of a celebrity farm these days for folks like us.

Anyways, when the book came out, I thought it worth a read. I’d like to review a few notable aspects of the book.

The Inherent Violence of Agriculture

Kristin was a vegetarian when she met Mark. Immediately, she became an omnivore.

Repeatedly throughout the text she returns to the theme of the inherent violence of agriculture. Although she does tell a number of sad stories regarding animals, most of what she’s referring to is the human-nature relationship in farming. She’s explicit in naming farming as the human war against nature. Monsanto knows this - that’s why they have people from Lockheed Martin on the Board. But sometimes we try to make small-scale organic farming sound romantic. And it is. But it’s also brutally savage. She talks about the screams of the weeds as she pulls them up. Grinding tomato horn worms under her heels. There’s no getting around it - farming of any type is horribly vicious, and it’s a message that the public needs to take to heart [especially the vegans].

Permaculture starts to explore other relationships between humans and the rest of nature. But spirituality understands that there’s no sidestepping the impacts of existence.

The Meaning of Marriage

A lot of the book describes Kristin’s inner and outer struggles surrounding marriage. The book is a good investigation into the question of what is marriage.

One of my friends and I were having a conversation about this topic the other day. Marriage is a commitment between a couple and their community. In our fragmented society today, sometimes people get the idea that marriage is a committent made between two people, but I think [and Kristin might agree] that such a idea is horribly shortsighted and misses the essence of marriage.

When Kristin set out, she was looking for the feeling the home. By the end of the book, it seem as though she found it in genuine marriage. Not marriage to a person, but to a community [although the legal documents probably attempt to assert otherwise].

The Beauty and Importance of Food

Again and again Kristin talks about recipes and ingredients. She fell in love with Mark partially because of the culinary experiences she shared under his direction.

Apparently Mark said he knew good food was important to him, and that the only pathways that would bring him there were banking or farming. And since he didn’t like sitting still, banking was out and he was left with only one option.

Gift Culture

Mark apparently is a “beliefs” guy. And it sounds like we’re closely aligned. He believes in the natural abundance of this world, and loves the idea of gift economics. Me too. That’s how they found the farm, and how they setup their business model, and that’s how they got their enterprise off the ground - through generosity and trust. I’m glad to see I’m not alone, and that people are successfully putting my beliefs into practice.

Nostalgia

The book brought me back to my experience at the Farm School [Maggie’s - mentioned above]. From the food, to the work, to the social interactions, so many parts of the book brought me right back to my time at Maggie’s - possibly the most beautiful year of my life.

[melaniehope · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really good writing and such an interesting story of 2 people becoming first generation farmers. Loved the ups and downs they experienced and the risk they took to pursue a dream. Now if only I could get some one to GIVE me 500 acres...

[carolinajaybird · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. I have a recurring romantic fantasy about living and working on a farm, spending a lot of time outdoors and eating only healthy food. What’s nice about this book is that it does reveal that notion to be a fantasy, but it does it without complaint. This is a story about how someone found her calling by falling in love, first with a man, then with his way of life. I liked the subject matter and the writing, but most of all I liked the honesty of it. And I went to the farmer’s market with more money to support my local farmers when I was finished. I’m not tough enough for the dirty life, but I’m smart enough to appreciate the people that are.

[mlanzotti_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kristan Kimball, the author, was a single,thirtysomething New York writer when she went to interview a young farmer. They fell in love or something like it, and she moved with him to a farmers life. She writes with equal ease about the backbreaking amount of work,the sadness of a horse dying, and the matter of fact rituals of butchering farm animals for meat. A excellent read!

[sunflowerandzucchini · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Great story, but not terrifically written, and while it started out with a higher purpose of talking about our relationship with food, it ended up being much more about her being a farmer - it lost some of its thoughtfulness along the way. Paled in comparison, ultimately, to Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle.

[sarahehwilson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So often these kind of memoirs are downright irritating, romantic and moralistic musings on our alienation from the earth blah blah blah. This book is nothing like that. There is absolutely no hiding the sheer blistering hard work of being a farmer (especially way up north in New York State!!). What makes the story compelling is how the unlikely candidate of the author becomes converted to and transformed by the sheer hard work itself. There is no mysticism here, and the good life is not a facile choice for the rich. After 30 pages I wanted to be a farmer myself. After 100 I wanted never to be a farmer at all, but by the end I definitely wished I was her neighbor and could sign up to indulge in this community-supported agriculture!

[eeekievonkane · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! Kimball writes beautifully and honestly. Fascinating transformation.

[frisbeesage · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kristin Kimball was living the high, city life, partying late into the night, wearing the latest fashions. A journalist in her mid thirties, she was yearning for something different, something that felt more like home. When she is sent to write an article on a young man running a local farm she finds what she is looking for in both the man and his dreams of a home on a farm. Soon the two of them are ensconced on a 500 acre farm trying to realize Mark's vision of a farm that would provide families with all the food they need for a year. Sound daunting? Raising chickens and cows, milking, making cheese, growing vegetables, sugaring maple trees, harvesting and marketing all that to a skeptical, small town? Now consider that the farm is run-down and long unused, they hired no help the first year, and they did almost all the heavy work with a team of draft horses! As you can imagine, many adventures, tragedies and triumphs came out of that one year.Kristin Kimball does an admirable job recounting the year that changed her life so drastically. She has a very straightforward and honest way of expressing what it was like to fall in love with Mark and his way of life. She never glosses over the incredible amount of work and the tough emotions she went through. The book is fun too. Its a real pleasure to discover the secrets of farming alongside Kristin as she shares the experience of the first calf born, picking out seeds to buy in the winter, and eating the first new potatoes out in the field. I really enjoyed this book!

[jackieblem · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kristin was very much a city girl until a writing assignment brought her to Mark's small plot of land where he was growing food to feed many, many families. It was love at first sight, at least for the farming. Falling for Mark didn't take too much more time after that. They get together and find a farm that a generous man who fell for the both of them let them have for free for a year. It was no prize, at least to the eye, but they dive in and manage to have it up and running within a year. It's completely organic and very old school--the cows are milked by hand, the chickens free range during the day, and most of the heavy work is done with horses and old fashioned farming tools. Their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)is a new model--the idea is that the members can be completely supported by the produce, meat, eggs and cheese they can pick up weekly year round that should require very little to no additional grocery purchasing. They are up to 80 acres that they now own and 100 members and counting. It is a completely fascinating story of what the love of the land and the desire to feed people can do for individuals and communities, and what potential impact that could have on a global scale, with no varnish on how difficult and demanding the work is. Loved it!

[abycats_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In many ways beautifully written, this is a tale of true City Girl who fell in love with a back-to-nature farmer and her adjustment to what loving such a man meant. She exchanges (and, for the most, not grudgingly) a life of convenience and lack of purpose for a life of constant toil leavened by appreciation of the land and its products. The author does a good job of describing daily life on a non-mechanized farm that includes everything from the needed draft horses, cows, pigs, chickens to virtually every conceivable food crop. She is very happy with her new life. I'm thankful that her description makes it clear to me that I would be miserable under the same circumstances. Conveying both in the same volume is actually quite an accomplishment.

If you love nature or are interested in what is required to produce that Saran-wrapped vegetable, this is a terrific read.