Giveaway for Patrons: Farming for the Long Haul

I have a new favorite book, and I want you all to have it, too.

When Chelsea Green sent me Farming for the Long Haul: Resilience and the Lost Art of Agricultural Inventiveness by Michael Foley to review I was knee-deep in getting the podcast rolling and hard-pressed to carve out even an ounce of book time. But, I managed to pick it up and read the first chapter... then couldn’t stop picking it up in every spare minute I had to read.

I finished it. Then, I listened to it on Audible in the garden. And made Jackson listen to it, too (now required reading… err, listening for No-Till Growers). I am listening to it, again.

First, before we get into giveaway details, I’ll just give you a brief rundown of what this book is about and why I chose it. At its core, “Farming for the Long Haul” is a thoughtful and robust examination of our current state of agriculture and whether or not it is set up to survive a changing climate, a growing population, the uncertain future of water and oil, etc..

And it’s so much more than that.

I give a full review of the book over at Hobby Farms, but what I love about Farming for the Long Haul is how for every gloomy detail about the societies throughout history who have failed their land and—therefor—fail their futures as a society, there exists a hopeful alternative or anecdote.

That’s the genius of this book, and the utility. This book, to me, not only acts as a compendium for sustainable practices (such as no-till—Singing Frogs and Gabe Brown both get #shoutouts, among others), but also many practical permaculture ideas, many collaborative farming concepts, many ways to better care for soil, water, forests, and community. And not just those of the past—many of the concepts he poses are happening right now, possibilities in every climate, and are relatively reasonable to implement, at least on a small scale.

It leans heavy on the work of writers like Wendell Berry. I would probably be skeptical of any agricultural work that didn’t. And as I said, it is a compendium, a collection of what got us here complimented by a collective review of the options we have to reverse our current trend of degradation and make the society around us more stable and healthy. It shows us where we went wrong before, where we are going wrong now, but also also how we can correct it.

I loved it, you will, too, and I am giving away four copies to anyone who has donated!

I will randomly select four winners from that pool (including those who have given checks or donated through Venmo) and send you a physical or digital copy (your choice). Your number of entries is based on your yearly donation. If you give $2 dollars at Patreon, you get 24 entires. If you give $2 dollars at Venmo (@notillgrowers), you get 2 entires—an entry for every dollar per year.

**Winner will be selected Monday April 1st at 4am Eastern** so you have until then to donate, or increase your patronage, and be registered.

I will be doing regular giveaways—maybe more books, maybe tools, maybe other farming-related things—so please consider singing up to support the show, grow No-Till Growers, and maybe win something in the process!

OF course, if you just want to buy the book, and you should, use the offer code “notill” at Chelseagreenpublishing.com for 35% off.