The Blueberry Years
A Memoir of Farm and Family
Due out August 31, 2010
Picked by Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance as one of the best new books for the summer.
The Blueberry Years captures the story of Minick’s experience creating, operating, and eventually selling one of the mid-Atlantic’s first certified-organic, pick-your-own blueberry farms. For a decade, the author and his wife planted, pruned, and picked while also opening the field to hundreds of people who came to harvest berries. These pickers shared blueberry-flavored moonshine and sober religion, warm hugs and cool hats, and always bushels of stories. To give a larger context to the Minicks’ story, the author includes brief chapters on national issues such as organic foods and new farmers. He also includes short interludes on all things blueberry, like the fruit’s many health benefits or the blueberry in literature. Ultimately, though, this book tells the story of a young couple pursuing their blueberry dream.
Order a copy of The Blueberry Years from your favorite bookstore, from on-line vendors such as Better World Books, Amazon,Barnes & Noble, or Borders, or support your local bookseller. For a list of independent bookstores, visit www.indiebound.org.
ISBN: 978-0-312-57142-9
What others say:
"What makes The Blueberry Years stand out among books on the organic and local food movements is how personal and experiential it is. We don’t just watch Jim and Sarah farm—we farm with them, our senses immersed in soil, weather, and plants, our hearts pulsing with their setbacks and their glories. Minick tells an unforgettable story, featuring characters we recognize, nail-biting moments of suspense, and hilarious mishaps, all steeped in the bittersweet poignancy of chasing dreams and finally leaving some behind. This book is gorgeous and important and totally engaging." Ann Pancake, author of Strange as the Weather Has Been
"Jim Minick is one of those farmers we all can look up to. And he can write. As I read, I remembered my own blueberry afternoons picking for market. Savor Jim’s prose, then go after the real thing: take the kids to a blueberry patch, pick up a jar of raw cream, whip it, and feast on a truly simple dessert. Or try one of the luscious recipes. And then feel good, because local food is good for farmers and for the countryside. But for me, the first and last reason to eat local food is still the same: it tastes better." Nina Planck, author of Real Food: What to Eat and Why
"A personal look at the daily functions of a small-scale farm enterprise." Steven Hopp, co-author of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
"A surpriser. When I started reading The Blueberry Years, I figured I was about to learn everything there is to know about starting and maintaining a blueberry farm. That is true, but this book is about much more. What Jim Minick does is to paint a lovely picture of how a few people come together on a little farm to enjoy each other's quirks and commonalities along with good food. Everyone talks these days about growing local food for local markets. Here's what it's like to really do it." Gene Logsdon, author of Pope Mary and The Church of Almighty Good Food.
“There is so much to praise in this beautifully written memoir, but what I admire most is Jim Minick’s utter lack of self-righteousness. In these pages we are given a wisdom that has, at its center, a quiet and abiding humility. What a fine, fine book The Blueberry Years is.”
Ron Rash, author of Serena
"This charming, homespun memoir of organic blueberry farming, written with lyrical grace by a poet-scholar, is a modern georgic, contemplating one local facet of our global food system."
Sharyn McCrumb, New York Times bestselling author
"That Jim Minick is a poet is clear in every page of this book, not just in vivid descriptions, wordplay and lyrical cadences, but in the quiet depth, the wise connections, the warmth and understanding brought to the account of a farm, a family, a community, and way of life. Part instruction manual (with asides on etymology, history, taxonomy and recipes), memoir, meditation, chronicle and confession, The Blueberry Years is an intimate visit to a delightful place with an inspired guide."
Robert Morgan, author of Boone: A Biography
“A truly inspiring story, in gorgeous prose, about one family's journey into blueberry farming. Delicious reading.” Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America and The Beauty Myth.
“The Blueberry Years is about food relationships, but also about food revolution. Minick captures the heart and soul of the food healing movement, a story that can never be told enough.” Joel F. Salatin, author of You Can Farm and Salad Bar Beef.
