The Contrary Farmer's Invitation to Gardening

Rating:
Summary: Good reading and inspirational
Review: I had previously read and enjoyed (I think) two of Logsdon's earlier books, At Nature's Pace and The Contrary Farmer, but I was barely able to get through this more recent contribution. Logsdon is clearly knowledgeable about a wide range of small farming and gardening practices. There is much useful information in this book, particularly on mulching garden beds, growing small grains, and using chickens in movable cages for fertilization and insect control. However, acquiring this information, which is also available elsewhere, is a painful experience. On almost every page the defects in Logsdon's writing and thinking stand out. He makes absurd generalizations and broad pronouncements, on all sorts of topics, based on what is clearly cursory, limited understanding of the subjects. A fine example of the latter is to be found in the last two pages of the book, where he discusses the evolution of monarch and viceroy butterflies, and the mimicry of the former by the latter. His reasoning in the course of making arguments is often nearly incomprehensible, and time after time made me shake my head in disbelief. One example (p. 126): "I do not believe in letting nature take its course all the time. In a world where one ethnic group of Rwandans hacked a million of another ethnic group to death with machetes recently, I don't have the time nor the luxury to debate whether I should kill a feral cat that is endangering a rare species of songbird. To make the point clearly [!], if I were a judge, I could sentence a vicious human criminal to death under the law--with fewer qualms than I feel when killing a poor dumb pest animal, which is merely the victim of a situation that is as much my fault, as a human, as the animal's fault. But in either case I would act, not lie down passively and let someone else make the decision. If this sounds unconscionably brutal to you, try arguing the passive-resistance viewpoint with a brood of termites under or house or a panther eying up your child." I just can't follow this. Other, shorter instances abound, as Logsdon draws from his misunderstanding and fractional knowledge of history, ecology, evolutionary biology, and other areas to offer up his opinions on government, economics, sociology, religion, and so on. His writing is also marred by pointless and foolish parenthetical asides, and corniness, as when in the space of three pages in the last chapter he refers six times to his wife as "my lovely" (e.g., "My lovely found what appeared..."). Other readers seem to enjoy Logsdon's self-proclaimed stance as "the contrary farmer," and I am certainly on the same side as he in the struggle against destructive agribusiness and the global hegemony of ruthless corporations, but (obviously) I cannot recommend this book, which is poorly written and seems not to have had the attention of an editor.

Rating:
Summary: Useful information buried in a compost heap of poor writing.
Review: I had previously read and enjoyed (I think) two of Logsdon's earlier books, At Nature's Pace and The Contrary Farmer, but I was barely able to get through this more recent contribution. Logsdon is clearly knowledgeable about a wide range of small farming and gardening practices. There is much useful information in this book, particularly on mulching garden beds, growing small grains, and using chickens in movable cages for fertilization and insect control. However, acquiring this information, which is also available elsewhere, is a painful experience. On almost every page the defects in Logsdon's writing and thinking stand out. He makes absurd generalizations and broad pronouncements, on all sorts of topics, based on what is clearly cursory, limited understanding of the subjects. A fine example of the latter is to be found in the last two pages of the book, where he discusses the evolution of monarch and viceroy butterflies, and the mimicry of the former by the latter. His reasoning in the course of making arguments is often nearly incomprehensible, and time after time made me shake my head in disbelief. One example (p. 126): "I do not believe in letting nature take its course all the time. In a world where one ethnic group of Rwandans hacked a million of another ethnic group to death with machetes recently, I don't have the time nor the luxury to debate whether I should kill a feral cat that is endangering a rare species of songbird. To make the point clearly [!], if I were a judge, I could sentence a vicious human criminal to death under the law--with fewer qualms than I feel when killing a poor dumb pest animal, which is merely the victim of a situation that is as much my fault, as a human, as the animal's fault. But in either case I would act, not lie down passively and let someone else make the decision. If this sounds unconscionably brutal to you, try arguing the passive-resistance viewpoint with a brood of termites under or house or a panther eying up your child." I just can't follow this. Other, shorter instances abound, as Logsdon draws from his misunderstanding and fractional knowledge of history, ecology, evolutionary biology, and other areas to offer up his opinions on government, economics, sociology, religion, and so on. His writing is also marred by pointless and foolish parenthetical asides, and corniness, as when in the space of three pages in the last chapter he refers six times to his wife as "my lovely" (e.g., "My lovely found what appeared..."). Other readers seem to enjoy Logsdon's self-proclaimed stance as "the contrary farmer," and I am certainly on the same side as he in the struggle against destructive agribusiness and the global hegemony of ruthless corporations, but (obviously) I cannot recommend this book, which is poorly written and seems not to have had the attention of an editor.

Rating:
Summary: More inspirational than practical
Review: This is the second book of Logsdon's that I have read, and I intend to read the rest of them. In many ways, he reminds me of the old farmers who would sit around the barber shop when I was kid. Mr. Logsdon has opinions on just about everything, and isn't afraid to express them. One gets the distinct impression that he really won't be too bothered by whether his readers are persuaded by his opinions or not.

Amidst his (admittedly spot on) diatribes about industrial farming, government meddling, and modern day prohibitionists he does manage to paint a lovely picture of the garden as the embodiment of the urge to simplicity and living close to the land. Further, he makes it clear that the reader can start whereever they already are, even if it means growing a few plants in a window box.

There is plenty of practical advice, but it is delivered anecdotally. There aren't any pictures or diagrams, but he describes his compost heated seed starting bed so well that one doesn't need a diagram. Likewise for what he calls mulch-bed gardening (basically lasagna gardening). The topics covered include the reason for gardening, vegetable gardening, small scale livestock husbandry (read: pet chickens, at least until they quit laying and end up in the stew pot), and aquatic gardening (ponds and such).

The key thing to keep in mind is that this book is an invitation to gardening, and not a primer or a manual. If you are looking for a how-to guide, this isn't your best book. If you are wondering whether you might enjoy gardening, or if you are already a gardener and you need something to do between the first frost and the last frost, this is an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: More inspirational than practical
Review: This is the second book of Logsdon's that I have read, and I intend to read the rest of them. In many ways, he reminds me of the old farmers who would sit around the barber shop when I was kid. Mr. Logsdon has opinions on just about everything, and isn't afraid to express them. One gets the distinct impression that he really won't be too bothered by whether his readers are persuaded by his opinions or not.

Amidst his (admittedly spot on) diatribes about industrial farming, government meddling, and modern day prohibitionists he does manage to paint a lovely picture of the garden as the embodiment of the urge to simplicity and living close to the land. Further, he makes it clear that the reader can start whereever they already are, even if it means growing a few plants in a window box.

There is plenty of practical advice, but it is delivered anecdotally. There aren't any pictures or diagrams, but he describes his compost heated seed starting bed so well that one doesn't need a diagram. Likewise for what he calls mulch-bed gardening (basically lasagna gardening). The topics covered include the reason for gardening, vegetable gardening, small scale livestock husbandry (read: pet chickens, at least until they quit laying and end up in the stew pot), and aquatic gardening (ponds and such).

The key thing to keep in mind is that this book is an invitation to gardening, and not a primer or a manual. If you are looking for a how-to guide, this isn't your best book. If you are wondering whether you might enjoy gardening, or if you are already a gardener and you need something to do between the first frost and the last frost, this is an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: Good reading and inspirational
Review: While this book is has plenty of good information in it, I think its real value is to provide a peek into life in the country. His practical view of life can be applied to all walks of life