Great Possessions; An Amish Farmer's Jou

The author, David Kline, is Amish and a farmer, so he lives very close to nature. While the subtitle is, "An Amish Farmer's Journal," this book is not about the Amish. It is about a man's love for God's creation that surrounds him on his farm and his sadness at what has been lost and what we continue to lose. The introduction by the author is a powerful statement for sustainable, small scale, family farming. Wendell Berry in the foreword notes this with his statement that Kline's life, "informed as it is by the Amish reverence for the natural world and the stewardship everywhere implicit in Amish farming--makes a union of economy and ecology." In the introduction Kline asks, "Should we give up the kind of farming that has been proven to preserve communities and land and is ecologically and spiritually sound for a way that is culturally and environmentally harmful?" This truly summarizes the viewpoint David Kline brings to his journal. Kline takes us through the year on his farm and lets us see the different plants, birds and animals that migrate through or live on his farm and those around him. He talks about the loss of Chestnut trees, mushrooms, Woodpeckers and a hundred other birds as they appear in his region of Ohio during the year. This is a `must read' for those who love nature. Kyle Pratt

"Great Possessions" radiates serenity and joy, but there is an underlying sadness for things lost--American chestnut trees, passenger pigeons, family farms. It is a rare natural history book that doesn't have this poignant undercurrent. Here is an author who can write knowledgeably about diversified sustainable farming, because he is Old Order Amish and practices what he preaches. In the introduction, Wendell Berry says, "David's life--informed as it is by the Amish reverence for the natural world and the stewardship everywhere implicit in Amish farming--makes a union of economy and ecology." This particular farmer-naturalist times his hay cutting to permit bobolink fledglings to leave the nest. When he top-seeds his wheat in the spring, his hand-cranked seeder flushes the horned larks and allows him to avoid their nests. The Ohio Amish practice five-crop rotation so crop-damaging insects don't have time to build up. Horse-worked farms absorb almost seven times more water than conventional no-tilled farms. Is it any wonder that the Amish in my area of middle Michigan at least, are quietly taking over the farm land that could not be made profitable by gigantic machines, insecticides, herbicides, and major debt? Most Amish farmers are not pure organic farmers, but their use of herbicides is minute compared to the average non-organic farmer. The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) keeps trying to persuade this author that spraying poisons on his land would free him from tilling. An SCS technician informed him that "If I'd join the no-till crowd I'd be freed from plowing, and then my son or I could work in a factory. He insinuated that the extra income (increased cash flow) would in some way improve the quality of our lives." The author, thank God, fails to get the point. He asks, "Should we give up the kind of farming that has been proven to preserve communities and land and is ecologically and spiritually sound for a way that is culturally and environmentally harmful?" In one year, David Kline counted 155 different species of birds on his land. When I was growing up a few hundred miles north of this author's Ohio farm, it was rare in those DDT-laden days to hear even a sparrow sing. At least we learned a lesson about that particular pesticide, and the birds are making a comeback. I counted 44 different bird species on our ten acres this year. Maybe that's because I live in a county where the Amish farm.

I was first attracted to this book because the title seemed to be an oxymoron. I then chose the book for what was inside. I have found Mr. Kline's essays to take me to pleasant places when I was stuck inside. He also helped me to see my world more positively. I don't live very far from the farm that is spoken of in this book, yet I am removed from it by the technology in my life. When I am spiritually encumbered, I take this book in hand to renew myself in short order.I have read and reread this book and have given it as a gift. I will continue to share it with my friends and family. This time it will be a gift to a very special companion.

"This book announces on every page that the world is good, an article of faith that is here brought to rest upon experience."--from the forward by Wendell Berry. . . What a gift of a book! The introduction, on family and small scale farming, is alone worth the price of the book. These are nature essays in the old tradition: showing nature as an avenue to discovering what it means to be human. Kline practices farming in the Amish tradition, putting him out in the fields many days of the year. There he observes birds passing through, the changes of the seasons, and the various effects of farming practices on other species of living things. The essay In Praise of Fencerows is especially thoughtful and memorable. The title of this book was originally to be the title of Aldo Leopold's classic A Sand County Almanac, and the first chapter title, Winter Visitors, is a chapter title in Henry Thoreau's Walden. Those tributes demonstrate the great precedents on which Kline builds. While he is never as quotable as Thoreau or Leopold, he demonstrates, without sentimentality or preaching, the same depth of heart and understanding. What do we lose as we lose the natural places nearby? Kline shows us that we lose something even more important than species and ecosystems. We lose part of ourselves, a part capable of simple pleasures and joys, a center of decency, strength, and peace.