The Woman Hobby Farmer: Female Guidance for Growing Food, Raising Livestock, and Building a Farm-Based Business

by Karen Lanier

Overview

Hobby farming is alive and thriving in semi-rural, suburban, and rural areas across the country, and female farmers have been cited as the fastest growing sector within the farming community in recent years. With more than 1 million women in the United States and Canada describing farming as their primary source of income, and many more for whom hobby farming is just that—a hobby—the time is right for a publication dedicated to hobby farming from a female perspective. Written for women, by a woman, this insightful volume is packed with stories and advice from women hobby farmers and looks at female-specific farming challenges as well as issues that all farmers face.

Inside The Woman Hobby Farmer:

•Discussions on the who, what, why, and where of hobby farming

•Deciding on your farming goals and making a plan

•What to expect in your new endeavor

•How to decide what to plant and prepare your planting sites

•Advice on feeding, caring for, and housing different types of livestock

•A look at “agripreneurship”—running and marketing your hobby farm as a successful business

•Stories, quotes, and advice from successful female hobby farmers

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620082607
Publisher:	CompanionHouse Books
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Karen Lanier is a naturalist, documentarian, teacher, artist, and gardener. She’s worked as a seasonal park ranger in national and state parks from California to Maine, and wildlife has always been a close ally in her work of connecting people with their environments. By creating a documentary in Brazil about a reforestation project, she knew that her mission would be to highlight the good deeds that humans are capable of where nature and culture intersect.

Her career path has been long and winding, yet she has always found a way to communicate the preciousness of the natural world to her audience. Karen holds degrees in photography, French, and environmental documentation as well as professional environmental educator certification. She is actively involved with the Lexington, Kentucky, chapter of Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes, and she works closely with Kentucky Association of Environmental Education. While she still thrives in the midst of the wilderness, she finds encouragement in the butterflies and bees that magically appear every summer, finding nourishment from the flowering native sunflowers that frame her patio, in the middle of downtown Lexington.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: Assessments and Planning
Chapter 2: Taking Care of Your Farm
Chapter 3: Taking Care of Yourself
Chapter 4: Sharing the Bounty
Chapter 5: Being Teacher and Student
Chapter 6: Lessons Learned
Chapter 7: Integrating Farm and Life
Sources and Recommended Reading

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal:

The title of author (Wildlife in Your Garden) and magazine contributor (Hobby Farms Magazine) Lanier's book is somewhat deceptive because her work isn't about farming as a hobby. Rather, it's intended for women who are interested in farming as a profession. Farming in this instance covers a variety of agricultural careers and situations, from urban to flower farming and from owning acres to working someone else's land. That more and more women are choosing to farm is what's important here, not the kind of career one selects. This volume is not a how-to but instead offers stories of women farmers, information on how to navigate in a male-dominated profession, advice on taking care of self and farm, and exercises to help assess and clarify one's goals, skills, and experience. Full of photos, resources, and bite-size bits of information, this is a useful introduction for women considering a career in farming. The author acknowledges the challenges, especially for single women, but doesn't dwell on them. Instead, she emphasizes how rewarding and fulfilling farming can be.

VERDICT: An uplifting, can-do book that is sure to present encouragement and inspiration to women interested in small-scale farming.

From the Publisher

09/15/2017
The title of author (Wildlife in Your Garden) and magazine contributor (Hobby Farms Magazine) Lanier's book is somewhat deceptive because her work isn't about farming as a hobby. Rather, it's intended for women who are interested in farming as a profession. Farming in this instance covers a variety of agricultural careers and situations, from urban to flower farming and from owning acres to working someone else's land. That more and more women are choosing to farm is what's important here, not the kind of career one selects. This volume is not a how-to but instead offers stories of women farmers, information on how to navigate in a male-dominated profession, advice on taking care of self and farm, and exercises to help assess and clarify one's goals, skills, and experience. Full of photos, resources, and bite-size bits of information, this is a useful introduction for women considering a career in farming. The author acknowledges the challenges, especially for single women, but doesn't dwell on them. Instead, she emphasizes how rewarding and fulfilling farming can be. VERDICT An uplifting, can-do book that is sure to present encouragement and inspiration to women interested in small-scale farming.—Stefanie Hollmichel, Univ. of St. Thomas Law Lib., Minneapolis

Library Journal