Free Kindle Locally Laid: How We Built A Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm - From Scratch ebooks Download
How a Midwestern family with no agriculture experience went from a few backyard chickens to a full-fledged farm—and discovered why local chicks are better.When Lucie Amundsen had a rare night out with her husband, she never imagined what he’d tell her over dinner—that his dream was to quit his office job (with benefits!) and start a commercial-scale pasture-raised egg farm. His entire agricultural experience consisted of raising five backyard hens, none of whom had yet laid a single egg. To create this pastured poultry ranch, the couple scrambles to acquire nearly two thousand chickens—all named Lola. These hens, purchased commercially, arrive bereft of basic chicken-y instincts, such as the evening urge to roost. The newbie farmers also deal with their own shortcomings, making for a failed inspection and intense struggles to keep livestock alive (much less laying) during a brutal winter. But with a heavy dose of humor, they learn to negotiate the highly stressed no-man’s-land known as Middle Agriculture. Amundsen sees firsthand how these midsized farms, situated between small-scale operations and mammoth factory farms, are vital to rebuilding America’s local food system. With an unexpected passion for this dubious enterprise, Amundsen shares a messy, wry, and entirely educational story of the unforeseen payoffs (and frequent pitfalls) of one couple’s ag adventure—and many, many hours spent wrangling chickens.
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Avery (March 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 159463422X
ISBN-13: 978-1594634222
Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #262,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #143 in Books > Business & Money > Industries > Agriculture #382 in Books > Science & Math > Agricultural Sciences > Animal Husbandry #436 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Culinary
Over the last several years, the local food movement has become, well...a thing. People are becoming more aware of just how many resources their Big Ag food requires, and that it will not be - CANNOT be - sustainable over the long term. In response to that knowledge, there are more "backyard" farms popping up, and more businesses designed to be part of the local food in their area. Locally Laid is one such business. In the book, Lucie Amundsen describes just how their family ended up as one of those businesses - and she bares the good and bad of it all.This book was actually an unexpectedly enjoyable read. Some books on this sort of topic are all about "WE ARE DOOMED", and while I appreciate that those are important as well, it's a pleasant change of pace to read something that is knowledgeable and informative without feeling exhausted when it is finished. Amundsen has a plucky (HA! See what I did there?) sense of humor, and she isn't shy about using it in the book. It was entertaining and refreshing all at once. She also isn't shy about elucidating the difficulties that she and her family went through in order to try and make this enterprise work. She writes well about the all-encompassing fear that the farm would fail and they would have lost everything. While I think some people might not like such a close look, the realities are there for all to see - smaller farms have been going out of business at soul-crushing rates for the last several years, and the debt-load to make a go of it can often be unsustainable, even for those who work for Big Ag. I'd much rather an honest look than a sugar-coated one.
Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm - from Scratch The Man Who Laid the Egg The Man Who Laid the Egg (Louise A. Vernon Religious Heritage Series) It Starts with the Egg: How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF The Lucky, Plucky Chairs Get Plucky With The Ukulele: A Quick And Easy Guide To All Things Uke At the Zoo Scratch & Sketch (An Art Activity Book for Animal Lovers and Artists of All Ages) (Trace-Along Scratch and Sketch) Garden Fairies Scratch and Sketch: An Art Activity for Magical Artists and Believers of All Ages (Scratch & Sketch) Under the Sea Scratch and Sketch: An Art Activity Book for Imaginative Artists of All Ages (Scratch & Sketch) At The Beach Scratch & Sketch Kit (Scratch and Sketch Kit) Lee 'Scratch' Perry: Kiss Me Neck: The Scratch Story in Words, Pictures and Records Scratch and Sketch Furry Friends: An Art Activity Book for Animal Lovers and Artists of All Ages (Scratch & Sketch) Dino Dudes Scratch And Sketch: An Art Activity Book For Fossil Hunters of All Ages (Scratch & Sketch) The Feast Nearby: How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week) Sewing to Sell - The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Craft Business: Bonus - 16 Starter Projects • How to Sell Locally & Online The Handmade Marketplace, 2nd Edition: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and Online Egg Cookbook: The Creative Farm-To-Table Guide to Cooking Fresh Eggs Best-Laid Plans The Secret History of the World: As Laid Down by the Secret Societies Naked Playwriting: The Art, the Craft, and the Life Laid Bare
