The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love

great relaxing read

This is one of the most insightful books that I've read. It's written with a beautiful poetic narrative that can only be presented by a gifted author, and a perspective on life that can only be presented by one that's been well lived.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Exceptionally well written!

Almost makes me want to live the dirty life too...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Really enjoyed this book!

This was a great read! I found myself completely engrossed. I would recommend this book and have twice already.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An incredible story...

...makes you want to get your fingers in the dirt!

A captivating tale of commitment and perseverance

Kristin Kimball’s intriguing memoir, the Dirty Life, gave me a taste of a different lifestyle, one that consists purely of commitment and of hard, dirty, and rewarding work. Kimball’s story tells of her decision to leave her Harvard education, family, and whole life behind in New York City, in exchange for a life of hard farm work. Mark, her fiancé is an experienced farmer and together they take on the challenge of providing full-diet shares to their customers by means of their own farm, this diet including steak, chicken, pork, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, celery, syrup, cheese, milk, etc. And if that was not a grand enough challenge, Mark and Kimball decide to jump back a century and farm by means of horses and ploughs and their own genuine physical labor – nothing else. Their day begins at around 3 am, when Kimball and Mark must milk the cows, feed their assortment of animals, weed the fields, and anything else you can imagine that must be done on a farm. The work is never ending, but somehow the two of them develop a farm that today has grown to feed over 100 customers and employs over 20 workers.
The success seen between Kimball and Mark is extremely inspiring, as it thoroughly shows the amount of effort required to attain what you want most, as well as the commitment. A theme of perseverance is constantly conveyed throughout Kimball’s memoir, and has the effect of showing the reader that things in life do not always come easy. They aren’t supposed to, as If they did then there would never be that essential feeling of fulfillment in life, an emotion that keeps one striving forward. Kimball must not only fight onward for her farm, but for Mark as well. Without their relationship the farm would have failed. The effort they must put in to keep each other happy while keeping the farm running proves to be quite a challenge. Thus, a theme of love is also prominent; love for the farm and all its animals and plants, and love for Mark. A message about the importance of decision making is always present, as Kimball explains how decisions determine the paths of our lives. You can make or break yourself, and others, with a yes or a no.
My family is a health nut family, always dedicated to the thought that a good diet makes for a healthy life. The Dirty Life, hit home for me – an everyday consumer of organic foods. This book made me yearn for fresh, fresh food, straight from the source! I would recommend that those interested in health and good food read this, as it inspires one to start their own garden. Anyone up for a good story about problem solving and woman falling in love with a man and a farm should read this as well. Its detail about the effort needed to accomplish the humble act of providing food is captivating and interesting. My dislikes were the areas where there was too much attention to detail though, as this drew away from the story and my focus waivered.

LOVED EVERY WORD!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I couldn't put it down, it was the rejuvenation I was looking for and didn't know...I would happily trade city life for farm life! It was so real, I wished I was her...will read it over and over again!

Satisfyingly Dirty Life

The Dirty Life is the tale of a farmer and a city girl setting out to run an innovative organic-produce farm, battling the elements of nature and each other along the way. As the cream-flecked milk and salt-of-the-earth potatoes flood across the page, the hungry reader is reminded of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy tale, chock-full of the hard work and sturdy food that built America. After the city girl's initial meeting with Farmer - shocked and fascinated by his earthiness and brazen generosity so unlike her city men - a romance ensues that is, like the steaming heaps of compost that surround it, direct and without guile. She brings him home to her family, who are more shocked than fascinated by his inside-out t-shirt, dirty crates of still-pulsating vegetables, and boxes of eggs barely cooled from the henhouse. But in the end they, as she did, fall in love with the food and embrace the man and his dream.
This organic dream is overflowing with treasures of the loam. Perils of ice, weeds, and skeptical neighbors have to be contended with, but an overall theme emerges above the callouses of labor: plenty. There's plenty to go around. There's more than enough to share. Excesses of love, food, generosity abound. There's nothing lacking when we dig deep into The Dirty Life.

A "Dirty" delight!

My only recollections of EVER getting up at 3:45am:


. Pulling an all-nighter in college to finish college paper or study for a test
. Nursing a newborn
. Insomnia


Kristin Kimball and her husband Mark, get up routinely that early (or is that still considered night time?) to do their "chores" - everything from milking cows, to feeding chickens, to the multitude of other tasks that must be done on their farm - Essex Farm - in upstate New York.


The Dirty Life is the story of Kristin's transformation from city chic to farmer frugal. Living the urban life in Manhattan, Kristin was a well traveled writer - who on assignment to interview an organic Pennsylvania farmer - fell in love with her subject.


In glorious prose, Kristin recounts for us their courtship, their early trials at farming, the arduous job of raising animals, and the nemesis of both insects and weeds that inhabit their fields.


Although not quite ready to sell my house and move to a rural outpost, I was enthralled at the transformation of Kristin's life: living in a ramshackle and dirty farm house, infested with rats; the sheer amount of energy and fatigue she and Mark invest in the land; and the happiness that blossoms forth. It was obvious to me after reading her book, that all of us spend way too much time in front of the computer! Nary a mention of texting, tweeting, or blogging - just slop, seeds, slaughter, and sunshine.


She does not sugar coat their efforts - her memories of the farm are marked by conditions - the dry, the wet, the frozen, the abundant. It made me want to read an additional chapter, not yet written, about how the farm is fairing after the tremendous rains inflicted on upstate New York with both Hurricane Irene and tropical depression Lee.


This was pure enjoyment - I only wish I had an Essex Farm close enough to me in which to indulge.

I enjoyed reading this book.

Again, I enjoyed reading this book, and am very glad that Kristin shared her story with me. Thank you

You'll do one of two things after reading this book...

After reading The Dirty Life, most people will have one of two reactions. Either they will begin perusing the real estate listings for available farmland, or they will begin running and screaming at the first sound of the word "cow". This memior is at once incredibly funny and at times heartbreaking as well, but always entertaining. Written with a keen eye towards characterization and pacing; it reads like a well loved novel, except it is all true! If you enjoy a good, well told story; this is the one to get!

Loved this book!

Wonderfully written, great story.

th The gritty truth

A fun and intelligent read about all the hard work it takes to put food on the table

The down & dirty on farming life.

As a child, we planted row after row of seeds by hand, picked and shucked corn, shelled beans, fought off spiders and other bugs as we gently rolled the cucumber vines and sweated many a summer evening away in various garden patches...still, we were gardening in probably less than a quarter acre. The massiveness of the project that Mark and Kristin overtook in The Dirty Life is a bit mind-boggling, but very entertaining to read about in the air-conditioned comfort of home. Mark's almost obsessively dedicated fervor and Kristin's work ethic and her writer's curiousity about how and why things work and grow combine to bring their dream to fruition. The animals, the old machinery, the wonderful neighbors, and the lovely, lovely food would be enough to earn a recommendation, but Mark and Kristin's love story seals the deal. A definite green-thumbs up for this one!

Authentic, gritty and illuminating

Wonderful memoir and very timely treatise on 'real food' - (who knew?) Wanted to know more details about Mark and their relationship - as it was so central to such a massive transformation in her life - quite compelling

Highly recommended! It's an enlightening look into the life on a farm

I loved this book. Kimball does a great job of describing the beauty and horrors of working a farm without shocking you. It's easy to accept the facts of life in the mater of fact way she describes them.

I give it four stars because the second half of the book looses some of the flow she builds in the first half. She starts to jump around in time and rapidly run through anecdotes.

great read

This book is a joy to read. Who knew life on the farm could be so captivating?

Awesome Read!

Although a little gory at times it was a wonderful book. Not for the squeamish I would think but overall I enjoyed reading it!

great insight into farm life

after reading The Dirty Life I am amazed at the dedication and love that goes into running a farm. the book is written wonderfully, and I looked forward to each new encounter on the farm. I think that we, as a society, have become 'soft.' This book was an example of the rewards of getting dirty and working hard. I have already looked into CSA's in my area for his coming year. if only their was one like essex farm!

Fantastic- beautifully written

I read the first chapter on a plane in an airline magazine as a teaser. The book lived up to the preview. I couldn't put it down and can't wait to give it to all my girlfriends, sisters and mother to read.

Fantastic book - highly recommended

This is a great story about transformation and farming, although you don't have to be a farmer to relate. I'm certainly not! It's wonderfully well-written and the story flows incredibly well. If you have ever felt that you were searching for something more in life, you will definitely relate to Kristin and her life change. I highly recommend it. It makes me want to volunteer on their farm!