Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town

In this work of creative nonfiction, author Kate Benz provides an intimate look at the present-day residents of Courtland, Kansas (population 285), a town whose economy depends almost entirely on agriculture.

Through charming, first-person accounts, Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town tells the whole story of life in Courtland, bucking the “Rural America is dying” narrative that so often proliferates national headlines about small-town USA.

Throughout the book, Benz paints a picture of community that is unwilling to give up on each other. Macro-level issues such as rising tariffs, operation costs versus sinking commodity prices, and infusions of federal farm subsidies affect the locals’ daily livelihood, but it’s their love of their community that continues their collective efforts to keep Main Street open for business and Courtland on the map.

These are the stories from one corner of rural America, told through the people who live there: the fourth-generation farmers, the young professionals, the transplants, the small business owners (many of whom are women)—a community that is nuclear, blended, straight, gay, red, blue, religious, and anything but. Young people who grew up in Courtland are moving back to raise their kids there, but instead of farming, they are opening breweries, boutiques, marketing agencies, or hair salons. They love rural life but want a new way to define it.

Courtland is a community that is unwaveringly determined to keep their corner of rural America not only alive but thriving, refusing to let challenges define or deter them. Instead, they continuously find creative ways to overcome, adapt, improve, and move forward.

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Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town

In this work of creative nonfiction, author Kate Benz provides an intimate look at the present-day residents of Courtland, Kansas (population 285), a town whose economy depends almost entirely on agriculture.

Through charming, first-person accounts, Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town tells the whole story of life in Courtland, bucking the “Rural America is dying” narrative that so often proliferates national headlines about small-town USA.

Throughout the book, Benz paints a picture of community that is unwilling to give up on each other. Macro-level issues such as rising tariffs, operation costs versus sinking commodity prices, and infusions of federal farm subsidies affect the locals’ daily livelihood, but it’s their love of their community that continues their collective efforts to keep Main Street open for business and Courtland on the map.

These are the stories from one corner of rural America, told through the people who live there: the fourth-generation farmers, the young professionals, the transplants, the small business owners (many of whom are women)—a community that is nuclear, blended, straight, gay, red, blue, religious, and anything but. Young people who grew up in Courtland are moving back to raise their kids there, but instead of farming, they are opening breweries, boutiques, marketing agencies, or hair salons. They love rural life but want a new way to define it.

Courtland is a community that is unwaveringly determined to keep their corner of rural America not only alive but thriving, refusing to let challenges define or deter them. Instead, they continuously find creative ways to overcome, adapt, improve, and move forward.

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Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town

Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town

by Kate Benz
Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town

Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town

by Kate Benz

eBook

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Overview

In this work of creative nonfiction, author Kate Benz provides an intimate look at the present-day residents of Courtland, Kansas (population 285), a town whose economy depends almost entirely on agriculture.

Through charming, first-person accounts, Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town tells the whole story of life in Courtland, bucking the “Rural America is dying” narrative that so often proliferates national headlines about small-town USA.

Throughout the book, Benz paints a picture of community that is unwilling to give up on each other. Macro-level issues such as rising tariffs, operation costs versus sinking commodity prices, and infusions of federal farm subsidies affect the locals’ daily livelihood, but it’s their love of their community that continues their collective efforts to keep Main Street open for business and Courtland on the map.

These are the stories from one corner of rural America, told through the people who live there: the fourth-generation farmers, the young professionals, the transplants, the small business owners (many of whom are women)—a community that is nuclear, blended, straight, gay, red, blue, religious, and anything but. Young people who grew up in Courtland are moving back to raise their kids there, but instead of farming, they are opening breweries, boutiques, marketing agencies, or hair salons. They love rural life but want a new way to define it.

Courtland is a community that is unwaveringly determined to keep their corner of rural America not only alive but thriving, refusing to let challenges define or deter them. Instead, they continuously find creative ways to overcome, adapt, improve, and move forward.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780700633463
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Publication date: 09/09/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 256
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Kate Benz is a freelance writer in South Dakota.

Table of Contents

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Early Fall

The Coffee

The Morning Coffee: Friday

The Farmers: Steve Brown

The Pastor

The New Business: Soul Sister Ceramics

The Farmers: Hootie Rayburn

The Farmer’s Wife

The Young Couple

The Lunch Spot

The Mayor

The Newspaper

The Liar's Bench

The Gas Station

The Lutherans

Spring

The Good-bye

The Morning Coffee: Friday

The Farmers: Kenny Joerg

The Ladies

The Entrepreneur

The Day Care

The Ranchero

The Date Night

The Body

The Transplant

The Morning Coffee: Saturday

The Average Sunday

The Morning Coffee: Monday

The Memories

The Morning Coffee: Wednesday

Summer

The Morning Coffee: Wednesday

The Lambs

The Bank

The City Council Meeting

The Morning Coffee: Thursday

The Ditch Rider

The Family Business: C&W

Late Fall

The Morning Coffee: Thursday

The Broker

The Morning Coffee: Friday

The Veterinarian

The Morning Coffee: Saturday

The Harvest

The Family Business: Tebow Plumbing Co.

The Women: Peggy Nelson

The Nurse

The Homeopathic

The Morning Coffee: Monday

The Drive Home

Epilogue

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