Ten Acres Enough: The Classic 1864 Guide to Independent Farming by Edmund Morris

Did you think that keeping a container garden is a challenge? Sometimes the bigger the better. Yet, who wants to run a 100-acre so-called family farm. I don’t know, perhaps that must stay a rhetorical question. At some point there’s an economy of scale and to each his or her own finding the sweet spot. Perhaps that corner of the garden is just such a sweet spot for cherries. All I know is that I’m besotted by “Ten Acres Enough” as I read all about the adventures of Edmund Morris and his family. They share their story about running their own family farm, surviving, and then thriving with no slave labor. Part propaganda and part guidebook, this ethnography does in detail describe that it’s possible for a family with many children to live off the land, with enough of the bounty left over to trade, to sell, to share with others. This is even given the technology of the antebellum period. The story takes place during the Civil War no less. Although the fateful family even during this time of seemingly inescapable butchery be uncannily ensconced within their Garden of Eden. Yet, the book documents what the indigenous of the mother earth have known all along. Small farms of ten acres and less can be wonderful ways to experience family life. At the same time, the small family farm is a practical and priceless way for people to have food security. With this book as your inspiration, just what will you be growing in your garden next? The price of this softback book is $15. Free Shipping. Portland Plant Paradise sends out all physical media via USPS “book rate” mailing. This book is in like-new condition, published in 2004 by Dover Publications Inc., Garden City, New York. Please also find the full audiobook of this extraordinary work.