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Show Western Writers Advice from Experienced f Country Women despite the many hardships and challenges of life in the country, they succeeded. The lessons they learned are carefully chronicled in Country Women, a beautifully beauti-fully illustrated (Leona Wal-den) Wal-den) 381 page encyclopedia of easy to understand information infor-mation about negotiating a land purchase, finding and developing water, tools, tree felling, carpentry, planting, canning, raising turkeys, rabbits, pigs and goats. Throughout the text, there are exerpts from a personal Country Women A Handbook for the New Farmer by Jeanne Tetrault and Sherry Thomas, Anchor PressDoubleday, 1976. Soft cover: $8.95. "Buy land, buy land while it lasts, they stopped making it." This advice from a Kentucky grnadmother to her granddaughter has become be-come a dream many of us share. Authors Jeanne Tetrault Te-trault and Sherry Thomas had the courage to try to make the dream a reality and journal which add a spiritual dimension to the no-nonsense, you-can-do-it information. infor-mation. In the journal segments the reader follows the authors' successes and failtures, her doubts about herself and the tasks at hand, her joys in the land and pride in her accomplishments. accomplish-ments. The job of farming is not glorified but it stll seems worth it to the hardworking hard-working women of Albion, Calif. They meet to explore their consciousnesses and v practical advice and end up publishing a newsletter which ultimately leads to this book. For the last six years, Country Women has been a valuable resource to women and couples who have moved out of cities and into smalf farms. Not only has the book answered important technical techni-cal questions about everything every-thing from septic systems to butchering chickens, but it has provided moral support to many inexperienced farmers. The handbook is interspersed inter-spersed with poetry, calligraphy, calli-graphy, lovely illustrations and answers to questions you were afraid to ask. The business of being a beginning begin-ning farmer is handled with just the right balance of sympathy, encouragement and strength and it is an inspiration for anyone with an interest in owning their own land. |