Farm Life2018-12-19T08:59:00+00:00

Farm Life

 

For more books about the bygone era of farming and rural living, check out the section on Hometown Humor & Nostalgia.

  • by Will Weaver
    Hardcover

    Following in the footsteps of his father, Will Weaver — Minnesota author, novelist and outdoorsman — has been a hunter since he was a young boy. As he writes, “in the fall, when Canada geese came through and when partridge season opened, [we] heard the far-off thudding report of shotguns—and in November the ... ... more

  • Photography by Doug Ohman and Story by Will Weaver
    Jacketed Hardcover

    NOMINATED FOR A 2006 MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD! This book pays tribute to these vanishing rural icons that symbolize a way of life on the land that was as strong and proud, as fragile and humble, as the barns among us. The rise of agribusiness and corporate farming ... ... more

Barns of Minnesota – NOMINATED FOR A 2006 MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD!

barns_back_coverThis book pays tribute to these vanishing rural icons that symbolize a way of life on the land that was as strong and proud, as fragile and humble, as the barns among us. The rise of agribusiness and corporate farming has made barns nearly obsolete, and the old barns that once anchored family farms across Minnesota are slowly vanishing due to technology and a century of Minnesota’s winters.

This book combines fact with fiction: the 85 stunning color photographs by Minnesotan Doug Ohman of these once numerous barns are accompanied by a small, moving novel — written by Minnesota’s own Will Weaver — about the life and death of one barn through the eyes of the family who built it. According to Weaver, barns “…are landmarks, they are icons, they are metaphors, they are symbols. There’s so much meaning packed into those old barns… They’re now as obsolete as the steamship, as the coal fired locomotive.”

A perfect gift for anyone over 20, these 125 pages (plus an Afterword by Weaver and Ohlman) stick with you long after you finish devouring the pictures and reading this uplifting, yet sad, story.

This is still my favorite story, and that of many of my friends and family.

  • Photography by Brian Peterson
    Essays and Thoughts by 52 Minnesotans

    Paperback
    A few years ago, the Voices for the Land project, organized by the nonprofit group 1000 Friends of Minnesota, encouraged Minnesotans to write about the land they love, and to fight for its preservation. The Minneapolis Star Tribune published a selection of these essays, paired with Brian ... ... more

  • by Byron D. Halsted
    Paperback

    This ecologically aware manual was written in 1881 with the farmer in mind — during a time when a laborer earned a mere dollar a day. When it was originally released, it was titled Barn Plans and Outbuildings. Included are more than 250 illustrations and designs for nearly 100 structures spanning the gamut ... ... more

  • Cloth
    We listened to you men! You saw "Helga Hanson's Hotflash Hanky" and said you wanted something too. Well, here you are. "Ole's Oil Rag -- For When Your Dipstick Comes Up Short"! ... more