Letter to a Young Farmer: How to Live Richly without Wealth on the New Garden Farm

Incredible author - his last book, and definitely worth reading if you have any desire to live off the land (even just an acre or 2). This prolific writer lived the life that many would love to emulate. Get away from the grind, live simply, live richly. I have read much of Logsdon's writing, and looked forward to this one being written as he knew he was dying from cancer. I highly recommend it.

Mr. Logsdon's last book is outstanding. The garden farm is growing exponentially and Gene's writing captures the essence of this movement. All of his books make you think and dream.

This book is well written, very informative concerning the mega farms. Mr. Logsdon is demonstrating that smaller farms operated by the owner and his family is a much more efficient way to farm and care for the land. He points out how the Amish farmers are successful farming without the large expensive machinery.

The last legacy of the beloved "contrary farmer" - a wonderful defense of small-scale farming as a way of life.

While it may not be fair to give five stars (or any stars) to a book I'm still in the middle of, what can I say, Gene was on the mark, contrariness and all!

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how farming or agriculture is currently and will be going in the future. Logsdon has a prophetic voice for the future of agriculture. I am convinced of his convictions and await the day that I can tell everyone to read this book followed by a “ told you so!”

I bought this for a young, organic farmer, but had to read it first since Logsdon was a contributing columnist to the local paper I take. For someone who wants to live simply, this is a wonderful guide.

I never been disappointed with anything gene logsdon ever wrote.

Hmmm. Given Logsdon's near-legend status, I expected a bit better than this. It starts off with the usual "when I were a lad" stories, and you expect it to get a bit better from there. But it doesn't. It continues with rambling anecdotes and preaching-to-the-choir expositions about working with nature. It is very light indeed on practical advice that might be of value to a young man or woman who has just acquired a few precious acres and is thinking: OK - what now?It is, bluntly, rather what you'd expect from an old man whose career peak is long behind him. This is a great pity, because I have absolutely no doubt that Gene had a wealth of knowledge he could have passed on to a hypothetical Young Farmer. For whatever reason, he chose not to do so, and his knowledge is now lost.The subtitle is therefore completely misleading, and I would recommend as a substitute a very old book, "Three Acres and Liberty", which sticks to the point and is (incredibly) still relevant today.

So glad I bought this book. Many times I was reduced to tears from laughing so hard. The death of big agribusiness should be a comfort to everyone, this book shows how better the world could be in their absence.

What a wonderful final gift to his readers.....Gene Logsdon distills his lifetime of agrarian observation and practise into sensible nuggets of wisdom for farmers of any age!