with wheat flour and olive oil which they could

with wheat flour and olive oil which they could not find within the county or state. Then, they face the decision of when to start. I found their time landmark of the first asparagus as a perfect beginning point for this grand experiment. Thus, with the appearance of the pale green spears, the family embarks on this seasonal journey. Chapters divide the book into the major seasons with titles like “molly mooching” in April, “zucchini larceny” in July, and “life in a red state” in August. Any of us who hike and garden in our fertile county can sympathize with the search for morels in April, the search for zucchini recipes or zucchini recipients in July, and the search for more jars for the overwhelming number of tomatoes that pour into the kitchen in August (when we truly see red!),

I also enjoyed the accounts of the first cherry harvest, the attempts at turkey breeding (both the humans’ attempts to encourage and the turkeys’ attempts to consummate), the egg production, the late summer weeding, and the visit to Italy (where else would a celebrant of local foods vacation?!). Camille Kingsolver, the eldest daughter, provides menus and recipes throughout the book to guide us in eating locally. We are currently enjoying the family’s secret spaghetti sauce, which is no longer very secret. Steven Hopp, a college professor and the husband of Barbara Kingsolver, keeps the family in bread baked in the wood-burning oven and