Through our summer 2019 farm season, a small group of Rainshadow farmers, volunteers, and CSA members met at Jackson’s Corner each month for a book driven discussion and dinner. Our discussions were enlightening, inspirational, and personal. We are excited to spread the word about our little Rainshadow book club, and involve more of the Central Oregon Community in food driven, farm focused discussions.
Read below to see our list of books selected for the 2020 season.
January 9th and February 6th
We will be reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This book is a true ode to the natural world. Kimmerer infuses indiginous wisdom and scientific knowledge into discussions of how plants teach us lessons about the world around us. She touches on how we can focus our attention to reciprocity with the natural world.
March 5th and April 2nd
We will be reading The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball. Essex Full-Diet farm is located in New York and has been an inspiration to Sarahlee as she works towards her full-diet farm goals in Oregon. Kimball narrates her personal call to farming through this inspirational memoir.
May 5th and June 10th
We will be reading Food from the Radical Center by Gary Paul Nabhan. Nabhan details out diverse communities with all different backgrounds coming together to work on community food raising projects. He highlights the successes of these projects as people from different faiths, political views, and scientific backgrounds come together. He focuses on our ability to create inclusive environmental opportunities in our present day world.
July 1st and August 5th
We will be discussing Give a Girl a Knife by Amy Thielen. This memoir details out the role food plays in Theilen’s life from childhood to her career as a chef in New York and to her return to cooking roots.
September 2nd and October 7th
We will be reading Good Husbandry by Krisin Kimball. This book, released in the fall of 2019 is Kimball’s second book about farming. This book reveals the present day reality of running a farm, raising children, and committing to local, organic food for life.
