This Farming Life

by Tim Saunders

Farmer Tim Saunders manages to incorporate some writing into his days, and here he describes his life through the seasons: Summer, shearing, slaughter, crop harvest, conservation; Autumn, floods, trading stock, drenching, dagging; Winter, maize harvest, lambing; and Spring, docking, pet sheep, weaning.

It's a tough life and through his powerful, poignant writing Tim tells of his connection to the land, why he loves farming, how he's also conflicted by it and what it is that keeps him tethered to that place

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2020

About the author

Tim Saunders farms sheep and beef near Palmerston North, New Zealand. He has had poetry and short stories published in Turbine|Kapohau, takahē, Landfall, Poetry NZ Yearbook, Headland, Broadsheet, Best Small Fictions, Best NZ Poems and Flash Frontier. He won the 2018 Mindfood Magazine Short Story Competition, and placed third in the 2019 and 2020 National Flash Fiction Day Awards. He was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Awards in 2021. Tim is the author of two books - This Farming Life (Allen & Unwin 2020) and Under a Big Sky (Allen & Unwin 2022).

Reviews

[Helen Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this easy to read memoir of farm life. Having grown up on a farm and spending my childhood in the countryside I enjoyed this descriptive account of farming through the seasons on a New Zealand farm. Beautifully written.

[Kathryn Beek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Farming Life tenderly recounts the joys and struggles of contemporary farming in Aotearoa. Reading this beautifully written book brought back memories of binge-reading James Herriot as a child, and of spending long summers on my aunty and uncle's farm. This Farming Life is a modern New Zealand classic that many people will enjoy (and learn from) - from farmers, right through to vegetarian 'townies' like myself. Highly recommended.

[Megan Clemance · Rating 4 out of 5]

GREAT book. Poetical. SHOULD be read by ALL people, especially those who are anti- farmers!! He is a "food producer", both animal and vegetable, and he takes his responsibilities seriously while keeping 'sane' ( an achievement in this day and age!)..
Despite all the politics, this is a very good read. Flows along through the seasons beautifully, cut in with the young farming lad, and the ' old man'.
Thank you Tim.

[Sue Bakker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not written . It is crafted. Tied together in a beautiful tender way with the authors heart right in the middle. You can tell he's a poet. The way it is told is what I love best about it.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

A typical Kiwi farmer story x

[Lily Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great read!

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’m dating a farmer and this is the only book he’s read. of course i’m gonna read it