Masumoto, David Mas - Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm
David Masumoto wrote an epitaph for the Sun Crest peach in a newspaper (apologies for the vague references; I returned the book already), mourning how its short shelf life and lack of red blush meant that firmer but less tasty peaches were taking its place on shelves. He apparently received enough responses to persuade him to devote a year to try and save his peaches; the book is in some ways a story about how he does so, but it's really more the chronicle of a year of life on a farm. That's probably one of the few criticisms I can offer of the book-I desperately want to know what happened to his goal to save the Sun Crest, and I wish the edition I read had some sort of "ten years later" epilogue telling me what happened.
Other than not having an answer to my question, this book is wonderful. Masumoto's prose is lyrical, but he deals with the hard realities of farm life as well. It's still not quite the same as someone whose entire living depends on the farm (Masumoto's wife works in another industry to support the farm), but he captures the struggle between trying to act environmentally and naturally and trying to keep the farm going.
I also love the snippets of Japanese American history in the book. Masumoto is sansei, and though the book isn't about the Japanese-American experience, it's hard to keep out of the book, since so much of his family history has to do with internment and his grandparents not being able to own property.
But mostly, I love the story of the farm, of freak rainstorms that can ruin raisin crops, of cover crops and wildflowers, of peach-eating pests and fertilizer. Reading this book made me feel happy and fulfilled and at peace. Highly recommended.
Other than not having an answer to my question, this book is wonderful. Masumoto's prose is lyrical, but he deals with the hard realities of farm life as well. It's still not quite the same as someone whose entire living depends on the farm (Masumoto's wife works in another industry to support the farm), but he captures the struggle between trying to act environmentally and naturally and trying to keep the farm going.
I also love the snippets of Japanese American history in the book. Masumoto is sansei, and though the book isn't about the Japanese-American experience, it's hard to keep out of the book, since so much of his family history has to do with internment and his grandparents not being able to own property.
But mostly, I love the story of the farm, of freak rainstorms that can ruin raisin crops, of cover crops and wildflowers, of peach-eating pests and fertilizer. Reading this book made me feel happy and fulfilled and at peace. Highly recommended.