Gaining Ground

With humor and pathos, Forrest Pritchard recounts his ambitious and often hilarious endeavors to save his familys seventh-generation farm in the Shenandoah Valley. Through many a trial and error, he not only saves Smith Meadows from insolvency but turns it into a leading light in the sustainable, grass-fed, organic farm-to-market community. There is nothing young Farmer Pritchard wont try. Whether hes selling firewood and straw, raising free-range chickens and hogs, or acquiring a flock of Barbados Blackbelly sheep, his learning curve is steep and always entertaining. Pritchards world crackles with colorful local charactersfarm hands, butchers, market managers, customers, fellow vendors, pet goats, policemenbringing the story to warm, communal life. His most important ally, however, is his renegade father, who initially questions his son's career choice and eschews organic foods for the generic kinds that wreak havoc on his health. Soon after his fathers death, the farm becomes a recognized success and Pritchard must make a vital decision: to continue serving the local community or answer the exploding demand for his wares with lucrative Internet sales and shipping deals.More than a charming story of honest food cultivation and farmers markets,Gaining Groundtugs on the heartstrings, reconnecting us to the land and the many lives that feed us.