Emmet Van Driesche, along with his wife, Cecilia, operates the Pieropan Christmas Tree Farm in western Massachusetts. When he’s not working on the tree farm or editing scientific manuscripts, he spends his time carving wooden spoons and teaching others to do the same. You can find out more about him at www.emmetvandriesche.com.
"The lessons here, cleanly told, serve the aspiring farmer, small
business owner, and demonstrate not just how to run a farm, but how
to build a sustainable and deeply satisfying life with the skills
you have, and the ones you can learn."—Boston Globe
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review— "Van Driesche’s charmingly
pragmatic account of running a Christmas tree farm in Western
Massachusetts with his wife, Cecilia, resembles a mini-MBA for
farmers in its breadth and depth of insight. . . Filled with a
practical and open-minded approach to problem-solving that
agrarians and urbanites alike will find refreshing, [this] book
provides an invigorating paean to seizing opportunities, finding
one’s strengths, and working hard."
“In this no-nonsense resource for novice Christmas Tree farmers
(and all farmers), Van Driesche shares his sustainable success
story in pragmatic and engaging detail.”—Forrest Pritchard, farmer;
New York Times best-selling author of Gaining Ground
“A couple of years ago I bought a Christmas tree from Emmet Van
Driesche’s little family in the woods. I immediately wanted to move
in with them. They radiated the kind of peaceful contentment that
comes with doing work that makes sense to you and that you are good
at. But since moving in with them would be creepy, I am glad to
have this book, a thorough and generous guide to shaping your world
not only to your own happiness, but the world’s as well.”—John
Hodgman, host of Judge John Hodgman; author
of Vacationland
“Carving Out a Living on the Land describes the joy of living
a simpler life in tune with nature, without skipping on the nitty
gritty of hard work and paying the bills. Along the way, Emmet
shows that spoon carving is not just a wonderful pastime but can be
part of a thriving modern business, filling one’s time between the
hustle and bustle of childcare and tree cutting with calm, spoon-y
industriousness.”—Barn the Spoon, founder, Spoon Club and The Green
Wood Guild; author of Spoon
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