Gaining Ground

A Story of Farmers' Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm

By: Forrest Pritchard

Narrated by: Roger Wayne

One fateful day in 1996, after discovering that five freight cars' worth of glittering corn have reaped a tiny profit of $18.16, young Forrest Pritchard vows to save his family's farm. What ensues - through hilarious encounters with all manner of livestock and colorful local characters - is a crash course in sustainable agriculture. Pritchard's biggest ally is his renegade father, who initially questions his son's career choice and rejects organic foods for sugary mainstream fare. But just when the farm starts to turn heads at local farmers' markets, his father's health takes a turn for the worse. With poetry and humor, this inspiring memoir tugs on your heartstrings and feeds your soul long after you've finished.

©2013 Forrest Pritchard (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"By the end of his wonderful book, Pritchard lies in a field pondering his own slim margin of success from slowing things down in our fast paced world; a well-deserved moment of happiness for this important new spokesperson of the future of agriculture and poet of the earth." ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Roger Wayne's warm, lively reading of Forrest Pritchard's memoir of saving his family's farm in the Shenandoah Valley is a hopeful and conversational experience.... integrity is heard in Wayne's performance." ( AudioFile)

Loved his book.

I'm not a farmer but I loved the points Forrest made that really make me think about where my food came from and why it's worth paying a bit more for organic.

perfect 4 beginning farmers

great story highly recommend this book. check this one out if you are a beginning farmer like me

faith renewed, yeah for the little guy!

very enjoyable- good to know that there are people out there who care about what goes in us. So happy he was eventually successful, boy did he work for it!

Terrific journey to the Farm!

Would you consider the audio edition of Gaining Ground to be better than the print version?

Hard to say. Roger Wayne didn't take anything away from Pritchard's fantastic narrative, but he did not add to it, either. For the most part, the narration was terrific, though there are a few odd places where the emphasis was misplaced, or the tone was off. I would recommend it to audiobook readers, or those who choose to read the print book... but the performance doesn't make me scream out, "You HAVE to listen to this in audio!"

Who was your favorite character and why?

Forrest and his family. Forrest for his grim determination, for falling and getting back up... again and again and again.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book! As someone who receives their beef, chickens and pork raised in this manner, it was an illuminating expose into the life of a farmer, particularly one who is attempting to reinvent the wheel. Forrest is up-front about his mistakes along the way, and presents a compelling - though not preachy - look at "old-school" farming.
Terrific book!

Addictive

Once I started listening it was an effort to stop. So well-written and performed.