When Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield and his young family returned to America from France on the eve of World War II, they settled down in rural Ohio's Pleasant Valley. He bought several adjacent properties and named the resulting aggregation Malabar Farm. The topsoil at Malabar Farm had been exhausted and eroded over the years, leaving the land largely unproductive, but Bromfield was determined to return it to sustainable productivity. Potent seeds were planted there. Those seeds soon took root and the plants began to thrive as he charted a bold new course for their lives and the land, in the process became an outspoken advocate for sustainability.
Readers of Bromfield's previous book Pleasant Valley will enjoy the continuation of the true story he told there, this time focusing more on Malabar's transition from general-purpose farm to single-crop grass farming for cattle in the years 1944-1947. Originally published in 1948, Malabar Farm quickly became a popular success, attracting the attention of fellow farmers and the general public alike. In passionate, lyrical prose, Bromfield conveys both the practical, day-to-day details of farming and of the need to adopt new, regenerative agricultural practices. As an early proponent of sustainability, he urged farmers to regard the land as a long-term treasure to be nurtured rather than a disposable resource to be exploited. Malabar Farm is an excellent source of information on soil improvement, erosion management, organic versus chemical fertilization, range development for cattle, waterway management, gardening, and animal husbandry. This seminal work on organic, sustainable agriculture is today more relevant than ever; even in this digital age it shines as a beacon for aspiring farmers, conservationists, and environmentalists worldwide.
This book is also available from Echo Point Books as a hardcover (ISBN 1648372031).
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