Growing into a Farm

Before the Walden Effect

"This is a love story in three parts about how I ended up with much more than I bargained for, and grew beyond the person I thought I'd be."

Anna Hess spent her early childhood chasing ornery cows back into the barn, eating all of her family's strawberries before they got ripe so she didn't have to share them, and climbing sap-riddled pine trees. The reality of farm life seemed to be summed up in one word --- bliss. So when her back-to-the-lander parents threw in the towel and moved the family to a nearby town, Anna resolved to save her pennies and find a farm of her own, one that she would never have to leave.

A couple of decades later, Anna had bought the property, but soon realized she couldn't make her dreams come true alone. When a friend set her up with a potential mate, Anna went along grudgingly. "To be honest, at the time I was still pretty sure that a farm and a man were incompatible," Anna wrote, "and given the choice I leaned toward the farm." Little did she know that the best partnership was a threesome --- a man, a woman, and a farm.

Overflowing with photos, this book serves as a preface to the popular homesteading blog, Walden Effect.