My husband loves gardening and has fantasies about owning a large plot of land and being a farmer. He drives me nuts, wondering if he can keep worms on the balcony of our second-floor apartment in La Jolla. My answer is no!
For now, he gets his little square box in the church’s community garden. I’m not a nature girl, but I found a book title that caught my eye at the library. It was Goodbye My Subaru, written by Doug Fine. It caught my attention because that’s the brand of car I drive. The cover photo was pretty, with a garden growing under the hood of the car.
Doug was formerly a journalist who bought land as a bachelor with the intention of settling down and going completely green.
This book was an entertaining and joyful read. His adventures began with car trouble, a flash flood, the purchase of two goats and some chicks. The goats got into mischief but he grew attached to them. He had to convince the inspector that his property was a farm. He went on to test vegetable oil fuel, install solar panels and a well, hunt and garden.
As with many small-town stories, there were local characters, including your hippie neighbor. Of course, they saw him as the character. He scared the FedEx driver by wearing a homemade bulletproof vest to fight off a rattlesnake. The locals laughed a bit at this newcomer as they watched him adjust to his new life. He had to ask for help and learned by trial and error. He eventually worked things out and even found love along the way.
Doug loves his new life and wrote this charming book about his adventures. He included interesting facts along the way with some statistics. I don’t have any interest in farming yet, but I’m sure if we move to a small town I’ll find myself adjusting over time. At first, I’d probably look like the lady from “Green Acres.”
Somehow, in centuries past, people survived without cell phones, computers, and telephones. They lived off the land and were productive with their hands. In fact, they spoke verbally and wrote letters to each other.
For gardening enthusiasts, this is a fun read. There were some swear words and adult themes so I wouldn’t give it to kids, but it could be a fun gift.
