Bilow - The call of the farm: an unexpected year of getting dirty, home cooking, and finding myself

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ROCHELLE BILOW has worked as a farmer, food writer, line cook, and cooking instructor (among other things that are not relevant here). She lives in Brooklyn, cooks with lard regularly, and finally landed her dream gig as a staff writer at Bon Apptit. This is her first book.

PRAISE FOR
The Call of the Farm

A lively, charming coming-of-age story complete with farm-tested recipes.

Publishers Weekly

[Rochelle] Bilow brings sensuality to every scene, with rich descriptions of food and farm life, from washing freshly laid eggs to rendering lard. [She] offers readers a slow-cooked story, with tenderness and intermingled flavors enriched over time.

Kirkus Reviews

Rochelle Bilow brings tantalizing insight into the behind-the-scenes operations of a CSA farm, but also into the intricacies of falling in love. Until Bilows book, Id forgotten what a fragile dance it can be.

Catherine Friend, author of Hit by a Farm, The Compassionate Carnivore, and Sheepish

A delicious memoir for anyone who has ever been drunk on the idea of farm love. You cannot help but cheer this farm girl on as she sings a bluesy ode to farm life and a complete love song to the table. The Blistered Tomato Gratin was amazing and the Bacon Maple Cornbread is going to be a regular around here for a long time. This girl can cook and write. It is a heady combination.

Ellen Stimson, author of Mud Season and Good Grief! Life in a Tiny Vermont Town

Rochelle Bilow has done the impossible: make me want to live on a farm. I am not a farmer or a foodie or a female, and I couldnt put this down. She somehow makes churning butter sexy.

Jeff Wilser, author of The Maxims of Manhood

If youre looking for a book intimately detailing the circle of life for all inhabitants on a farm, including animals, vegetables, and humans, Rochelle Bilows The Call of the Farm is the very thing. Covering a full year of living, working, cooking, and loving on a central NY farm, her book is candid, visceral, sincere, and delicious. I havent been able to look at farmers markets in the same way since reading it, and thats a very good thing.

Ashley English, author of Handmade Living, A Year of Pies, Building Country Comforts, and the Homemade Living series

As gripping as a novel, The Call of the Farm immerses you in an aspiring food writers journey from city to country as Rochelle Bilow falls in love with a farmer and learns to cook with real food. This beautifully written, honest, and vivid memoir sucks the reader in and lets us share Rochelles failed attempts at butter churning, cold days of rock picking in the spring mud, and moments of delight finding companionship with a crew of like-minded farmers.

Anna Hess, author of The Weekend Homesteader

If youve ever had romantic notions of farm life, Rochelle Bilow plays them out season by season in this sweet tell-all. Her experience brings readers into a world theyll likely never encounter first-hand, complete with honest-to-goodness farm-to-table living. The charming romance between her and a farmer (as well as the lifestyle itself) only heightens the storylineand your appreciation for Bilows all-in emotional journey.

Erin Byers Murray, author of Shucked:Life on a New England Oyster Farm

A delightful account of discovering the secret to health and happiness that so many people long for. Rochelle Bilows memoir is a celebration of real food, the value of hard work and, of course, unbridled love. If youre intrigued by the simple, rural life, this book is for you!

Tim Young, author of The Accidental Farmers

A wonderfully entertaining story, pulling the reader ever deeper into Rochelle Bilows year of farming and romance. Humorous, honest, and poignant, it is a compelling look into her life of cooking, loving, and living on a CSA farm.

Leigh Tate, author of 5 Acres & A Dream

To Tracy
For everything
With love.

The Call of the Farm

An Unexpected Year of Getting Dirty, Home Cooking, and Finding Myself

Rochelle Bilow

New York

The Call of the Farm: An Unexpected Year of Getting Dirty, Home Cooking, and Finding Myself

Copyright 2014 Rochelle Bilow

All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or online reviews, no portion of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and The Experiment was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been capitalized.

The Experiment, LLC

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New York, NY 10010-4674

www.theexperimentpublishing.com

The Experiments books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fund-raising or educational use. For details, contact us at .

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bilow, Rochelle.

The Call of the farm : an unexpected year of getting dirty, home cooking, and finding myself / Rochelle Bilow.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-61519-214-4 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-61519-215-1 (ebook)
1. Billow, Rochelle--Homes and haunts. 2. Food writers--United States--Biography. 3. Seasonal cooking. 4. Farm life--New York--Finger Lakes Region. I. Title.
TX649.B534A3 2014
641.5092--dc23
[B]
2014016967

ISBN 978-1-61519-214-4

Ebook ISBN 978-1-61519-215-1

Cover design by Jaya Miceli

Cover illustrations csaimages.com

Author photograph by Anthony Aquino

Text design by Pauline Neuwirth, Neuwirth & Associates, Inc.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Distributed by Workman Publishing Company, Inc.

Distributed simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Ltd.

First printing August 2014

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

A NOTE

This, like all good memoirs, was written as my reaction to and remembrance of the story that follows. In the event that something went fuzzy, I have attempted to clarify details with the relevant parties. Most names have been changed. Any lapses or leaps in chronology or detail are merely representative of times funny way of letting memories fade, and are in no way an attempt to fabricate or misrepresent the events or people portrayed. My aim is to share my story exactly as it happened to me.