Changing Season: A Father, A Daughter, A Family Farm - Softcover

Masumoto, David Mas

4.08

48 ratings by Goodreads

9781597143660: Changing Season: A Father, A Daughter, A Family Farm

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1597143669 ISBN 13: 9781597143660

Publisher: Heyday, 2016

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How do you become a farmer? The real questions are: what kind of person do you want to be? Are you willing to change? How do you learn? What is your vision for the future? In this poignant collection of essays, Epitaph for a Peach author David Mas Masumoto gets ready to hand his eighty-acre organic farm to his daughter, Nikiko, after four decades of working the land. Declaring that “all of the gifts I have received from this life are not only worthy of sharing, but must be shared,” Mas reflects on topics as far-ranging as the art of pruning, climate change, and the prejudice his family faced during and after World War II: essays that, whether humorous or heartbreaking, explore what it means to pass something on. Nikiko's voice is present, too, as she relates the myriad lessons she has learned from her father in preparation for running the farm as a queer mixed-race woman. Both farmers feel less than totally set for the future that lays ahead; indeed, Changing Season addresses the uncertain future of small-scale agriculture in California. What is unquestionable, though, is the family's love for their vocation—and for each other.

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From the Inside Flap:

The evolution of a family peach farm How do you become a farmer? The real questions are: What kind of person do you want to be? Are you willing to change? How do you learn? What is your vision for the future? In this poignant collection of essays, Epitaph for a Peach author David Mas Masumoto gets ready to hand his eighty-acre organic farm to his daughter, Nikiko, after four decades of working the land. Echoing Nikiko's words that "all of the gifts I have received from this life are not only worthy of sharing, but must be shared," Mas reflects on topics as far ranging as the art of pruning, climate change, and the prejudice his family faced during and after World War II: essays that, whether humorous or heartbreaking, explore what it means to pass something on. Nikiko's voice is present too, as she relates the myriad lessons she has learned from her father in preparation for running the farm as a queer mixed-race woman. Both farmers feel less than totally set for the future that lies ahead; indeed, Changing Season addresses the uncertain future of small-scale agriculture in California. What is unquestionable, though, is the family's love for their vocationand for each other.

About the Author:

David Mas Masumoto grows organic peaches and grapes on his family farm in Del Rey, California. He is the author of Harvest Son, Epitaph for a Peach, Four Seasons in Five Senses, Letters to the Valley: A Harvest of Memories, and Heirlooms: Letters from a Peach Farmer. An active proponent of organic farming, Masumoto has won numerous literary awards. He is also active in foundation work and in the cultural life of California and beyond.

Born in the Central Valley of California, Nikiko Masumoto spent her childhood slurping over-ripe peaches on the Masumoto Family Farm. She has never missed a harvest. Through leadership, art, and community involvement, she combines her passion for creative expression and storytelling with food, farming, and dreams for a just and equitable world. Masumoto has earned degrees from University of California, Berkeley and University of Texas, Austin, and she serves on the boards of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts and the Western States Art Federation.

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