This book is written by David Mass Masumoto, an organic farmer in the Central Valley town of Del Rey, CA. David carries on the family tradition of growing peaches and raisins. He converted his farming methods to organic farming when he realized the health hazards to his family caused by using inorganic pesticides. In his book he has captured the essence of what his farming means to him, not just the methods and mechanics but the philosophy and way of life he has come to value. He learned the art of cultivation from his father, a Japanese-American farmer. Through the use of stories, he relates his experiences and those of his family.
Focusing on the five senses he takes us on a sensory journey through the process of producing crops of peaches, taking them from his fields to the consumer. Each of the five sections of the book, devoted to one of the senses, begins with a stream of conscious list of vivid images and memories captured and communicated with grace, emotion and poetry.
Part One, The Art of Seeing, takes us into the fields to see trees filled with blossoms, trees laden with fruit, workers during the harvest. Part Two, The Art of Listening, communicates the sounds and the silences encountered in the fields and in nature. Part Three, The Art of Taste, describes in detail how to eat, no, savor, a freshly picked peach in a way that triggers personal memories of summers spent with fruit juices dripping off childhood chins. It makes me want to run to the nearest Farmers Market. Part Four, The Art of Smell, brings to mind the scents of honest labor, of dusty nature, of soil, mud, rain. I am reminded of how my sense of smell opens the world to me. Then in Part Five, The Art of Touch, I experienced a deep appreciation of hands as he shares stories and images of his mothers farm wife hands. These are just a few of the images and events captured throughout the book.
At the end of the book, I was left with a profound understanding and appreciation of the dignity of farming and those who dedicate their energies to the profession. But more than that, was my appreciation for the gifts of my body, of my senses that bring the experience of life to me in a rich, tangible way, and of nature and the world we inhabit. The distractions of my modern, urban existence and the pace at which I move through my days often result in an anesthetizing of these doorways of experience.
This book reminded me books by Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses (which Mas references in his book) and Cultivating Delight. Both authors have the unique ability to convey the richness of our natural world and the act of living through poetic prose.
Focusing on the five senses he takes us on a sensory journey through the process of producing crops of peaches, taking them from his fields to the consumer. Each of the five sections of the book, devoted to one of the senses, begins with a stream of conscious list of vivid images and memories captured and communicated with grace, emotion and poetry.
Part One, The Art of Seeing, takes us into the fields to see trees filled with blossoms, trees laden with fruit, workers during the harvest. Part Two, The Art of Listening, communicates the sounds and the silences encountered in the fields and in nature. Part Three, The Art of Taste, describes in detail how to eat, no, savor, a freshly picked peach in a way that triggers personal memories of summers spent with fruit juices dripping off childhood chins. It makes me want to run to the nearest Farmers Market. Part Four, The Art of Smell, brings to mind the scents of honest labor, of dusty nature, of soil, mud, rain. I am reminded of how my sense of smell opens the world to me. Then in Part Five, The Art of Touch, I experienced a deep appreciation of hands as he shares stories and images of his mothers farm wife hands. These are just a few of the images and events captured throughout the book.
At the end of the book, I was left with a profound understanding and appreciation of the dignity of farming and those who dedicate their energies to the profession. But more than that, was my appreciation for the gifts of my body, of my senses that bring the experience of life to me in a rich, tangible way, and of nature and the world we inhabit. The distractions of my modern, urban existence and the pace at which I move through my days often result in an anesthetizing of these doorways of experience.
This book reminded me books by Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses (which Mas references in his book) and Cultivating Delight. Both authors have the unique ability to convey the richness of our natural world and the act of living through poetic prose.
