The joys and challenges of day-to-day farming in extraordinary circumstances.
Tim Saunders writes about his life and work on the farm that's been in his family for five generations. He encompasses drought, farming during lockdown, illness, financial pressure and the drive to become more viable and environmentally friendly.
Woven throughout is Tim's love of, and respect for, the land, animals and the environment. He describes how farming is intertwined with the weather, how the weather has changed, how the changes affect farmers and what they are doing to counteract this
Tim describes how his forebears farmed, and how methods have changed. He referenced these ancestors in his first book This Farming Life but now he explores how they farmed, who they were, why they did what they did and how that affects him and the farm today.
With the impact of climate change there is a need to change farming practices. Like other farmers Tim and his family are closely studying their farming system, deciding what needs to be done to stay viable. To survive. To work within the environment while feeding an ever-growing population. They are looking at the past to shepherd the future of the farm.
About the Author
Tim Saunders farms sheep and beef near Palmerston North, and his first book This Farming Life was published in 2020. He was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2021 for his story Carved; the only New Zealander to be shortlisted for this prestigious prize that year. He has had poetry and short stories published in Headland, Best Small Fictions, takahe, Landfall, Poetry NZ Yearbook and Flash Frontier. He won the 2018 MindFood Magazine Short Story Competition, and placed third in the 2019 and 2020 New Zealand National Flash Fiction Day Awards. He performs poetry around the Manawatu and beyond.
Industry Reviews
'Beautifully observed writing about valuing the land we walk on, the air we breathe, and our interconnectedness.' Joan McKenzie, Newstalk ZB
'This elegiac portrait of working the land is both pertinent and perceptive. It distils the essence of what it means to farm the land.' The New Zealand Listener
'The book explores how Tim and his wife Kathrin try to work with the land rather than against it.' - The Country
Not just for those with an interest in farming. Tim's considered prose and flair for creative writing ensures the book has a universal appeal. - Style Magazine
While it's unusual for a farmer to also be an accomplished writer, Saunders has found art and farming can co-exist harmoniously. It has proven to be a therapeutic way of processing many of the challenges farm life presents. Karla Karaitiana, Stuff.
Coming back to the question of legacy, here the book does more than just find the rightful place of one man in his microcosm of family and farm history. Instead, it allows us as readers to feel his place as a creature inside the delicate seasons and systems of the planet we all inhabit-a rare and precious experience. Instead, it allows us as readers to feel his place as a creature inside the delicate seasons and systems of the planet we all inhabit-a rare and precious experience. Lawrence Patchett , Landfall
