Nick Valle

Writing 340

Professor Hansen

Growing a Farmer

Kurt Timmermeister was a server and felt he could do better than the bosses he worked for. He felt he was ready and able to do it on his own. So Kurt does it, he opens his own his own little restaurant, a 10x20 ft. little restaurant with only four tables. He then follows the path of the American Dream and buys his own land with a house and a pool. It wasn’t the best land. In fact, a dumpy place which has dropped in price. Kurt saw past the reality of the land but focused more on the possibilities his new place holds. He then realizes he is going to need to get a vehicle. Kurt is thinking a car but a friend knew something he didn’t, that a truck is going to be a necessity. He needs to clean out his new house and so he does. He burns his first pile of trash containing all the trash of the past.

Kurt then learns to grow his own vegetables. He also trades up his café to a big restaurant with a nightclub. Kurt buys eight more acres when it comes up for sale and cleans it up. Kurt meets Matt and the two go into business together. They build a greenhouse and start selling vegetables. Kurt and Matt didn’t do well there first year so Matt quit and Kurt sold his restaurant in the city which was his stability. He wanted more than anything to be a farmer and now is his chance to do it… fulltime.

Kurt wanted to grow everything on his farm. He gets a tractor and animals on his farm and wants more. As a fulltime farmer now, he first starts into beekeeping. It is very tough, as he had no one to turn to. Everything he learned came from books. Kurt is really into bees so in chapter 3, he goes into detail of beekeeping such as making small holes between layers of boxes so the bees can fit but not the queen to ensure there are no eggs in the other boxes, only the bottom box, making it easier to harvest.

Kurt then starts to focus on his fruit trees. He invested into taking care of his fruit tree collection he has grown over the years planting bits here and there. He considers it like a 401K; not much payout at first but it will grow into a flourishing solid investment over time.  Kurt gets to use his tractor and plants a hundred and thirty more apple trees as he attempts to take advantage of a new law signed by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, benefitting farmers of hard apple cider. Deer make it difficult for Kurt to maximize his apple investment because of their appetite for apple trees.  He makes apple cider vinegar and explains how wine to make wine.

Kurt wants to get sheep and goats and raise them. He also learns how delicious lamb is when you raise it yourself. He discusses how to get better soil without buying chemically enhanced fertilizer. He learns to harvest by using rotational grazing. Kurt appreciates how beneficial it is financially and labor wise to better the soil with manure rather than fertilizer.

Readability

Passive Sentences: 0

Flesch Reading Ease: 75.5%

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 6.4