ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995              TAG: 9512150118
SECTION: BOOKS                    PAGE: F-4  EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: BOOK REVIEW 
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY PEGGY DAVIS 

FARMING IN SUBURBIA

HOMESTEAD YEAR: Back to the Land in Suburbia. By Judith Moffett. Lyons & Burford. $22.95.

Judith Moffett had a "back-to-the-land" dream that competed with her writing and teaching duties. Her desire to establish a producing farm had to coexist as well with her husband's teaching duties in Philadelphia, so commuting distance was a major consideration when location was chosen.

"Homestead Year" records locating a proper place and then describes the design, plans and hard labor of turning an acre plus into a producing homestead. The entries, based on days of the year, reveal a lot about having bees and ducks, raising vegetables, cutting overgrowth to use as firewood and drawing sap from the maple tree and boiling it into syrup.

All along, Moffett is also dealing with breast cancer surgery and treatments.

This is a gently written book, comforting to read, informative and rewarding - even for one who hates to garden but appreciates the results.

Peggy Davis reviews books regularly for this page.

LENGTH: Short :   31 lines