farm anatomy: a farmy giveaway

October 28, 2011
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recipe
batter
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julia rothman‘s new book, farm anatomy, is the kind of book you just want to curl up with. add a woolly blanket, a mug of tea, and a fresh-out-of-the-oven cookie and you’ve got the perfect recipe for passing an hour or two on a cloudy autumn day.
when storey publishing sent me a copy of farm anatomy to review a few weeks ago, i knew exactly what recipe i’d make. i set to work whipping up a batch of julia’s oatmeal crisps to savor bite by delicious bite as i flipped through the pages of her colorful, farmy tome. {recipe, here}.
equally wonderful for those already intimately accustomed to the finer facts of farm life and for those who would rather admire farm life from afar, julia offers cheery illustrations and simple how-tos in her delightful new book.
see other posts on the farm anatomy book tour, here.
enter to win a signed copy of farm anatomy by leaving a comment telling us your very first farmy memory. the winner will be randomly selected. please make sure to leave contact information or a link to your email in your note! congratulations to the winner: brooke of wily wiley!

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70 Comments

  • Reply Paper Heart Girl October 25, 2011 at 11:29 am

    This book look awesome! I have great memories of hanging out on my best friends farm as a child and learning to horse ride there. šŸ™‚ xxxxx

    2
  • Reply catface October 25, 2011 at 11:47 am

    My first memories of a farm are going to an abandoned one with my friends when we were about 9. We became convinced it was haunted because whoever moved out (or died…) left behind all of their stuff. It was terrifying, but fun!

    2
  • Reply Emily October 25, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    My family farms, so all of my first memories revolve around the farm! I suppose it would be learning the value of hard work by getting up early in the morning to pick beans.

    2
  • Reply Becky Stets October 25, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    The book looks lovely. I remember when a baby calf was born on my grandparents farm and I named him Norman. I would look for him everytime I would visit. Luckily it was easy to find him because he was the only brown cow in a field of black and white!

    [email protected]

    2
  • Reply A of Little Alexander October 25, 2011 at 12:53 pm

    In remember sitting with the women shelling peas on my great-grandmother's porch. I hadn't shelled peas since, until this year with our very first garden of our own.

    2
  • Reply Miss Bibliophile October 25, 2011 at 1:01 pm

    My first farm memory was a trip to a Christmas tree farm when I was about 3 or 4. We picked out our big family tree and the farmer threw in a tiny, kid-sized tree for me. That tiny tree has grown into a huge one that now towers over my parents' house.

    2
  • Reply jacquelyn | lark + linen October 25, 2011 at 1:05 pm

    My dad always owned race horses when I was growing up. We'd go to the farm every few weekends to visit them and feed them carrots. One farm in particular was run by an 80 year old spit-fire of a woman. She owned a duck who thought he was a chicken (and thus hungout in the chicken coop) and a goat who would dance on command. To date it's probably one of my favourite places

    3
  • Reply erinshahan October 25, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    I did not grow up on a farm but my mom did. one visit to the grandparents we were sleeping outside in a tent for fun. i woke up in the middle of the night with farm animal shadows on the tent…not the hand puppet kind. apparently the next door neighbors animals and gotten out and decided to also go camping with us!

    2
  • Reply Beth October 25, 2011 at 1:56 pm

    I just found this book the other day on Design Sponge. I fell in love immediately- the illustrations are wonderful. My grandparents have a quaint little space outside of Atlanta that doesn't exactly function as a farm, per se, but definitely lends itself to yielding crops and a roaming ground for a large group of goats. I remember helping my grandmother pick strawberries and make fig preserves. Thanks for hosting the giveaway!
    [email protected] (forgot the email bit)

    2
  • Reply Daniella October 25, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    Oh wow, that book looks great with all those adorable illustrations! I'm definitely one to admire farm life from afar, although I could probably move out into the country no problem! My first "farming" memories are always of apple picking or halloween extravaganza at the local farm near my childhood home. We used to be able to walk right over for hay rides or pumpkin picking, and samples of hot apple cider. We could take walks through their field whenever we wanted to… I'm not sure they allow that anymore, but I loved it!

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  • Reply Stephanie October 25, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    Gorgeous book!
    In one of my earliest farmy memories, I was playing in a friends hay barn and we were jumping from the very highest beams. We were supposed to be landing on our bums but I accidentally decided to try and land of my feet. Needless to say, I ended up with a very sprained ankle and hobbled around the hill-y farm land on crutches for the rest of the day!
    [email protected] šŸ™‚

    2
  • Reply Katie (Mama May I) October 25, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    My uncle is a farmer in Southern Illinois. Every summer our family drove from Florida to their home. My uncle would always wake me around 4:30am, knowing how much I loved doing morning farm chores with him. The summer I learned to drive a manual tractor was by far my favorite.

    2
  • Reply Anita October 25, 2011 at 2:25 pm

    What a lovely looking book! My first farming memory was as a little girl and the farmers around the area had gathered their livestock and produce to show. It was amazing to see all the different animals, the food, everything. I love that memory.

    2
  • Reply Marion October 25, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    One of my favorite farm memories (I was also blessed to grow up on a farm) was waiting patiently for my dad to finish each row that he was plowing in our garden. My siblings and I would eagerly follow behind the tractor, looking for worms, so that we could go fishing after we finished planting the garden! I love the smell of freshly turned earth, and feel the wonderful soil…. sigh…..

    2
  • Reply wiley October 25, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    i spent my childhood at my aunt and uncle's dairy farm and i have too many wonderful memories of running around that farm to even count.

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  • Reply gigi October 25, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    My first farmy memory is the kindergarten fieldtrip to a nearby farm. I remember walking through the petting zoo-type set up they had for school children and seeing goats and chickens up close for the first time.

    2
  • Reply Jamie October 25, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    My first farmy memory is seeing the bright yolk of a fresh egg brought in that morning by my grandma.

    2
  • Reply Felicia October 25, 2011 at 3:13 pm

    i think my first memory of a farm was going peach picking with my parents and my grandparents. i remember them cutting slices of peach for me to eat!

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  • Reply jodi October 25, 2011 at 3:22 pm

    Chasing the farm cats in my grandpa's cattle barn šŸ™‚

    2
  • Reply Penelope Darling October 25, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    I love the illustrations in this book! And the typography! Wonderfully done!

    My first farm-y memory is from a visit to a distant Aunt's land in South Texas. She had chickens – which were amazing to me because they were the biggest birds I'd ever been around. I was only four and they were half my size! One got loose from the coop and I scooped it right up, helping my aunt put it back safely. I love hands-on learning – it was an exciting experience!

    [email protected]

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  • Reply Linda October 25, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    love those pictures!

    my first farmy memory is of picking cucumbers off the vine in my grandfather's garden. mmm

    [email protected]

    2
  • Reply Pip October 25, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    those cookies look amazing!

    my favourite farmy memory is collecting freshly laid eggs as a little girl on the family farm, my aunt had snuck out early and written our names on the eggs and we thought they had been laid espcially for us! magical!

    [email protected]

    2
  • Reply alittlebirdytoldmeso October 25, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    my first farm memory would be creeping with my grandmother when the light was fading into the deepest corner of a barn, to where a cat and her brand new baby kittens were snuggled under some straw. I can remember the smell of cow,straw and rain!

    2
  • Reply Maggie October 25, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    I'm dying to gift this book to my nephew this Christmas! My favorite farm memory was learning to drive a tractor on the family farm… surely driving a car would be a cinch after that!

    2
  • Reply redhott October 25, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    My parents keep chicken and I loved to collect eggs but hated that rooster! He was so mean.

    2
  • Reply Anonymous October 25, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    Two memories. One: My mom took us to a fall festival at a near by farm where we got to do a hay ride, bob for apples, play in a pumpkin patch, and pet and feed farm animals. Two: Looking at the bunny rabbit hutch at my uncles farm in Kansas. He brought them out one by one for us to pet and play with them. – Annette
    [email protected]

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  • Reply Katherine Ross October 25, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    When I was in first or second grade, my class took a field trip to a local farm to watch chicks hatch. That's probably pretty typical field trip for most mid-westerners, but I absolutely love it šŸ™‚

    Thanks for hosting such a great giveaway!

    2
  • Reply [emt] October 25, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    Growing up in a small town, I was surrounded by farms. My earliest memories are riding in combines during harvest and naming the calf of the cow that we owned.

    2
  • Reply Maria Diana October 25, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    My first farmy memory is relatively recent when my husband and I visited his country. Seeing all the animals and experiencing the rawness of country life was eye opening.

    2
  • Reply Connie October 25, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    I would love to curl up with this book! My earliest farm memory was going to a petting zoo with my brother & cousins & being really excited and scred of the animals. I think most of them were bigger than me back then! It was soo fun though.

    2
  • Reply Annie October 25, 2011 at 6:24 pm

    The first farm memory has to be from as far back as I can remember remembering! My grandmother and Noonie had a farm in a small quiet Midwest town, with peacocks roaming free and horses in the pasture. The peacocks were both the white and traditional blue colors. I remember being bundled up in a knit scarf and little mittens riding on the back of the horses, crunching in the perfect fall leaves and collecting those pretty peacock feathers for the Thanksgiving table. Oh how I miss it!

    [email protected]

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  • Reply Oliag October 25, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    I am afraid to say that my first farm memory is of sneaking onto a nearby apple orchard with a friend and taking apples…they were the best tasting apples ever!

    1
  • Reply Shalini October 25, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    Oh I have very vivid memories of going for rides on the wheelbarrow! And climbing plum and peach trees in the orchard, and hunting for cocoons of course!

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  • Reply Kathleen P. October 25, 2011 at 7:35 pm

    It would have to be feeding chickens! I always loved feeding the chickens on my family friend's farm šŸ™‚

    [email protected]

    1
  • Reply Rachel October 25, 2011 at 8:06 pm

    We did not have farms nearby, but I longed for them, particularly the pigs. When our little local bookstore announced that they were doing a book reading and bringing in live pigs, my parents signed me right up. I was over the moon excited, expecting Wilbur. Unfortunately, the bookstore people weren't all that experienced with farm animals themselves, because instead of cute piglets there were giant hogs that ran rampant around the bookstore, terrifying all the toddlers. I still love pigs, though from a distance.

    1
  • Reply Abby October 25, 2011 at 9:03 pm

    The first house my family lived in was right next to a few farms. I vividly remember going to the neighbor's barn one dark afternoon to taste the maple syrup he'd made that winter. The barn was dark and warm, and he served us little paper cups of sweet, hot syrup.

    1
  • Reply nancy October 25, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    when I was much, much younger, my extended family went and stayed on a farm in the middle of country victoria for a few nights. I was so young, and don't really remember much… but I do remember that although my Pop (grandfather) wasn't the biggest fan of cats and dogs, they loved him, and proceeded to follow him EVERYWHERE for the remainder of the trip!

    1
  • Reply Cheryl October 25, 2011 at 11:46 pm

    I really don't see how this memory could be true, but I remember a cow coming to my elementary school in the San Fernando Valley. We were–I believe–taught the proper way to milk that cow. No way to verify this memory, of course. This looks like a fantastic and beautiful book, and I love your blog (which I've just discovered)! jung dot cheryl at gmail dot com

    1
  • Reply sara e. October 26, 2011 at 12:40 am

    I lived in the county until I was 5. We had three horses and a Christmas tree farm. There was a dairy farmer next door.
    I remember spending hours playing in the sandbox behind our house and since I was an only child at the time and far away from anyone my age, my only friends were the praying mantises in my sandbox.

    1
  • Reply Occupy Style October 26, 2011 at 1:28 am

    oh would love to have a copy! i actually grew up on a little farm until the age of 5 and one of my very first memories was walking through a watermelon field and totally taken by the gorgeous *giant* melons! so glad I stumbled upon your lovely blog, following you now šŸ™‚ i'm a newbie to the blogosphere so if you have a moment, hope you might have a look and follow too! xo Ellie

    http://occupystyle.blogspot.com/
    [email protected]

    1
  • Reply Yan Yin Choy October 26, 2011 at 3:04 am

    i remember visiting a 4-H farm in Texas when i was in pre-k. the farm was next to a farm that produced food, and being in the country was the most precious experience of my childhood. thank you, http://www.yanyinchoy.com

    1
  • Reply Monica October 26, 2011 at 10:10 am

    we live a semi farmish life. without the animals. lol

    do please include me in the giveaway.i and my little girl would have hours of fun with this sbook.

    i'm utterly charmed by the illustrations!

    1
  • Reply Monica October 26, 2011 at 10:17 am

    we live a semi farmish life. without the animals. lol

    do please include me in the giveaway.i and my little girl would have hours of fun with this sbook.

    i'm utterly charmed by the illustrations!

    my first farm memory was riding a pony at about the age of 4. i was both thrilled and terrified when it broke into a trot.

    1
  • Reply Niki October 26, 2011 at 11:18 am

    Loving all of your posts lately!!! And this giveaway sounds fabulous, the illustrations look gorgeous!

    My first farmy memory was when I was about four. Now, I am a kid of the suburbs and unfortunately don't get farm time often in my life, but at this time we were at a family friends dairy farm…it was a stormy night and I had been tucked up in a warm bed after a long day. But in the night I heard strange noises and sleepily stumbled out to the living room. And sprawled on the slate floor besides the fireplace was a calf, born just minutes earlier outside in the rain after an unusually long and complicated birth. The calf had been taken inside to stay warm by the fire. It was the most beautiful but wierd looking thing I had seen. I can still remember it's funny smell, with fondness.

    X

    [email protected]

    1
  • Reply madewithloveuk October 26, 2011 at 11:31 am

    What a lovely looking book – and snuggling up with a blanket and a warm cookie is oh so appealing right now! One of my first farm memories is when I was about 7 and I was horse-riding at our local farm – I was told I was allowed to go once I was 7 if I was still so keen (I still am today – not that I ride anymore) so my 7'th birthday on a frosty cold January morning getting on that horse is one of my most favourite memories!

    1
  • Reply Alexa October 26, 2011 at 11:35 am

    What a charming book!

    My first memory of a farm is playing in an old family friend's barn back in South Carolina, hiding behind the bales of hay and letting horses eat apples from my hand.

    These days I live in NYC and have a little dream of someday moving to a farmhouse and making applesauce in the autumn šŸ™‚

    1
  • Reply Anonymous October 26, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    I would love-love-love to win this amazing book.

    I live here in Middlebury, Vermont and my life is full of farms. My first memory of farms is not one of animals but of the architecture of the buildings. To this very day I am still charmed by the depth and height of the buildings right along with the animals, hay and the hardest working folks in the world!

    [email protected]

    1
  • Reply Schwartz October 26, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    My first farmy memory: getting pecked in the forehead by a chicken when I was little, peering my head into her little cubby in the barn. I think she was telling me to mind my own business.

    1
  • Reply d&d October 26, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    I'm afraid my first memories are not nearly as dear as my current ones. I attempted to feed a goat at Silverman's Farm and he took hold of my jacket instead of the feed and held me hostage. Needless to say I was a very frightened 4 year-old.

    Luckily now I like goats again. Esp goat cheese.

    1
  • Reply Cori October 26, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    I grew up on a farm, so I have a lot of fond memories of farm life! One of the first was 'helping' my dad sort the pigs, though as they were often bigger than I was I'm not sure how much help I actually was! šŸ™‚

    1
  • Reply no worries October 26, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    i remember going on holidays as a child on a farm in australia. It was wonderful with all the sheep, horses, dogs and the old barns to explore! looks like a wonderful book:-)

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  • Reply Lisa October 27, 2011 at 12:00 am

    when I was young, I woke up one morning to find our yard filled with sheep. they had run away from a local farm and chosen our yard to graze in. it was absolutely magical! I thought they were all my new pets.

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  • Reply Erin October 27, 2011 at 2:12 am

    Every summer I would spend a week Upstate New York at my grandparent's one room Schoolhouse in the country. One of my favorite memories was visiting the Catskill Game Farm and loved feeding the sheep with baby bottles!

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  • Reply Celeste October 27, 2011 at 2:30 am

    Those cookies look heavenly!

    My first farmy memory was probably going to the petting zoo when I was a toddler. I think I tried to feed a goat and as it got closer I was afraid it was going to eat me. And.. I've been afraid of goats ever since.

    šŸ™‚

    1
  • Reply PJ October 27, 2011 at 2:44 am

    your cloudy autumn day recipe and the oatmeal crisp recipe both appeal to me!

    my earliest farm memory is of visiting family friends on their farm. they kept sheep and our hostess would spin her own wool on an antique spinning wheel. even as a kid i liked that, but not as much as i liked their littlest lamb…named Blueberry!

    1
  • Reply chelsea October 27, 2011 at 5:25 am

    This book looks wonderful and the cookies look so delicious! Love your photos too! I know I must have had an earlier farm experience than this but the earliest I can remember is when I was 14 my Dad drove us to Prince Edward Island from Washington State and we stayed on a dairy farm. We had a tour and met all the cows and stayed right there in the farmhouse. We didn't have to do any work though:) It was lovely!!

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  • Reply shelby h.k. October 27, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    Growing up in South Florida, my mom and I always used to go this one particular farm in Plantation. They had THE BEST mini pound cakes!! i can still taste them. We used to get all of our groceries there, and I always loved getting to pet the animals.

    xx

    [email protected]

    1
  • Reply Steph October 27, 2011 at 1:35 pm

    OK, it's on my request list from the library!!

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  • Reply amy October 27, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    I was 8 and my girl scout troop went to visit a farm. It was the first time I rode a horse, i still remember her name, it was Mable.

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  • Reply Allison October 27, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    My mom used to take my little sister and me on day trips to parks and farms. My first farm memory is going to a farm in southern Indiana in autumn to pick pumpkins and eat caramel apples.

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  • Reply Cait October 27, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    Oh, one of my first farm-y memories: You throwing up in the milking barn in Vermont!

    1
  • Reply katy elliott October 27, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    Farm memory: Going to my grandparents in Maine which have weird blurred memories of because I was so young. Apple trees, fields and a really cold cellar filled with jars that we took cool things out of to eat.

    Those cookies look divine!

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  • Reply Anastasia October 28, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    My first farm memory was going to a family reunion in West Virginia when I was 9. My great uncle owned a farm that's belonged to my family since the early 1700's. It was a great sense of history to see "how things used to be." halil1 at earthlink dot net

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  • Reply Mandy October 31, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    I was lucky because my grandparents owned a walnut ranch, where I spent a lot of my childhood. I remember "helping" my grandpa to plant the corn patch in front of the house. He said that if you stomped on every kernal after burying it, it would grow better. So, that was my job — official corn stomper!

    msutton (at) gmail (dot) com

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  • Reply Punctuation Mark November 1, 2011 at 3:13 am

    lovely images… i bet they were delicious!

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  • Reply Alejandra November 1, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    That cookbook looks gorgeous! Love the illustrations. I don't have much in terms of farmy memories–perhaps the hayrides and days at the pumpkin patch on Autumn school trips. I can almost look down to see my (then) tiny feet walking on the hay-stomped ground.

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  • Reply caroline November 2, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    heck yes! so happy brooke won this!

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  • Reply Buccaneers and Ball Gowns November 11, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    So just from the few pictures on this post, I impulse bought this book on Amazon. And I don't regret it at all because it is awesome! Yay!

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  • Reply Knitted Home December 30, 2011 at 4:11 pm

    I'm sad that I am just now going through your previous posts & missed this giveaway, but I will definitely have to look this book up – the pictures & pages are absolutely gorgeous! They make wonderful eye candy, even when you're not baking šŸ™‚ Thanks for this post!

  • Reply safari guy May 14, 2014 at 8:55 pm

    A wonderful book! I grew up in the city as a child, then when I was 10 moved to Calif. and
    saw all the open space and cows and farmlands. I went to a neighbors farm and was
    so awestruck by the animals and especially the crops. I always have loved plants, so to
    see edible plants, it was so neat! I decided I wanted to do that someday. And my husband
    and I were able to homestead a few years back.

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