First published 2015
Edmund Morris walks away from his Philadelphia business in the early 1800s with a radical idea. He believes a small New Jersey farm can support his family better than city commerce ever could. Morris purchases just ten acres and sets out to prove that smart farming beats big farming every time. He carefully selects his location, chooses his crops with precision, and plants an orchard that will anchor his new life. The weeds fight back. The pigs prove stubborn. His first year brings unexpected losses alongside hoped for gains. Yet Morris discovers something the business world never offered him. Between the daily struggles of working the soil and the quiet satisfaction of building a true home, he finds a different way to measure success. His small plot teaches him that agriculture rewards not the farmer who grows the most, but the one who grows wisely.
Genres: business, american, agriculture, biography-memoir, 19th-century, americana
Vibes: cozy, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, self-reliance
Setting: New Jersey, Philadelphia
Period: Early 1800s
184 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform