BEYOND THE SIDEWALKS

One homesteader's hopes, dreams, and struggles are chronicled in 15 years of Countryside magazine columns (1971-1985), with annotations updated to 2014. Economists call the 1970s the "disastrous decade," but those were the glory years for a doomsaying magazine editor, organic farmer, and his family.

Follow their adventures as they move from a homestead print shop on the edge of a small village (just beyond the sidewalks) to a working hog farm to their dream homestead. Witness the joys of self-sufficient country living and growing family business- and the harsh realities. Observe this life story against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world, as narrated by the young writer's 76-year-old alter ego ("a has-been who never was").

This is history, autobiography, philosophy, a touch of humor, and a real-time glimpse of life on a small farm in the 1970s.