{"product_id":"uncultivated-isbn-9781645020301","title":"Uncultivated","description":"\u003cb\u003e“The best wine book I read this year was not about wine.\"—Eric Asimov, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToday, food is being reconsidered. It’s a front-and-center topic in everything from politics to art, from science to economics. We know now that leaving food to government and industry specialists was one of the twentieth century’s greatest mistakes. The question is where do we go from here.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAuthor Andy Brennan describes uncultivation as a process: It involves exploring the wild; recognizing that much of nature is omitted from our conventional ways of seeing and doing things (our cultivations); and realizing the advantages to embracing what we’ve somehow forgotten or ignored. For most of us this process can be difficult, like swimming against the strong current of our modern culture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe hero of this book is the wild apple. \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e follows Brennan’s twenty-four-year history with naturalized trees and shows how they have guided him toward successes in agriculture, in the art of cider making, and in creating a small-farm business. The book contains useful information relevant to those particular fields, but is designed to connect the wild to a far greater audience, skillfully blending cultural criticism with a food activist’s agenda.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eApples rank among the most manipulated crops in the world, because not only do farmers want perfect fruit, they also assume the health of the tree depends on human intervention. Yet wild trees live all around us, and left to their own devices, they achieve different forms of success that modernity fails to apprehend. Andy Brennan learned of the health and taste advantages of such trees, and by emulating nature in his orchard (and in his cider) he has also enjoyed environmental and financial benefits. None of this would be possible by following today’s prevailing winds of apple cultivation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn all fields, our cultural perspective is limited by a parallel proclivity. It’s not just agriculture: we all must fight tendencies toward specialization, efficiency, linear thought, and predetermined growth. We have cultivated those tendencies at the exclusion of nature’s full range. If \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e is about faith in nature, and the power it has to deliver us from our own mistakes, then wild apple trees have already shown us the way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e book for cider lovers”—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“Andy Brennan is a stubborn, thoughtful original, and his apple memoir is powered by inspiring verve and irreverence. Loving apples or cider is not a prerequisite for loving this book. All that is needed is the willingness to follow a vibrant narrative voice driven by the pursuit of dreams.”—Alice Feiring, author of \u003ci\u003eNaked Wine\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFor the Love of Wine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“The best wine book I read this year was not about wine. It was about cider, though not entirely. It was really about trees and places, agriculture and culture, and the tension between nature and industry . . . \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e is thoughtful, pessimistic and hopeful at the same time. Anybody who loves food, loves wine and ponders where they come from should read this book.\"\u003cb\u003e—Eric Asimov, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Brennan is deeply anti-capitalist and endeavors to work with the land and the trees in a way that is respectful and sustainable, actively rejecting the conventional wisdom of entrepreneurship focused on continual growth. The book is written in a conversational style and readers will get to know the author’s personality easily.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBooklist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Andy Brennan is a stubborn, thoughtful original, and his apple memoir is powered by inspiring verve and irreverence. Loving apples or cider is not a prerequisite for loving this book. All that is needed is the willingness to follow a vibrant narrative voice driven by the pursuit of dreams.”\u003cb\u003e—Alice Feiring, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNaked Wine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e and \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eFor the Love of Wine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Andy Brennan’s new book \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e is smart, wise, raw, generous, unapologetic, and poetic. As delicious to drink in and as profound as the unique and artful ciders he makes.”\u003cb\u003e—Deirdre Heekin, vintner, La Garagista Winery; author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn Unlikely Vineyard\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Andy Brennan’s \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e could become the twenty-first century’s \u003ci\u003eOne Straw Revolution\u003c\/i\u003e. Forty years ago, Masanobu Fukuoka’s 1970s classic helped define the thinking of thousands of us searching for a new way to look at farming and the world. Every cider maker in America will want to read \u003ci\u003eUncultivated,\u003c\/i\u003e and everyone else should, too. Not only does Brennan explore the questions facing those of us who love to grow and squeeze apples, he also digs deeply into language, art, economics, and life itself. \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e is provocative and fun. Whether you’re a cider maker or not, read this book. It’s a One Apple Tree Revolution.”\u003cb\u003e—John Bunker, apple historian; author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNot Far from the Tree\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Part autobiography and part ecological meditation, \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e presents the case for the rewilding of our agricultural imagination. Andy Brennan reflects on the relationship between authenticity, location, and commerce and finds his deepest truths in the dry farm cider of America’s Northeast. Above all, this is a celebration of the power of the wild apple tree to express a sense of place; as it acclimatizes and adapts, so it tells us the story of the land.”\u003cb\u003e—Francis Percival, coauthor of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eReinventing the Wheel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This book captivated me—it’s wry and artful, informative and soulful. In \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e Andy Brennan throws down the gauntlet (or rather gathering tarp) for cider made from foraged wild apples, continuing hill town traditions of spirit and survival. He offers readers a new\/old (revolutionary\/conservative) way to think about community, business, and the living world. The book is bright with art, spirit, and daring.”\u003cb\u003e—Judith Maloney, cofounder, West County Cider\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Andy Brennan’s journey with the fruit of our desire is wildly inclined in ways that are going to surprise and delight. Dare I describe my cider-making friend as \u003ci\u003eraucous\u003c\/i\u003e? That this word-loving hooligan is the one orchardist among us who presumes to \u003ci\u003eungrow\u003c\/i\u003e the apple? Open a bottle of your finest, and make a date with \u003ci\u003eUncultivated \u003c\/i\u003ethis very evening. The time has come to ponder the dignity of the apple tree.”\u003cb\u003e—Michael Phillips, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Apple Grower \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eand \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Holistic Orchard\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Every community has its visionaries. At times, they inspire and enlighten. At others, they vex and confound. But they always push you to think more deeply, reevaluate your judgments, and become more intentional, while making you feel a little uncomfortable in the process. I believe Andy Brennan is a key visionary for contemporary American cider. In \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e you learn that while Andy was helping to shape and elevate the national conversation about cider and apples, he was also evolving in profound and personal ways. Idealistic and provocative, rebellious and vulnerable, Andy is both cider’s conscience and a thorn in its side, and we are the better for his work.”\u003cb\u003e—Ellen Cavalli, editor and publisher, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMalus\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“With regards to growing apples and making cider, \u003ci\u003eun\u003c\/i\u003ecultivation is a concept that excites me, particularly coming from an American author. Andy Brennan’s \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e argues a case for ‘natural cider’, and his approach to it is something I hope to see grow as craft cidermakers aim to express individual quality and identity. Philosophical, haughty, and enjoyable, Andy’s approach embraces what American cidermakers strive to understand: American terroir.”\u003cb\u003e—Bill Bradshaw, coauthor of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWorld’s Best Cider\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“American cider has traditionally been deeply regional, dependent on ungrafted seedling trees like those lining the rocky farm fields and sandstone ridges of the Hudson Valley in New York. Andy Brennan and Polly Giragosian name their “locational” ciders after some of these foraging sites: \u003ci\u003eNeversink Highlands\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eShawangunk Ridge\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMamakating Hollow\u003c\/i\u003e. Theirs are tannic, rich, full-bodied, complex drinks. As Brennan writes, ‘Cider making is a responsibility’—to the trees, the land, good food, and the community. \u003ci\u003eUncultivated\u003c\/i\u003e is a wonderful, timely reminder of all that this drink can be at its best.”\u003cb\u003e—David Buchanan, owner, Portersfield Cider; author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTaste, Memory\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndy Brennan\u003c\/b\u003e owns Aaron Burr Cider in New York’s Catskills region. His career started as a freelance artist, working in the fields of photography, design, and architecture. Since its founding in 2011, Aaron Burr Cider has become well known among cider enthusiasts for its natural approach to cider making, using wild apples and yeasts. As a prominent figure in the growing US cider movement, Andy has been featured in print media and on television, radio, and podcasts. He regularly speaks about natural apple growing and cider production at museums, trade events, festivals, restaurants, and anywhere local food enthusiasts are found.","brand":"Chelsea Green","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233810985189,"sku":"NP9781645020301","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781645020301.jpg?v=1767743204","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/uncultivated-isbn-9781645020301","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}