Author Andie Andrews Eisenberg experienced a startling revelation the first year she and husband Ed moved from a suburban home to a small farm in the country. They set out with great plans for a garden and some animals, but things did not go as well as they’d hoped. They were beset by pests, predators, and precipitation. For each victory they experienced, they also tasted defeat.
At the same time, Eisenberg was struggling with writer’s block on a new project she had started. Sitting in Eucharistic Adoration one Friday afternoon, in her frustration she asked God, “What do you want me to write?” His answer was unmistakable: Farming and Homesteading with the Saints.
Farming and Homesteading with the Saints, published by Loyola Press, became Eisenberg’s labor of love. “Creating something similar to a farmer’s almanac that could help those like myself seeking extra protection for their land and animals,” she states, “was a prospect I embraced.”
Through thousands of hours of research, Eisenberg assembled stories of over 200 saints with special connections to farming and animals, the saints she herself turned to for help on the farm.
Eisenberg organized the book into five sections.
- Patron saints of creatures, critters, flying things, farm animals, and their ailments
- Patron saints of farm-related people and occupations
- Patron saints of places
- Patron saints of weather and protection against natural disasters
- Blessings and prayers for animals, the land and farm, for weather and other difficulties, and for the food
The book includes several “ruminations” by Eisenberg that weave in her own personal stories of faith and perseverance from her time on the farm. Through these stories readers gain insight into how the saints can become their source of peace and comfort.
Eisenberg says that there is “no need to plow through the pages” of Farming and Homesteading with the Saints. Instead, she recommends taking a meandering look through the stories, pausing to pray, and discovering new saints whom readers can call on for help in their own situations.
Not just for the hobby farmer, Farming and Homesteading with the Saints is also for the backyard gardener, the balcony grower, the professional agriculturist, or for anyone who just loves nature and animals.
